Winning letter
Cats and lilies are not compatible
Dear Platteland, I am so happy that you can still light up my life, despite the dark times affecting print media. A prosperous 2021 to you.
My pro bono cause for this year is the huge risk lilies pose to cats in particular, of which I knew nothing until recently. In fact, just this afternoon I spoke to the author af the book Cut Flowers of the World and he didn’t know a thing about it.
I want to spread the word as far and wide as possible, to retailers, flower farmers and florists. I have also appealed to one of our largest flower bulb companies to place a warning on their website links and the packaging of all the relevant bulbs; it would help us to make informed decisions and know what to look out for if we do plant them or buy cut flowers. Besides, it should also benefit their brands if they show they care about consumers’ fur babies.
I discovered by a roundabout way that lilies – several kinds – can be deadly to cats. Even the water in a vase with lilies can be harmful. Poisoning is relatively uncommon, which is why it is not widely known in South Africa.
I learnt this because my cat always tends to drink from vases and in the process gets pollen on himself. By chance, a friend came to visit on the same day he did this – she is always fussing over Max and I joked that he’d got “paint” all over himself. She only knew of the risk because the kitten of a client of hers had recently nearly died like that.
Here is a link to a reputable website where we were able to source the most comprehensive information:
fda.gov/animal-veterinary/animal-health-literacy/lovely-lilies-and-curious-cats-dangerous-combination – it lists the types of lilies and the symptoms.
Greenside Animal Hospital in Johannesburg gave Max preventative treatment with renal function tests and a drip over two days.
Elizabeth Pretorius
JOHANNESBURG
Dr Liesel van der Merwe, specialist small animal physician and senior lecturer: outpatients at Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital, replies:
Beautiful as they are, almost all of the lily species used as cut flowers are highly toxic to cats. Both the Lilium spp and Hemerocallis spp are toxic. Lilium species include the Easter lilies, stargazer lilies and Asiatic lilies. Hemerocallis lilies include daylilies. All parts of the plant are toxic: the petals (most toxic), the leaves, the pollen and the water in the vase. The toxin causes kidney
