Following is a list of the top 10 poisons for CATS, according to the Pet Poison Helpline. If you suspect that your cat has ingested or been exposed to a toxic substance, call your veterinarian, a nearby emergency animal hospital, or the 24/7 Pet Poison Helpline at 800-213-6680. You can also download their Pet Poison Help iPhone app here.
Top 10 Poisons for CATS – Beware
1. Lilies
The variety of lily determines whether it is relatively harmless or potentially deadly. Non-toxic varieties include the Calla Lily, Peace Lily, and Peruvian Lily, which typically cause irritation of the upper Gastrointestinal tract. Toxic lilies include the Tiger Lily, Asiatic, Stargazer, Casablanca, Rubrum, Day, Japanese Show, and Easter lily. These toxic lilies can prove deadly for your cat. Even just a tiny amount of any portion of these plants can cause kidney failure.
2. Household Cleaners
General-purpose cleaners are relatively safe (all-natural products are a much better choice), but concentrated products like Drano or toilet bowl cleaners can cause chemical burns.
3. Flea/tick Spot-on Products for DOGS
Never use a canine flea/tick product on your cat. Depending on the ingredients in the product, just a drop has the potential to kill a cat within hours. To be safe, use holistic products, such TripleSure Natural Flea & Tick Spray.
4. Antidepressants
Cymbalta and Effexor topped the Pet Poison Helpline’s toxic antidepressants list in 2013. For some reason, cats are drawn to these medications, which can cause severe neurological and cardiac effects.
RELATED:
Top 10 Poisons for DOGS, Beware These Dangerous Toxins
5. NSAIDs
Cats are more sensitive than dogs to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen and naproxen. Because cats are so sensitive, veterinary-specific NSAIDs should be used with extreme caution, if at all.
6. Prescription ADD/ADHD Medications
Just as with dogs, these drugs, which are amphetamines, can cause tremors, heart problems, seizures and death in cats.
7. Over-the-Counter Cough, Cold and Allergy Medications
Many of these preparations contain acetaminophen (a painkiller) and pseudoephedrine or phenylephrine (decongestants). Acetaminophen is especially toxic to cats – it damages red blood cells and causes liver failure.
8. Plants Containing Insoluble Calcium Oxalate Crystals
Peace lilies, philodendron, and pothos can cause oral and upper Gastrointestinal irritation, foaming at the mouth, and inflammation when ingested.
9. Household Insecticides
If you must use insecticides on your indoor plants make sure to keep your cat away from plants after application until the products have dried or settled.
10. Glow Sticks and Glow Jewelry
Many cats enjoying gnawing on glow sticks and glow jewelry. These items contain dibutyl phthalate, a chemical that can leak out and burn your cat’s fur and tongue.
Top 10 Poisons for CATS: Beware These Dangerous Toxins
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MY QUESTION FOR YOU:
Have you dealt with your cat getting into toxic substances? Do you have any advice?
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Her own animal experience is vast, having raised and rescued Alpine Goats, Chickens, Turkeys, Vietnamese Pot Bellied Pigs, Turtles, Raccoons, Cats, Dogs, and even an Opossum and Bearded Dragon.
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I have a tortise cat who took sick all of a sudden after catching a chipmunk in our yard. The vet diagnosed her as having diabetes. Her sugar was sky high and could not bring it down, she would not eat or drink. Pancake would sit and stare at her water bowl but would not drink. She got so she could not get up on the bed or my chair. The vet called me in to visit with her and I had to make that awful decision to put her down. But I think she was poisoned instead. I have a stupid neighbor who poisons chipmunks and they run into my yard and my animals chase them and catch them. My animals stay in my yard, they are afraid of him. About 5 years ago my dog was poisoned the same way, but lucky the vet had than pulled her through. She has since retired. But I believe my beautiful Pancake was poison. What I like to know if a poison can mimic diabetes?
Please can someone help me, my fur baby has died, I know for a fact she was poisoned but what haunts me is what poison, what poison can cause my baby to deteriorate litterly within min I am not over exaturating here, she jumped up behind me on the bed made gurgling sounds with slight water dripping from her mouth and within a min or two after she lost the use of her limbs she tried jumping of the bed and there was just no legs to jump on she fell flat I grabbed her picked her up called the vet within the time I had her covered to go to vet she lost the use of her bladder had 2 terrible seizures bad bad on the way to the vet she had another 2 and once at the vet from the examination room to treatment room the fluids was running out her mouth doc tried giving o2 and put a drip up there was no blood pressure and she had another seizure and that was it doc stood in absolute shock at the excessive progression and how fast she deteriorated and doc told me she has a slight heartbeat she could try and give treatment but the doc said her chances was less than 1% so I asked that doc rather put her down as she had hurt enough.. From the time she jumped up behind me on the bed and the time she passed it had been max 20min… I need to know what poisoned could have caused such devastation within my babies body to take her that fast not even giving her a chance to fight back or get treatment… Please I am shattered and heart broken please can anyone possibly help me
I was filling up a candy dish with cashews, bits and pieces primarily. My 15 yr old
Tabby who is quite quick, ate a small piece of cashew. She seems to be fine but…………should i do something, she is in no distress.
Oh my god, Jeanne! I was only aware of lilies and house whole cleaners but I did not notice about medicines and glowing sticks.When I was a kid, my family tried to keep dangerous things away from our kitty Mr white as much as they can to make him safe.But I remember that kitty used to chew my glowing sticks which I bought from street shops in front of the school. Thank god! chemical did not leak in his mouth. I do not have experience with medicine but I lost one of my kitties because of fish bones have given by a neighbor woman. You made an amazingly informative article. May God bless your wonderful heart ! because you save many lives of cats already with this informative article by alarming the pet owners. Thank you, Jeanne.
Thank you for your comment, Nadia. I’m happy that you found this post so informative, and I do hope that some cats’ lives will be in less danger because of it. I appreciate your visit to Animal Bliss today! Peace.
These are Very Helpful Hints for Any Pet Owners! I have a Dog and 2 Cats and it’s a Very important thing to know to keep your pets Safe! My cats like to Get into Literally Everything so I have to Make sure that if it could Be in Any Way Dangerous to keep it out of their Reach! Thanks & God Bless! Jana
Jeanne,
This list is very educational. I was unaware of most of these. Household cleaners I knew were dangerous but not I have a better insight of so many other detrimental things that are harmful. Thank you for sharing.