Beautiful Spring Lilies Pose Serious Danger to Cats

A close up photograph of a yellow flower that has red coloring toward the center — A Lilium sp. flower without a plant.

A simple poem helps spell-out the hazards to feline pets of a cherished Easter plant.

Spring Lilies with water you douse.

Cats greatly have reason to grouse.

To be quite concise,

You always think twice,

No lilies and cats in same house.

Yellow and pink flowers surrounded by greenery on a sunny day — Lilium sp. plants in bloom.

Spring weather heralds the arrival of the beautiful blooms of true lilies (Lilium sp.) and daylilies (Hemerocallis sp.). Unfortunately, many cats have been poisoned by these lovely plants. The poisoning is so severe and the possible consequences so dire (even death) that in 2021, the FDA issued this warning:

“Lilies in the “true lily” and “daylily” families are very dangerous for cats. The entire lily plant is toxic: the stem, leaves, flowers, pollen, and even the water in a vase. Eating just a small amount of a leaf or flower petal, licking a few pollen grains off its fur while grooming, or drinking the water from the vase can cause your cat to develop fatal kidney failure in less than 3 days. The toxin, which only affects cats, has not been identified. Dogs that eat lilies may have minor stomach upset but they don’t develop kidney failure.”

Early signs of lily toxicity in cats can begin within a few minutes up to 12 hours after ingestion and can include decreased activity level, drooling, vomiting, and loss of appetite.

Signs of kidney damage start about 12 to 24 hours after ingestion and include increased urination and dehydration. Kidney failure occurs within 24 to 72 hours, which can lead to death if the cat isn’t treated. Early veterinary treatment greatly improves the cat’s chances. However, if treatment is delayed by 18 hours or more after ingestion, an affected cat will generally have irreversible kidney failure which can prove fatal.

Learn more here.

No one knows why cats, and only cats, are affected by lilies, but no other species of animal are known to have severe, fatal kidney failure following exposure.

If you suspect that your cat has eaten any part of a lily or its pollen or has drunk water from a vase containing lilies, immediately call your veterinarian or a pet poison control center. Depending on the type of lily, it may be a medical emergency and prompt veterinary treatment is critical.

The FDA identifies the following Lilies as highly toxic for cats:

From the FDA:

Common Name, Scientific Name

Asiatic lily (including hybrids), Lilium asiaticum
Daylily, Hemerocallis species
Easter lily, Lilium longiflorum
Japanese Show lily, Lilium speciosum
Oriental lily, Lilium orientalis
Rubrum lily, Lilium speciosum var. rubrum
Stargazer lily, Lilium ’Stargazer’ — a hybrid
Tiger lily, Lilium tigrinum or lancifolium
Wood lily, Lilium philladelphicum or umbellatum

Try to bring the lily plant with you to the veterinary clinic (or take a picture of it on your cell phone). This will help your veterinarian determine if it’s one of the highly toxic ones.

As Lilies bloom across the U.S. this spring many households will have these flowers inside as live plants or as cut flowers alone, or in arrangements. If you have a cat in your household, enjoy lilies at the greenhouse and not at your house.

A cluster of orange lilies growing on the side of a paved road — Ditch Lilies (Hemerocallis fulva)

The Willie M. Reed Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at Purdue University, in conjunction with the Purdue Plant and Pest Diagnostic Laboratory can assist with identification of a wide variety of plants both domesticated and wild, including lilies. The Purdue University Veterinary Hospital is available 24/7 providing expert veterinary care for all animals.

Writer(s): Steve Hooser, Professor of Toxicology | pvmnews@purdue.edu

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