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Lilies poisonous to cats

SackoSacko Posts: 3
On last nights episode, Monty said that he had grown lilies for some time and had no problems with his cats being poisoned. I think this is a bit irresponsible as it is well known that some cats have been poisoned. Today's Daily Mail runs an article about a cat being poisoned by tulips. Just because some cats ignore certain plants, doesn't mean others will do. 


  • PalustrisPalustris Posts: 3,668
    One way to make Lilies a little safer is to go round and remove the anthers and the pollen. It also makes the flowers last longer. Cats are more often poisoned by licking off pollen than eating the plant.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Central Norfolk UKPosts: 71,784
    The biggest danger to cats from lilies is from their pollen. Few cats are able to reach lily pollen unless the blooms are cut and brought indoors and placed in a vase without removing the stamens. If a cat gets onto the sideboard etc, brushes against the lilies, gets pollen on it's fur which it then licks off when grooming then it can suffer poisoning.
    There are many plants out there which are poisonous to cats and other animals but they usually don't come into contact with them ... it is when we bring them into the house the problem occurs. 
    What Monty said was that he loves cats and his have not been harmed by the lilies in his garden. 
    If you're particularly anxious about your cats the of course you don't have to grow them , but remember that if your cats come into my garden there may be some lilies here. 
    My sons cat is perfectly happy and healthy and has never been outside; my daughters cats are never outside unsupervised, and my friend's cats have a large secure outside run for when they are not being supervised. 

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  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 29,053
    Exactly how toxic is it to cats and how much do they need to eat and how likely is it that they will do so?

    I think a lot of urban legends exist in gardening and people being faux outraged when they have zero facts to back it up is more outrageous.
    Wise words. How many of us know of a cat which has actually been poisoned by lilies?I'd be especially doubtful of anything which come from The Hitler Loving Daily Hate Mail.
    Where's @Steve the Gardening Vet?? I really miss him.
  • LynLyn DevonPosts: 18,431
    I don’t know any personally, but I don’t know anyone.😀I do know that licking pollen off their fur can kill them, I always remove those parts. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Kitty 2Kitty 2 ManchesterPosts: 5,150
    I think Topbird had it happen to one of her cats. She warned me about how awful it was last year when I grew some calla lilies.
    I thought it was just the Oriental/Asiatic types with poisonous pollen.
  • Paul B3Paul B3 Posts: 2,952
    If only every cat owner was as responsible as the ones you mention !
  • Daisy33Daisy33 LondonPosts: 1,031
    Didn't know that about Callas Kitty, dogs as well apparently.  :/ Thanks for posting.
  • ObelixxObelixx Vendée, Western FrancePosts: 26,215
    edited March 2018
    I just knew this would come up today.  Why on earth could Monty not have said it's the pollen that's the problem and advise people to cut of those parts if worried rather than start a panic and have people throwing out their lilies?

    I have always had cats and have grown lilies for many years.  I do remove pollen from cut flowers because my cats are more likely to come into contact with the pollen.  It also stains anything it falls on.   I also grow my lilies in pots away from walls, window sills, benches etc and that raises them above cat contact level.   So far, so good.

    I haven't grown callas since we got the dogs.
  • Kitty 2Kitty 2 ManchesterPosts: 5,150
    I didn't know either Daisy. The callas were in the greenhouse but I took them out to snap a pic, which my cat photo bombed. @Topbird saw the pic and warned me.
    I hope she sees this thread and can pass on her first hand knowledge.
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