Erin Biba: It's almost Valentine's Day so it's my yearly reminder that lilies are DEADLY to cats. Every single part of the lily. Even the tiniest sniff of pollen will send a cat into kidney failure within an hour. Lilies are a death sentence. If you have cats DO NOT have lilies in your home!

It's almost Valentine's Day so it's my yearly reminder that lilies are DEADLY to cats. Every single part of the lily. Even the tiniest sniff of pollen will send a cat into kidney failure within an hour. Lilies are a death sentence. If you have cats DO NOT have lilies in your home!

Do you like my picture editing skills it's like I'm a professional LMAO

I saw the pic first and was like "what has elon musk done to flowers now??"

Same

Graphic design is my actual passion.

sincerely it looks a hundred times better than any other design with a prominent X i've seen lately,

The Mark Of Elon was deadlier than the lilies

you did good, erin

🥰

12/10. No notes.

🙌

Love the new Elon-branded lilies 😊

That X really drives the point home.

strong NTSB energy

Hazmat Cat! Hazmat Cat!

that's not a joke about cats and lily pollen? holy shit...

Nope! It's extremely deadly.

I nearly lost one of my fosters who was adopted. Mom thought kitten couldn’t get to lilies “up high”. 4 figure vet bill and 3 days in the emergency clinic.

Ugh, same. The ER staff worked miracles but they charged accordingly. My cat hated the charcoal treatment, hated her IV & pulled it out a bunch of times, hated staying overnight. And we hated having to do a GoFundMe to pay for it. Absolutely no lilies in a home with cats, ever.

I'm so sorry to hear that... that's horrible.

We went through similar with this dude; £1000 vet bill and a weekend stay. He dug in the food waste bin after some chicken and ended up eating the pollen-bearing stamens I'd cut off some lilies we'd been sent. Irony? They'd been sent in sympathy because my dad had just died.

Even the water the lilies are sitting in is toxic. It's no joke.

not just pollen; ingesting any part of the flower can be fatal. Same with tulips.

It's a risk, not a certainty. But it is a risk. My parents routinely have lilies of all kinds in the house, including day lilies, and none of their cats have come down with kidney issues. But it can happen, and if I had control over their house I wouldn't put out lillies. Not worth the risk.

If the cats don't touch them, they're not going to get sick. But all it would take is brushing past, getting a bit of pollen on their fur, and them grooming it off. Too risky.

I think daylilies are in a different plant family than other lilies.

Daylilies are toxic too.

good to know!

This has always made me so sad because lilies are among my favorite flowers, but I have had at least one cat for 25+ of my 39 years, and they come first. Lilies must be admired outside the house only.

Same - I love lilies, but I love my cats more.

I was really bummed to discover this is also the case for tulips :(

Tulips are in the lily family.

Okay I did not know this. And we’ve already lost a cat to lilies. I tell everyone about lilies, but I didn’t know to steer clear of tulips. Thank you for this info.

ahhhhhh, I did not know that!

Basically, anything that grows from a bulb needs to be checked to see if it's toxic to cats or dogs. Because they're even more likely to be toxic than the average houseplant. Even non-lily bulb plants should be checked!

Notably, onions are also in this category!!

I know onions, garlic, and other Alliums are toxic to cats and dogs if ingested, due to the presence of certain compounds that harm their red blood cells. Does that apply to the pollen as well? I would guess so, but I wonder if anyone's ever tested it.

WHAT I have never known this, and I had plans to plant tulips omg thank you

Oh no! Thanks for this we have lots of tulips 🌷 in the garden.

I didn’t realize just how poisonous they were until someone had them in the apartment & this demon ate one! We got her to the emergency vet quickly and she only had to suffer through a very bad weekend. We are so lucky & grateful she was ok! I won’t go near them at all now

I did not know this. Not the sort of thing I'd have in my house anyway, but I do appreciate knowing it. www.fda.gov/animal-veter...

Lovely Lilies and Curious Cats: A Dangerous Combinationwww.fda.gov Lilies in the “true lily” and “daylily” families are very dangerous for cats.

Heard even the water they are in is bad for cats 💀

I read a murder-mystery where the vase water from the lilies was the poison used!

I found this graphic online. It might be helpful for anyone who (like me) never knew about this, and who might need help identifying lilies.

I'm sorry I forgot to post alt text. I'm not sure what I would write because I was replying on the pictures to know what flowers are lilies. I know way more about cats than I do about flowers.

Here is where I found the graphic. www.aspca.org/news/which-l...

Which Lilies Are Toxic to Pets?www.aspca.org Lilies, in many forms, can be life-threatening to cats, but how can you figure out which to steer clear of? Well, the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center has composed this list to keep you informed and...

Sorry I'm doing so many ALT replies to you, the bots are glitching and I was just trying to find one that works 🥰

It's okay. I've been trying to be good about posting alt text. These ALT replies will help me remember next time.

This one was a big job. The bot is a good alternative and also you can post #alt4me and it will go into a feed and someone will do the alt for you if you don't have the spoons.

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