Beware: If you have cats, don’t bring an Easter Lilly into your house or anywhere near where your cats may come in contact with it.

While beautiful and carrying an aura of peace on earth to us humans, they bring a life of terror to our feline friends.

If your cat eats as few as a few leaves, or even licks the plant and ingests some pollen, it could result in kidney failure. Symptoms can appear within 6 to 12 hours. Early signs include loss of appetite, lethargy, vomiting and dehydration.

The toxicity isn’t limited to Easter lilies. Other lilies share the poison. They include the Lilium and Hemerocallis species, referred to as Tiger lilies, Day lilies and Asiatic lilies.

I, for one, made the mistake of bringing in a Tiger lily into an outside room so it would survive an early fall frost. I was bringing all the plants in, so why not this one. My cats do wander out into that area at will, and I knew, they do like to munch away at plants, but I figured they would be able to discern that this plant was bad news. Plus, they hadn’t really bothered plants out in this room. Now, the ones in the kitchen, well that was another story.

I was wrong, very wrong, even dead wrong.

I was cleaning up in that outer room, when I though I heard something. Turning around, my mouth dropped to my stomach. There was My Little Yellow, the header on this blog, about two years old, happily chewing on the decrepid looking lily. I screamed at him to get down, and he slicked away into a corner. He knew he was in trouble, but was there more.

Checking around the lily, I didn’t see any broken leaves, but then again, it wasn’t in very good shape. But Little Yellow just wasn’t his happy-go-lucky self. He seemed lethargic. He wasn’t moving, and that wasn’t normal.

How stupid of me, I was yelling inside. Should I call the vet? This is a Sunday. I’d have to go 70 miles to the animal emergency clinic. That’s a long ways……I waited and paced, paced and waited, and kept looking at Little Yellow. He definitely was not himself.

I called the vet’s office, knowing the emergency number was on their answering machine. I called the emergency clinic….Bring him in for an evaluation… I dug out the cat carrier, and secured him. I put him in the front seat so I could observe him.

He doesn’t like to ride in a car. Few cats do.Within 20 miles, the poor kitty was frothing at the mouth, and panting. I tried to put my hand into the cage to calm him. Was he dying? Or was he having an anxiety attack?

It was a very long hour and a half, even though I know I was driving about 65 to 70 on winding country roads. I was scared, and so was he.

We finally arrived at the emergency clinic. He looked fine, but they took blood tests. They said that was routine and most likely he’d be able to go back home with me.

Wrong…his blood tests came back with an abnormality…They gave him an IV, and said to leave him overnight. Come back by 7 am, and pick him up, and take him to the regular vet…

My heart again sunk. Was he going to be ok? Had my stupidity cost him his health?

And of course, I called to check on his well-being upon getting home another hour and a half later. That morning, back into the car, to pick up Little Yellow.

He had a huge bandage on his front leg which had been shaven, and they kept the IV in so the regular vet could continue to hydrate and observe him.

They kept him another day for observation, and thank goodness, they found that he seemed to be quite healthy and ready for home.

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It did take a few months for his hair to return to normal. As a Maine coon, he really did look strange with no hair on part of his leg. But I learned a huge lesson, and that’s when they say something is bad for our feline friends, take it seriously. There’s nothing worse than loosing a friend due to negligence. It’s bad enough when it’s something that can’t be prevented.

Another lesson learned. Make sure you have access to the number of the nearest emergency clinic for pets, and know where it’s located. You never know when you’re going to need their services, and you’re not going to be clear-headed enough to go searching, when you need them most.

If you’ve had a similar experience with a lily or some other toxic substance, please share.

According to earthlink.com the top ten most common poisonous plants to animals are:

• Marijuana – Animals who attempt to snack on this plant can suffer serious consequences such as diarrhea, vomiting, increased heart rate, drooling, in-coordination, and even possibly seizures and coma.
• Sago Palm – While the seeds and nuts of this plant are most poisonous, the entire plant is toxic.  Animals ingesting parts of this plant may suffer from diarrhea, vomiting, depression, seizures and liver failure.
• Lilies – Plants of the lily variety are very poisonous to cats.  Even very small amounts of this plant could cause serious kidney damage.
• Tulips – The toxic portion of this plant is the actual bulb, which can cause drooling, central nervous system depression, gastrointestinal irritation, cardiac issues and convulsions.
• Azalea – The toxins in azalea plants can be very severe and potentially cause drooling, diarrhea, vomiting, central nervous system weakening and depression, and in some cases possibly coma or death.
• Oleander – All portions of this plant are poisonous and can cause gastrointestinal irritation, hypothermia, heart problems and possibly death.
• Castor Bean – Poisoning as a result of this plant can cause abdominal pain, drooling, diarrhea, vomiting increased thirst, loss of appetite and weakness.  More serious cases could also lead to dehydration, tremors, seizures, twitching muscles, coma and possibly death.
• Cyclamen – The most poisonous portion of this plant is located in the root.  Ingestion of the plant can cause severe vomiting and gastrointestinal irritation.  In some cases death has been reported as a result.
• Kalanchoe – Ingestion of this plant can cause gastrointestinal irritation and cardiac rhythm and rate problems.
• Yew – Poisoning as a result of the yew plant can affect the nervous system and cause in-coordination, trembling and breathing difficulties.  It may also result in gastrointestinal irritation, cardiac failure and could possibly lead to death.

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