# LILY POISONING



## KatieBarker (Nov 22, 2009)

Hi 

following todays devastating events we have made it our mission to spread awareness of just how toxic lily plants are to cats.

I've owned cats all my life and have a degree in zoology - ironically my specialism is in parasitology and toxicology - albeit it insect based, I still feel so guilty I did not know about lilies.

I did not know, until today, just how toxic lilies can be to cats. Our two beautiful siamese girls are now in cat intensive care following ingestion of lily pollen.

We woke up this morning to find Rosie cat stained yellow with lily pollen. Evie cat is her mum and spends most of her time grooming her baby so there is no doubt that she would have ingested a fair amount of the pollen.

After updating my facebook status stating how amused I was at having a bright yellow cat - my friend from uni who is a vet nurse called me immediately to ask if I had lilies in the house. The answer, unfortunately, was yes - and she advised me to wash Rosie straight away and to call the emergency vet, whilst she sought advice from her vet practice.

Neither myself, my boyfriend, or my vet nurse friend knew just how serious this was going to be. I phoned no less than 4 vets and was advised by each to take our cats straight to the vets. However, both cats appeared fine, and I was reluctant to cause unecessary stress. Then I read up on how the toxin in lilys works

Renal failure is not good. We rushed our cats to the emergency vets and now have an agonising wait ahead of us.


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## KatieBarker (Nov 22, 2009)

After an hour, the vet phoned with the initial blood results and the prognosis is not good. Renal failure is measured by how efficiently the kidneys filter toxins from the blood. This is indicated by creatinine levels in the blood - evie has a level of 1.8 mmol/L - the very top end of what is normal for a cat. Rosie's is 1.4 mmol/L

This is their initial result and there is nothing we can do now except wait and see

The lily toxin basically shuts down the kidneys nephron by nephron. At 75% inactivity the cat will start to show visible signs of renal failure so thank god we did not wait until then.

As I said, we consider ourselves to be responsible cat owners and are devasted that we have caused such suffering to our cats through our own ignorance - we really do not want other owners and their cats to go through the same thing. We will be lobbying florists etc to display warning signs regarding the dangers of common household plants and their toxicity to cats. Please spread the message if you did not already know


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## katlover13 (Apr 15, 2008)

I am so sorry to hear what is happening to your poor cats! I normally don't keep flowers in the house because my cats destroy them, but it is still good to know.
Please keep us updated on how your kitties are doing.


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## KatieBarker (Nov 22, 2009)

Hi, thank you so much - aparantly this issue is widely known in the US. We are from the UK and it seems almost no-one we know is aware of just how deadly they are. All we can do now is hope for the best and try and spread awareness. I mean, my mum has always had cats and lilies are her favourite plants and yet this has never happened to her.


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## katlover13 (Apr 15, 2008)

I have always had cats and always lived in the US but have never heard about Lilies before. In the past I have had Easter Lilies in the house and never thought anything of it. 
Sending prayers your way that your cats will make a full recovery. What are their names?


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## KatieBarker (Nov 22, 2009)

Hi Sue, 

Their names are Evie and Rosie, Evie is the mother of Rosie and spends most of her time cleaning her girl so she is suffering the most as she has ingested alot more.

Easter lilies are documented as the most toxic so please advise everyone you know! Lilies are such common house plants and cut flowers to have, and we've always had them in our house until now. Never again!

Thank you so much for your support - its going to be a tough week for us


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

*_closes eyes to send good thoughts and healing wishes to Evie and Rosie_*

In our home, we allow no holiday plants: lilys (Easter) or chrysanthemums (Christmas).


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