Mum showed me an article from the daily express this weekend advising not to grow lilies if you have a cat or kitten as they are extremely harmful to them .

My garden has around 20 tree lilies that grow to about 5/6ft every summer, smell gorgeous and are so pretty.

We had a cat for years, we weren`t aware of the danger and fortunately the lilies didn`t harm him.

Do you think I should dig them all up just incase they harm our new kitten and has anyone else heard or had problems with lilies ?

Many many plants are harmful if ingested - lillies being just one. Now if you do dig yours up what happens if your cat visits your neighbours who have them ? Should they dig theirs up too ?

Think it's slightly overreacting to do so myself. As most cats have enough sense not to eat poisonous plants themselves.

This is just a sample of the plants that can harm a cat

http://www.moggies.co.uk/plants.html

Gosh I didn`t realise !

Yes they are so many things ie food that can harm cats/kittens as well. Its the pollen in the middle of the plant that is usualy dangerous too them. I will not have them in my house.

I had Leopard Lily a few years ago and after returning home from shopping found my Tatie Spudkins and Guiness in a corner shivering with their mouths 'glued shut' where the saliva was so thick. The plant was on the floor with only one leaf missing but we took it to the vets with us and they confirmed it was probably the culprit. They both had a temp of 105F and were immediately put on a drip. They were kept in for 3 days and it was touch and go as to wether or not they would make it.

Luckily they both pulled through and made a full recovery.

I would strongly advise not ave lillies near cats just as a precaution.

This sounds awful. I'm glad they were alright.

i would not have lilies indoors,they are extremley toxic to cats and kittens.there is not much you can do about outside,you dont know who might have them in there gardens.

Outdoor cats are pretty wise to what they can chew on and besides have a lot more choice so I wouldn't be concerned about the garden ones- you could pinch out the stamens when they flower to be sure. Indoor cats sometines have a go at houseplants, flower arrangements etc when they are bored so I don't have them in the house at all.

The point about lilies is that the cat does not have to chew the plant to be affected. If they brush past the plant and get pollen on their coat, their natural reaction is to lick it off, and that can be fatal. A few years ago a Siamese cat died a horrible death this way.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...r-flowers.html

Lilies are the one plant I won't have in the garden for that reason.

Yes but presumably your cat will meet them in other people's gardens so although I wouldn't have them in the house why not have them in the garden ?

It's the practicalities of where you keep them too. When I lived with my Dad I was given a huge beautiful bunch of lilies from my sister when she came to see me in a play. I was aware of the dangers so simply kept Rubes out of that particular room. My house is smaller now and the doors kept open so my fluffs have the run of the house so I wouldn't have them now.

My cats meet all sorts of potential hazards in other people's gardens - dogs, ponds, poisonous plants, chemicals - but it would be foolish and irresponsible of me to keep a substance myself that I knew was very likely to kill my cats if they merely brushed against it.

Guess I have always trusted my cats to know - never had one be harmed yet so will go on trusting. Dogs however never seem to learn !

I think a lot of it is down to luck. I had lilies in the garden and even in the house before I read that article in 2005, and fortunately no harm resulted. I agree that I trust my cats to 'know' too - in that I have foxgloves and other toxic plants which they are trusted not to ingest! But they have no way of knowing that just brushing past a lily plant could harm them. My neighbour has lilies in pots in her garden, but she is kind enough to keep them inaccessible to the cats.

I am off to collect my kitten from the vets in an hour and half, I to had lilles, and knew the pollen was poisonous, I thought I had cut out all the stigma's but yesterday I found her with the give away yellow nose and lips, although none could be seen in her mouth, I called our vet, who said bring her in immediately. She was placed on a drip for 24 hours, and was given charcoal, and a tummy pump. A few hundred pounds lighter and carrying the world of guilt, I am desperate to go and collect her. I hate to say this, but kittens do not know, she loves smelling flowers, and am sure this is how this happened, but it was far to greater risk to take.

Thought I'd give this a spring/mothers' day bounce - cat lily deaths in the news again:

Lilies in bouquet kill 3 cats

Before I started looking into having a cat myself I had no idea how poisonous they were to cats - even had I not gone ahead and got a cat I'd been digging mine up now I know as the neighbours' cats come into my garden.
Still on the plus side I can at last call off my perennial war with the red lily beetles

Daffodils are also not good for cats, mainly the bulb, but they are still harmful if ingested.

I love lillies - if I have them in the house I just cut off the stamen when the flowers open up. Not killed any of my cats yet.

...but why take the risk ?

Lilies are definitely one of the most dangerous plants to cats. All our cats have always been indoors only, so we have never had the problem with gardens, but we make sure not to have any in the house at all.

I first heard of this risk a few years ago .We spoke to my wifes aunt who has had the local vet practise for almost 50 years and had never seen even one case of poisoning by lillies .We just left ours in the garden and haven't had any problems .

What risk? I remove the poisonous element so I don't see it as a risk. I let my cats outside too. I really do live my cat owning life vicariously don't I!

The problem is you don't know if your cat will suddenly take an interest in any lilies you have or just ignore them, and you can't supervise them all the time.

But if the poisonous elements have been removed what does it matter if cats take an interest or not?

I removed my lilies from my garden when I was first made aware of their dangers and I don't buy them myself but I have, on occasion, been given bouquets with lilies - I too remove the poisonous parts to make them safe for my cats. I'm not going to discard expensive, appreciative gestures from friends....

It seems that quite a lot of flowers can be toxic to cats, including tulips which I have loads of in my garden. My cats have never come to any harm in my garden. I think lilies can be more harmful because the poisonous bits come off so easily as the cat brushes past the flower, then as the cat washes itself it ingests the poison.

But all parts of the lily are poisonous to cats!