Owners warned letting cat drink water from lily vase could be fatal

One cat, Millie (pictured), from Wickham Bishops, in Essex, ended up on a drip at Vets Now in Witham after licking pollen from the flowers, which are popular Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and at Easter.

Millie, whose mouth and paws were stained yellow as a result of the incident, was kept in overnight but survived the ordeal.

Vets Now, the UK’s leading provider of pet emergency care, treats around three cats a week for lily toxicity and there is often a rise in cases around Valentine’s Day, Easter and Mother’s Day.

Dave Leicester, Vets Now’s head of clinical intelligence, said: “We see a big rise in pet emergency cases during public holidays and often it’s due to cats and dogs eating things they shouldn’t such as lilies and chocolate.

“Lilies are particularly poisonous to cats. They can cause severe diarrhoea, convulsions, acute kidney failure and even death.

“What makes them particularly dangerous is that all parts of the plant are toxic and even small ingestions, such as two or three leaves or petals, or water from a vase containing lilies, can be potentially fatal.

“In fact, even very small amounts of pollen can be extremely dangerous. Cats can swallow a toxic amount just by grooming after brushing against the flowers.

“Lilies are so dangerous we’d call on cat owners never to have them in their house.”

Over the past three years Vets Now has treated at least 413 cats for lily poisoning.

However, the figure could be higher as many cases involving the flower were reported under general toxicity.

Among those to undergo treatment was Diego, who suffered acute kidney failure after eating lilies and was admitted to Vets Now in Reading.

His treatment lasted several weeks before he was allowed home. Another case was that of Missie who was put on a drip at Vets Now in Northampton and treated with activated charcoal, which is used for toxic ingestions.

She had only chewed on a lily leaf but suffered severe complications.