Okay, I don’t actually think that I am dumb, but I occasionally make mistakes that have everyone (especially me) saying “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?”
Generally, I would not admit to these mistakes on the internet. I would keep the image the internet has of me: the internet thinks I’m perfect and I wouldn’t want to ruin that image of me. Sadly, maybe we have reached that point in our relationship. The honeymoon goggles are coming off.
A week or so ago, we received a beautiful bouquet of flowers. They lit up the room; they smelled amazing. They made us smile when we thought of the friends who had given them to us. Yes, we noticed there were lilies in the bouquet, but we put them up high where the dogs can’t get to them, and the cats are no longer coming downstairs since we have the puppy. Therefore, this bouquet was safe for us to have.
If you read that last paragraph and are totally confused about why I would be concerned, it’s because lilies are super duper toxic to animals, especially to cats. When I worked at the cat hospital, we had a client come in who had sniffed a lily, and they were sent immediately to the emergency hospital for intravanous fluids and bloodwork. The vet I worked with had seen a cat die from the owners not taking the lily thing seriously; 12 hours later, it was too late.
Funny story for us? I had to take Fae back to the vet to get her eye rechecked.
waiting for the vet, tail wagging like crazy
When I got home five hours later, we found the baby gate to the cats was open, the vase was on the floor, and pieces were taken out of the lilies. We called three vets and the animal poison control line, and every single one of them said TAKE THEM IN RIGHT NOW. More funny (if funny=not funny at all)? We didn’t know which cat it was. So we had to take both of them.
You guys, it turns out lilies are really super duper toxic, even just the pollen. Really, the people we talked to said that if they got it on their paws and then licked it, that could kill them. By the time you start to see symptoms in your pet, it’s already too late. The toxins attack their kidneys and you don’t see anything on the outside until they are in organ failure. It’s scary! And of course the other frustrating side of it is that they seem to be fine until they’re not.
From Animal Poison Control Website: click for link
So here’s my lesson to you: don’t keep lilies in your house. Lots of dollars later, our cats are fine; maybe they would have been without the weekend in the hospital or all of that money, but maybe they wouldn’t have been – and we could have prevented it. Also, maybe don’t trust that your cats stay where you want them to. Herding cats? That’s a thing that no one is good at doing.
Anyone else with some good veterinary horror stories? I should add that Faegan is all better. No more cone! Lots more playing. I hope the amount of time I have spent at the vet in the past two weeks means I’m all set for the year.
