Hang on Ferdinand! (Lily warning awarness!)

Yesterday morning my wife's gf brought my wife a bouqete of Stargazer Lilies. We left the house at around 2pm and came back home around 6. At about 10:30pm I caught our cat Ferdinand chewing on one of the leaves. I quickly shooed him down and looked up if Lilies are poisonous for cats.
As it turns out, the ARE, very!!! They cause kidney failure and I did not know this. And it seems like it is not on this site either! Which tells me there is not enough awareness about it.

We ran him to an emergency vet clinic and he will be there for 48hrs on fluids and medication. The treatment is expensive(in a +2k range) but I really really don't care right now, I just want him to pull through! I did some reading, and signs are shown within 2hrs of eating any part of any Lily. We found 3 chewed leaves(totaling maybe 1/2 ingested leaf) and we took him as soon as we caught him. He was showing no signs up to that point so I am hoping he did not chew any while we were gone today!

Hang on Ferdinand!


Here he is....




I called the emergency this morning at 9am and at 7pm and he has shown no signs of lily poisoning and is doing well, but he's not out in the clear yet. He will be staying there for another 24 hrs.
No signs of poisoning in the labtest but since they are feeding him a lot of fluids it is diluted. After 48 hrs the results will show if there has been any direct kidney damage done.

Hold on little guy!

And for those who do not know - KEEP YOUR CATS AWAY FROM LILIES!!!!!. And educate yourself which plants are poisonous to your kitty.

This was the only plant in our house, and just yesterday I was commenting on how we should get him a pot with some grass in it.

May he pull through with no ill effect s....

Oh dear - I will be praying for recovery for him. I knew Lilys were poisoneous. That is the main reason I really don't have any live plants in the house. My flowers are outside.

Charlie destroyed some roses - he was ok, but I know I can't have flowers in a vase in the house now.

Oh no!! Prayers and vibes that Ferdinand pulls through this ok!

I was not so optimistic last night, I was very stressed and that place was depressing being an emergency place on a long weekend. We were there for 1 1/2 hours and there were 3 deaths.
Worrying about your cat and seeing other people crying over their loss is not the greatest atmosphere.

Anyway, I'm thinking we are one of rare people that caught their car before any symptoms were shown and I got two good updates today. Which leaves me being cautiously optimistic.

Tons of get well soon I can only hope you caught it soon enough!!

I hope Ferdinand gets better soon! He is gorgeous!! Look at that face. Tabbies rule!

Thanks for the support guys. I just spoke to the clinic again and seems like he is doing very good so far, knock on wood!

No puking, or diarrhea - so no signs. He is also eating and peeing as he should and currently he's a sleep.

Since there were not complications the cost of first 24 hrs will be just over $900, which is way less then quoted, which was 1300-$1600. Just thought you guys would like to know.

Another pic of him with my wife:

I am keeping you and your sweet Ferdinand in my prayers. I am a BIG proponant about education on lilies. I have taken numerous pamphlets about renal failure and cats to the flower shops in my home town (especially at Easter) and asked them to include it with arrangements that contain lilies. I've only had one flower shop show any interest whatsoever. Very depressing to me.

I have two cats with Chronic Feline Renal Failure (CRF) and have educated myself extensively on the causes and treatements. I wish that so many people would not have to learn the hard way about cats, lilies and renal failure.

Good luck Ferdinand....you are in my prayers for a quick and complete recovery.

He's a beauty!

Pookie & the girls
CRF Cleo, CRF Maggie & Lola

Good for your little guy. Stargazer Lillies are beautiful flowers but with my two, especially Barkley who likes to get into any and everything, I dont have any plants/flowers in the house. I didnt know that Lillies were poisonous to cats (thanks for the education on that one!) so I will definitely be keeping the babies away from all lillies from now on.

PS. Ferdinand is a handsome boy!

Seems like I have good news, so far so good!!

The DR told me this afternoon that Ferdinand is doing VERY well, no signs of anything, bloodwork being clean. She said that she "has no concerns whatsoever" and that I can go get him tonight, around 9-10 which would make up to be about 46 hours of him being there. She said the last thing would still be to check with his family vet tomorrow for another bloodwork when he's off the fluids, but she sounded very positive.
I think if it IS all clear, it is probably due to us catching him right away and him being treated before he showed signs of anything.
Another poser pic!

Absolutely WONDERFUL news!!! I'm so glad that you were there, and could do the research to catch it in time. Continued prayers that everything turns out well for your sweet little guy!

Thanks guys!

There are two things that were crucial in catching it on time. One was the fact that I have been in similar situations before, but not with poisons. The second is the internet! I am still reserved and I will wait for that final bloodwork tomorrow with the vet but if it's all good, internet saved Ferdinand's life!
The fact that I was able to research it right away...

I am so happy to hear that your beautiful boy is ok ....... good for you being on top of things like you were and getting him help immediately.

I, too knew that there are so many poisonous plants out there ..... I just dont allow any live plants inside. When I have been sent or given flowers, they always have to stay outside in the entryway.

Many vibes and prayers for your lucky guy there.

Well, it's been around 36 hrs so I'm allowing myself to be an optimist. As for plants, in my family we always had cat(s) and plants and never a problem. And then this.

But one thing I could not find online is, do all the cats react similar to lilies? Is it possible then some of them are more resistant or even immune to them? I'm thinking it might be this way since nobody knows what exactly is the lily poison that affects cats.

WOW!
Please visit my link below to see a list of toxic plants to cats on my website.

Originally Posted by Vettech

WOW!
Please visit my link below to see a list of toxic plants to cats on my website.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the list, that is excellent for people when they search the forum. I could not find much info on this particular site.

As for Ferdinand, I just got a call from the clinic, he is all ready to come home!
When I talked to them this afternoon they said 9 or 10 pm which is still couple of hours shy of 48hrs on fluids. I'm thinking he is doing very well since it's only 6:30.
The last thing to do is make an appointment with the family vet tomorrow and do another blood test, once he's off of fluids for a while.

From Cat Fancier:

"Easter lily (Lilium longiflorum), Tiger lily (Lilium tigrinum), Rubrum lily (Lilium speciosum), Japanese show lily (Lilium lancifolium) and some species of the Day lily (Hemerocallis species) can cause kidney failure in cats,"

Click to expand...

Stargazers are a hybrid type of Lilium orientalis. So perhaps they are not as toxic?

Originally Posted by luxum

From Cat Fancier:

Stargazers are a hybrid type of Lilium orientalis. So perhaps they are not as toxic?

Click to expand...

I would like to know as well... but they are on the list of toxic ones but maybe just not AS toxic.