10 Poison Prevention Week Tips for your Cat

March 15-21 is National Poison Prevention Week. While cats are more likely to eat non-toxic items, such as ribbons and ear plugs (that are still a medical problem), there are still some cats that will eat other items that can be a problem due to a toxicity. To help prevent a poisoning incident, consider the following tips:

• If your cat takes medication regularly, keep the bottles hidden in a cupboard rather than out

  

  Pills are fun to catch, "kill" and eat.

  where the medication is accessible. If you need to have the medication out where you can see it to help remind you to give it, use a small weekly pill container, so that only a few pills are out and accessible, and make sure that the weekly pill holder is in an area that the cat cannot access. Keep the rest of the prescription behind closed doors.
• Be especially careful to keep chewable medications and vitamins out of reach (for humans or pets).
• Store human medications in a separate location from human medications to avoid confusing who gets which pill. Human prescription medications are the number one reason people call the Animal Poison Control Center, and over the counter human medications are the third most common reason. We have had phone calls from clients who have accidentally taken their pets' medication and calls from people who have accidentally given their own medication to their cat! If you drop a human medication on the floor, make sure to pick it up, immediately. Better yet, take your human medications over a counter or plate so that the medication never falls on the floor. We have had a few patients who have swooped in and stolen a toxic pill from the floor as their owner was reaching down to pick it up.
• Keep your purse, backpack or laptop bag out of reach of your cat. Many people carry

  

  Cats LOVE to get into bags, which can get them into trouble.

  medications, coins, batteries, various snacks, etc. in bags they carry around with them daily. If a pet can get into the bag, they have access to a wide array of things they should not eat! Additionally, we have had people who take their bags with them into homes with fleas bring fleas home to their own house and pets afterwards!
• Don't leave people food out where cats  can eat it! Many human foods are safe, but a number of foods that we can eat can be toxic to your cat. Chocolate is a toxin many people know of,

  

  Cats sometimes have strange ideas about what foods they want to eat

  however foods from the onion family, such as garlic, leeks, and scallions are also a concern for cat. Just like people can have adverse effects from drinking too much alcohol, cats can also suffer from intoxication and even coma and death from an alcoholic overdose.
• Keep flower arrangements and indoor plants out of reach of your cat. Some flowers are more toxic than others, and the beautiful members of the lily family are the most toxic of all. Even a small amount of pollen that a cat grooms off of its coat may be enough to cause kidney failure.
• If your cat goes outside, be sure to check with your neighbors to see if they use rodenticides. Additionally, find out if they use any insecticide sprays on their lawn, and on what schedule, so that you can make sure to keep your cat confined after a treatment has been applied. Also make sure to keep dog and cat parasite preventives separate - a number of products that are safe for dogs are toxic to cats. Only 11% of the 180,000 calls per year to the ASPCA Poison Control Center involve insecticides (that's about 20,000 cases of insecticide poisoning), but more than half of those cases involve cats. Many fertilizers may contain blood or bone meal or poultry manure, which can all be a cause for concern for your pets, as well.
• Keep your pet emergency phone numbers handy! Even better, take a minute right now and program the phone number of Exclusively Cats (248-666-5287), the ASPCA Poison Control Center (888-426-4435) and your favorite animal emergency hospital into your phone for easy access, if they are not there, already.
• Download the ASPCA Animal Poison Control's free app.

Want to know if the rumor you heard about a poisonous substance for pets is true? Check out the Animal Poison Control Center's "Okay or No Way!" list.

Here is some further information about poison prevention in cats:
Summer safety tips
Gardening with Cats
Lily Toxicity
Christmas Safety Tips

Mr. May’s Musings

Boomer

 (Interview transcribed by Boomer's personal assistant)

Age: Just turned 1 year old

Weight: Great body condition (although Dr. Bailey calls me “fat cat”) 10.4 lbs.

Gender: neutered male

Demeanor at the vet’s office: Curious, but well behaved.

Feline friends: As of last month, I have a new brother named Bandit – 8 months old

How I found my home:  My family likes to think they chose me…but I chose them.  I was born under the front porch of their home and lived there undetected for about a month.  When my sibling and I became a bit more adventurous, they saw us playing under the watchful eye of our mother on the sidewalk.  At that time, they did not know that they were “closet cat lovers” – so they just watched us through the front window as we played.  We were irresistible!  They watched until our mom got scared and moved us to a new section of the ‘hood.  I didn’t like it there and two weeks later, I found my way back HOME.  I stood on the back of a chair on the front porch and looked in the window until my human dad noticed me.  He called my human mom and the kids.  The rest as they say…is history!  

How I got my name: My human parents decided to let the kids name me. Before they discovered I was a male, they wanted to name me Kitty Perry.  One of the kids thought I should be named Professor Kitty Pants!  While everyone thought those were pretty funny names, thankfully, my human mom refused to introduce me to the vet that way!  After much deliberation, they all landed on the name Boomer – likely from the thunderstorms that made them decide to take me in. 

Favorite food:  I love to eat both wet and dry food…and treats whenever I can get them.  I especially love the dry food – but I’m currently working on portion control at the advice of my doctor and with the unsolicited help of my brother, Bandit.  He is a much faster eater than me.  When he is done with the food in his dish, he pushes me out of the way and dives into my bowl!  I try my best to scoop some food out onto the floor with my paw – but I’m not too successful! 

Standout moment of my first year:  The day after Christmas, I became very sick.  The initial diagnosis was scary for everyone…FIP*.  My family was really sad and brought me to see Dr. Bailey.  He came up with a treatment protocol that had me taking lots of medicine and everyone watched me carefully.  I’m happy to report that I’m 100% again!   After this ‘Cat’astrophe, Dr. Bailey thought I needed a friend and so my parents rescued the newest addition to our family, Bandit! 

My favorite sleeping spots:  I really don’t require a lot of sleep and am always ready for fun! I’ve carved a little spot for myself under a bed in my human brother’s room.  He’s away at medical school and will be married soon – so the spot is available!  It’s pretty nice because he put a warm fleece blanket under there and there is a dust ruffle that keeps me hidden.  My little brother seems to like this spot, too.  My other favorite spot is on my parent’s bed nestled right up against my mom.  She thinks I’m better than an electric blanket! 

My favorite things to do:  Before I had a little brother, my favorite thing to do was follow my humans around the house – especially when they would play hide and seek with me.  I also liked to relax on the top level of my kitty condo and look down at everyone else.  Sitting in a sunny spot near an open door or window is also a favorite way to pass the time.   Since my brother arrived, my new favorite thing to do is to chase him.  When I catch him, we either rough house or groom each other.  It depends on our mood!  No kitten…it’s all true!

* Note from Dr. Bailey: Boomer was initially seen at an Emergency Hospital in December for possible ingestion of a lily. His family did the right thing in rushing him to the ER immediately since lily poisoning is a true emergency. Fortunately, lily ingestion was not the source of his illness. 

It was suspected, due to the "anterior uveitis" (a painful inflammation of the front portion of the eye that makes the eye look red and cloudy) noted in his eyes (see photo below) and the fact that he had a fever, that he may have had FIP, or Toxoplasmosis, but thankfully, further testing and favorable response to treatment suggest that neither of these diseases were the cause. Unfortunately, about 6 out of every 10 cases of uveitis cannot be linked to a specific cause, despite extensive testing. Chronic, untreated uveitis is very painful to the cat and can lead to blindness.  

Fortunately, most cases of uveitis respond very quickly to prompt treatment, as was the case with Boomer. 

Boomer with anterior uveitis (red cloudy areas) in both eyes.

Killer lilies are a no-no for kitties!

Image credit: Field of Lilies by Andrea Andrade

We’ve set our clocks forward and have seen crocuses poke their heads up from the frozen earth, and the first thing that many of us want to do is to celebrate spring with some lovely, fragrant lilies – especially the beautiful white trumpet-shaped Easter lilies that appear everywhere this time of year. Unfortunately, for those of us with cats, this is probably the worst way to usher in good weather.

Easter lilies (Lilium longiflorum) are incredibly poisonous to cats. Well, all lilies, really - Tiger Lily ( Lilium henryi and lancifolium spp.), Day Lily (Hemerocallis spp.), Asiatic lily (Lilium asiatica), Stargazer lily (Lilium orientalis) and the rest of the Lilium family. (Not sure if you have a lily? Wikipedia has images of many of the lily species which will help with identification.) All parts of the lily plant are dangerous, including the flowers, stamens, stems, leaves and roots – even the pollen. If a cat gets pollen on its coat and then grooms, it could still cause fatal illness. Cats that get pollen on themselves should be thoroughly bathed as soon as possible.

Most of the time, we only know that a cat has eaten a lily because some part of the lily appears in a very inconveniently placed puddle of vomit. Many people may even initially write it off, thinking, “Oh well, Fluffy got into the spider plant again. Guess I’ll go get the carpet cleaner.” (Spider plants are non-toxic, by the way, so Fluffy can eat away at them all she likes!) However, when it comes to lilies, it is imperative that you seek emergency medical treatment for your cat as soon as possible to ensure proper and effective treatment. In approximately 2-4 days after ingestion of the plant, your cat may begin to show signs of kidney failure. If enough toxin is absorbed to cause acute kidney failure, then the likelihood that your cat will respond to treatment is poor.

A cat affected by lily intoxication will initially show signs of an upset stomach (gastritis): vomiting, a lack of interest in food and lethargy. These initial signs may appear within 2-12 hours of ingestion and may disappear after 12 hours. The cat may improve briefly or appear to act normal before the condition progresses to serious acute renal failure within 48 to 72 hours.

Once a cat’s kidneys have been damaged to the point of failure, they will show a variety of signs such as lethargy, vomiting, increased thirst, and urinating large quantities (in some cases, urine production may stop altogether - anuria). Affected cats are also likely to be dehydrated. If left untreated, death can occur in as little as 3 days.

Diagnosis and Treatment:
There is no “lily poisoning test”, diagnosis is usually made due to someone witnessing the cat eat the lily or vomit part of the plant. Blood tests that check the kidneys (BUN and creatinine levels) will help confirm ingestion, though severe increases are not likely to be seen immediately. If your cat’s kidney values are normal after eating part of a lily plant, this is GOOD! It means that treatment is more likely to be successful.

Within 6 hours of exposure, depending on how quickly the cat is brought to the veterinary hospital, doctors and staff may try to induce vomiting and/or give medications to prevent further absorption of the toxin. Even if blood values are normal and the cat vomits up the lily parts you will likely be advised to hospitalize your cat for monitoring and IV fluid administration for a minimum of 24 hours. If your cat is treated immediately after ingestion, prognosis is good.

Up to 48 hours post-exposure, immediate hospitalization and intensive IV fluid therapy will be recommended. The length of time that your cat will need to be hospitalized depends on how badly his kidneys have already been affected, and how he responds to treatment. Prognosis is guarded to poor – mild to moderate kidney damage may be permanent.

Two to four days post-exposure, depending on laboratory testing of the kidneys, humane euthanasia to end suffering may be the only option. Prognosis is very poor – severe, irreversible kidney damage may result in the inability to produce urine. Left untreated for longer than 18 hours, one can expect death in almost 100% of cases.

If you or anyone in your household suspects that your cat may have ingested any part of a lily, no matter how small, please seek immediate veterinary attention. Hesitation may mean the difference between life and death for your cat!

**Celebrate Pet Poison Prevention Week March 18-24 by sharing this article with at least one other person. You might save a life! **

Calla Lily

Peace Lily

Note: While Calla lilies (Zantedeschia aethiopica) and Peace lilies (Spathiphyllum spp.) are not true lilies, they are still toxic to a lesser degree and can cause oral irritation, intense burning and irritation of mouth, tongue and lips, excessive drooling, vomiting, difficulty swallowing

Lily of the Valley

Peruvian Lily

Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis) is also not a true lily, however, it is also toxic and can cause vomiting and cardiac problems such as irregular heart beat, low blood pressure, disorientation, coma, and seizures. Peruvian lily (Alstroemeria spp.) is another lily to be aware of. While many florists advertize it to be non-toxic, large amounts of this lily-lookalike can cause stomach irritation, vomiting and diarrhea. Peruvian lilies come in all colors and are also valued in floral arrangements due to their long life as a cut flower.

  For further information:

ASPCA Toxic Plant List
Pet Poison Help Line – learn the common signs of poisoning, 

make a pet poison first aid kit and more!
PSA website: No Lilies for Cats  - FAQ about lily poisoning
Why veterinarians hate Easter - a Veterinarian’s story
The dangers of lilies – a cat owner’s story