With Spring and Easter just around the corner, it is very important to consider the potential problems that can occur when cats ingest plants, especially lilies. Members of the Lilium (true lilies) and Hemerocallis (day lilies) genera can cause severe problems in cats. Both of these plants can potentially cause kidney failure and possibly death when ingested by cats. Ingestion of even a small amount of true lilies or day lilies should be considered potentially toxic
in cats.

All parts of the plant are considered toxic and only small amounts are required- less than one leaf or a small amount of pollen- to cause problems.

The symptoms of toxicity include depression, lethargy, inappetance and vomiting. A cat that has ingested lilies should be seen immediately for treatment. Treatments may include emetics (emetics potentially remove any plant material from the stomach and stop absorption of the toxin), activated charcoal (this helps minimize absorption of any plant material) and hospitalization with aggressive intravenous fluid treatment.

Close monitoring of the kidneys enzymes is very important with treatment; this also helps to determine prognosis. The important message here is that ingestion of even a small amount of true  or day lilies can be potentially toxic to your cat. It is important to determine what type of plant material your cat has ingested if you do find plant leaf particles in the vomitus.

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