WARNING TO ALL CAT OWNERS!!

Most people don't know this but lilies are HIGHLY toxic to cats. Even a small nibble on a leaf or DRINKING from water in a vase containing lilies can be FATAL to a cat. Even ONE bite can kill.

Thousands of cats die every year from fatal poisoning from Easter Lilies. If you own a cat don't risk it. Don't even bring these deadly plants into your house. If you have a friend with cats please don't buy them Easter Lilies. As beautiful as these flowers are they should be avoided if you own pets. Sadly these plants DO NOT come with warning labels and most pet owners do not learn of the danger until it is to late.

I made this quick warning image because I almost lost BOTH my furbabies to lily poisoning. There is very little a vet can do once a cat has ingested even the most minuscule dosage of this plants toxin. We where lucky and the plant that my cats ingested was not a true lily however ANY lily from the Lilium group is toxic. This includes Easter Lilies, Stargazer Lilies, and Asiatic Lilies. If in doubt please check with your vet or do research before bringing ANY plant or potential toxin into your home. And don't risk it on "my cat doesn't nibble plants" you never know when they might decide to try. Trust me, it's not worth the pain.

Thank you for the warning. My mother loves Easter Lilies, and I had no idea that it could have killed the cat.

You're welcome. It's very sad because I love these flowers to. They are so graceful and beautiful. But my cats will nom on ANYTHING. We never bring ANY plants into the house anymore just to be safe..

I suppose I'm lucky on the front that Minnie won't nom anything that isn't strictly given to her or in her bowl. She loves to destroy plants, though, by knocking them out of windows or just tipping them over.

What sort of window do you have to potentially save the animal once it ingests the plant material?

Get them to the vet within six hours at the most so they can induce vomiting before the cat digests the toxin. If untreated a cat is very likely to die of liver failure within 72 hours. Even with treatment a cat can still die.

It was pandemonium when we took our cats in after they nibbled on a leaf of a plant that had lily in its name. (Luckily it was not actually from the lily family). The vet was very honest with us. She said even though we had rushed them to the vet minutes after they had taken their naughty bite, if they could not induce vomiting within the next hour she doubted that our cats would have much chance. We where sobbing for that hour until they found in a book the plant we where dealing with. But the vet was clear in telling us that few cats survive Lily poisoning and that she losses 1-3 cats a year at Easter time in her clinic alone.

Some websites say that it's only an emergency if they become lethargic, others say to rush them to the vet if you even suspect they might have ingested lily. After what my vet told me I would go with the later. The vet did not expect our cats to survive even the night.

I'm glad things turned out well with your babies. I know how frantic I was the last time I had a kitty emergency (the vet actually had to call a family member to get the story of what happened - I couldn't stop crying and freaking out).

This is great information to have. Thanks, again, for sharing this.

That's why I share it every year. So no one has to go through that.

As a side note, even the pollen can be poisonous, so even if your cat is not a nibbler, if the pollen gets on their coat and they lick it off, it could lead to poisoning. So yeah.. just best to avoid the plant to be safe.

Thanks for the info. I knew some plants could be poisonous, but didn't know that was one of them.
Care if I copy and post this on my facebook page?

Please do! I am trying to get the info.

Just a quick note to go with this, (sorry to butt in) dogs are also highly allergic to lilies. Not as bad as cats, but lilies can cause extreme sickness and death in dogs also.
~Kaiyai

That is good to know. I wouldn't want anyone to loss any beloved pet. >.< Don't even get me started on all the toxins that can harm birds.

I'm really glad you posted this! I have a bunny at home. I was actually going to get lilies this weekend to decorate my apartment. Thank you for the warning

Thank you for the heads up! I have two cats of my own, and they're my babies. I don't know what I would do if anything happened to them.

They're also the reason I don't buy poinsettias around Christmas time, as those are also poisonous to cats.