Easter Lilies Can Kill Cats
How to Protect Your Pet's Health This Easter
Here's how to protect your pet's health this Easter. Be aware of the symptoms and treatments of Easter lily poisoning in cats.
Easter lilies are beautiful and popular decorations for the Easter holiday, but if even one leaf is swallowed by your cat or kitten, it could die. Easter lilies can kill cats. According to Wilson Rumbeiha (assistant professor of pathobiology and diagnostic investigation at Michigan State University), cats can be poisoned by either the leaf or the flower itself. The exact amount or number of leaves or flowers that cause toxic poisoning is unknown.
Indoor cats were specifically mentioned by Rumbeiha, but outdoor cats could also be affected. Cats of either sex and all ages could be poisoned to death by these lilies. However, dogs, mice, and rats are not sensitive to Easter lilies – and can eat all they wish.
Symptoms of Easter Lily Poisoning in Cats
Depressed cats. Symptoms of Easter lily poisoning in cats begin to appear within 30 minutes of eating the leaves or flowers. The first symptom of Easter lily poisoning is depression. Rumbeiha didn't specify how you know if your cat is depressed, but you know your cat. Perhaps he's not interested in playing or it doesn't respond the birds or fish in your home the way it did only a few hours earlier.
Other symptoms. Later symptoms of Easter lily poisoning in cats include vomiting, loss of appetite, and even weight loss. "Acute renal failure starts at about 48 hours post-ingestion," says Rumbeiha. This means the kidneys shut down.
Treatment of Easter Lily Poisoning in Cats
If you know – or even suspect – that your cat or kitten is showing symptoms of Easter lily poisioning, take it to the vet or hospital as soon as possible. If treatment is administered before renal failure sets in, your cat has a better chance of surviving. The best and most helpful time to start treatment for Easter lily poisoning in cats is within six hours of ingestion. If medical therapy is begun after 18 hours have passed, the odds that your cat will recover are greatly reduced. After 18 hours, damage to the kidneys is irreversible.
Treatment for Easter lily poisoning in cats may involve causing your cat to vomit, administering active charcoal, and giving him intravenous fluids to keep him hydrated.
Between 50% and 100% of cats poisoned by Easter lilies die. Since the actual toxin has not been identified, there is no antidote to the poison – which means there's no way to prevent death. Easter lilies can kill cats, and there's as yet no treatment.
Other lilies can kill cats, too
The National Animal and Poison Control Center has reported that tiger lilies and Asiatic hybrid lilies are poisonous to cats and kittens as well. Other flowers in this category can cause renal failure as well.
If your cat dies from Easter lily poisioning
What if your cat does suffer from Easter lily poisioning? Especially during Easter – a time of family, celebration, and delicious meals – and your cat dies. Grieving a pet's loss is hard at the best of times…during a holiday can be almost unbearable. That's why protecting your pet's health at Easter is so important.
If your cat is poisoned by Easter lilies and dies, try to find ways to combine the joy of the holiday with the sadness of the loss of your pet. Being open and honest about your feelings is important - and so is appreciating the loved ones in your midst. Finding the balance between grief and gratitude can be difficult, but worth it. Stay away from blaming one another if your cat dies from Easter lily poisoning.
Doing all you can to prevent a tragedy is much better than dealing with a death later!
Consider other Easter decorations
If you celebrate Easter and want to decorate your home without worrying about an Easter lily poisoning your cat, there are many options. Try weaving and filling Easter baskets (it's a great activity to do with your kids) or focusing on Easter eggs. Bonnets, bunnies, chick-a-dees, ribbons, bows, and chocolates are fun ways to celebrate this holiday. Even fake or plastic lilies can be beautiful.
Enjoy your Easter holiday - without the shadow of your cat's death!
If you found Easter Lilies Can Kill Cats: How to Protect Your Pet's Health This Easter helpful, you might try:
