Cats and Easter Lilies – a Deadly Combination!
Easter lilies, found in bouquets and potted plants particularly this time of year, are extremely toxic to cats. Ingestion of any part of the lily causes kidney failure within 36-72 hours.
“Cat owners need to be aware that the consequences can be devastating, even fatal, to our feline family members”, states Dr. Cindy McManis of Just Cats Veterinary Services in The Woodlands, Texas. “Though not as popular this time of year, other species of lilies such as Tiger lilies, Day lilies, Stargazer lilies and Oriental lilies are also extremely toxic.”
Symptoms include lethargy, loss of appetite, drooling and vomiting. Delay of treatment for over 18 hours will likely result in kidney failure and a high risk of death. Treatment includes evacuating and protecting the stomach and intestines from any absorption of the toxin and administering intravenous fluids. Dr. McManis notes that other species of animals such as dogs and horses are not known to be affected. Peace lilies and calla lilies are not in the same genus but can cause minor mouth and gastrointestinal irritation. Due to these risks, cat owners are encouraged to avoid placing lilies anywhere where cats reside.
In addition to having your regular veterinarian’s office number readily available, owners should have the number for Animal Poison Control, (888) 426-4435, accessible.
If your cat exhibits any of the symptoms noted above or if you suspect that your cat has ingested any part of an Easter lily seek veterinary care immediately. With prompt treatment, full recovery is possible.
Cats and Cigarettes – A Lethal Combination
If you are a smoker, then you have probably been told by many people to stop smoking. Get ready to add two more to the list: your veterinarian and your cat!
Cats that live in smoking households are unwilling victims of second hand smoke. Second hand smoke has long been suspected of causing respiratory disease and lung cancer (and other cancers) in cats. Few studies are available, however, a 2002 study by Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine showed that cats living in smoking households were twice a likely to develop feline lymphoma (a type of cancer).
In addition, in smoking households, smoke particles land and cover exposed surfaces, including the cats. These particles (and more picked up through contact) are swallowed by cats during grooming, causing an increased risk of squamous cell carcinoma, a deadly oral cancer. Basically, you are covering your cat in cancer-causing particles.
Lastly, cats that swallow tobacco products can be poisoned by nicotine. Menthol is especially appealing to some cats, making them very dangerous. One cigarette can contain enough nicotine to be toxic to a 5 lb. cat.
Kicking the habit? Congratulations – you may be saving your life and your cat’s life, but please be careful. All nicotine products are poisonous to cats, so be sure they are out of reach. The toxic level of nicotine for cats is 5 mg (milligrams) of nicotine per pound of body weight.
Nicotine levels in various products include:
- Nicotine patches – 8 to 114 mg of nicotine.
- Nicotine gum – 2 to 4 mg per piece.
- Nicotine inhalers – about 4 mg per puff.
- Nasal sprays – 80 to 100 mg per bottle (0.5 mg per spray).
- Cigars – approximately 15 to 40 mg each.
- Chewing tobacco – 6 to 8 mg of nicotine per gram.
- Snuff – 12 to 17 mg of nicotine per gram.
- A cigarette butt can contain 4 – 8 mg since smoking concentrates some of the nicotine in the butt.
So, if you truly love your cat, stop smoking. It is hard, but so important for you and your cat. Need help? Here are some of the many available resources:
Until you quit, please avoid smoking indoors and make sure to keep all Tobacco and nicotine containing products out of your cat’s reach.
Just Quit – Your cat will thank you!
Flowers and Fleas
As I was reading a story in the life style magazine of the paper, I came across an ad proclaiming the virtues of “natural” flea repellents. Having just been inundated by a ton of cats with fleas the week before, I was inspired to write about fleas, flea products and to help dispel a myth or two. I’d had some clients who had been using an herbal flea collar that did nothing and made the cat smell like a volatile oils factory. Poor kitty was still crawling with fleas.
Now I’ve gone through acupuncture training and some herb courses, and know that there are some things in that arena that can be very helpful and work well for a variety of medical conditions. But I also know that just because something says “natural” doesn’t mean that it’s safe or effective. Most herbal flea products contain things like cedar oil, peppermint oil, clove oil, and other things that say “natural pyrethrin”. They can have a very strong smell that can last for days. That can be tough for an animal that is as sensitive to smells as cats are. Volatile oils can aggravate breathing problems; this is especially true of cedar oil. Stay away from these products if your cat has a history of breathing problems. Clove oil is toxic to cats. Skin reactions are common with all these products, especially if they are not pure. Oils are sometimes absorbed through the skin and peppermint oil can go deep. People who ingest peppermint oil on a regular basis might get changes in their liver enzymes.
When it comes to parasite control, we live in a wonderful age. The products that come from the vet for flea control have a very high margin of safety. They can contain not only safe flea products but also a heartworm preventative that helps with intestinal parasite control. Our pet cats have the dubious honor of surpassing dogs in the incidence of intestinal parasites and positive heartworm tests. All this because dog owners are so good at using their heartworm preventative and cat owners aren’t. And yes, those products can be smelly too, but usually just for a few hours. And yes, again, there will be the rare skin reaction. But the important thing is that they work great and have a well documented safety margin. They keep your family safe too. Those black specks of flea dirt have been shown to carry the bacteria that gives people, especially children, cat scratch disease. Control the fleas and you control the risk. Same for roundworms. They can get into people too.
Treating fleas requires a multi-modal approach. You need to treat the adult fleas on the animal, but also any eggs that they lay. If the problem is bad enough, you may need to treat for eggs that are in the house. Adult fleas aren’t the problem in your house, the eggs are. You treat them differently. Control the egg production and you control the problem. It can take 6 – 8 weeks before you can be sure that you’ve got the problem licked. That’s because you have to wait long enough to be sure no new fleas are hatching out. Talk to your vet about what’s going to work the best for you. And if you can use one product that can help with fleas, heartworm and intestinal parasites, do it.
Keep in mind that Mother Nature has some very potent plants and just because they’re hers, doesn’t mean that they are the safest things. So be careful what you put on your cat and whose advice you listen to.
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