Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Weaver]

Janet my wife has just told me that lilies are poisonous to cats and dogs, indeed lethal. A search of the web returns the information that ingesting parts of the plant will cause kidney failure in 36-72 hours and then death. This includes, I believe, the pollen, most importantly, as a cat may brush past stamens and then wash its fur. Janet says it probably applies to other animals.

I was amazed and horrified. Did you all know this already?

[Alex Atkin UK]

https://www.cats.org.uk/help-and-advice/home-and-environment/dangerous-plants

I don't remember that specifically, but a lot of things are toxic to pets and people never really consider it.

[kitz]

i did know, which is a shame as they are my favourite flower and i have a lily bed.   During the flowering period a daily inspection is undertaken to remove lily beetles.. and as soon as any new flowers begin to open , remove the stamen heads well before pollen has chance to materialise.

[sevenlayermuddle]

I recently discovered, from www resources, that chocolate is incredibly poisonous to dogs.  Symptoms can appear within 6-12 hours, and can be a medical emergency.

https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/what-to-do-if-your-dog-ate-chocolate/

It’s a worry because, in childhood, our family had dogs.   Both dogs loved chocolate and in the absence of world wide web, my sister and I had no idea of the dangers, and would spoil them rotten.   

Both dogs lived to a good old age, and chocolate was not identified as a contributor to either if their eventual deaths.   A possible explanation might be, the dogs were also blissfuly ignorant of the fountain of wisdom that is the world wide web.   If our dogs had owned iPads, and had googled for ‘dogs & chocolate‘, they may well have died as puppies.

More seriously, I’m not suggesting for a moment all these websites are wrong, I’d not give a dog chocolate now.  I just wish it was easier to distinguish between ‘www facts’ established over the past 20 years or so and more established and reliable facts, established over the preceding many thousands of years.   

[Alex Atkin UK]

You highlight a big problem, they do not mention HOW toxic things are.

Its one thing to say "do not give your pets this", but it would be even better to know how much to panic when it happens by accident.

We had some of the plants on the toxic list in our garden for years, I believe most if not all are only toxic if eaten.  Then there is the fact you cannot control what plants your neighbours have, that's kinda scary if they have Lilies.

[Weaver]

7LM is correct about dogs and chocolate; especially dark chocolate. I made sure to keep it well away from my dogs so that they wouldn’t pine for it.

I think the thing about lilies is especially bad because they are lethal and there is the danger of brushing last the stamens. Janet tells me some wise florists now remove the stamens because of this.

[sevenlayermuddle]

@Weaver, can you remember when you became aware of the dog/chocolate toxicity?

Apparently grapes and raisins too, if the www is to be believed, also toxic to dogs and some say, to cats.

Thing is, I am open minded to the possibility that a lot of 'www facts' are actually just speculation that has gone viral.  Nobody is likely to contradict any specific animal/food toxicity as, if there's a seed of truth in it, they could be responsible for death of a beloved dog or cat.  So the speculation gradually becomes a fact, with very little scientific foundation.

I just wish it was easier to distinguish between 'scientific knowledge' built up over the past few thousand years which I generally trust, and newer 'knowledge' in the internet age, of which I am sceptical.

[JGO]

Sevenyearmuddle - It isn't just the Internet, any form of simplification is liable to sacrifice the truth.   For example I visited a tide mill near here and was surprised by the figures for efficiency after a refit about 1870.   The point is that the use of curved paddles can push the efficiency up some 1 1/2 times on the textbook figures which are for FLAT paddles.   Textbooks need revising !

[digbey]

I can remember, 65 years ago being told that chocolates were dangerous for dogs. but when you're a teenager it's easy to dismiss things like that as old wives tales.
Now you can research it on the new-fangled internet.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1215566/

[Weaver]

My wife told me about the dogs and chocolate thing some years ago, but can’t remember exactly when. I know about the grapes thing too, my wife warned me against giving the dogs any. I did give the dogs the odd grape and they survived luckily but that’s when I learned not to do it again.

[sevenlayermuddle]

I definitely remember a phase when, every day, I’d buy a (*)penny caramel from the school tuck shop, and give it to the dog when I got home.   It  became  a routine, he expected it and would more or less pin me to the wall with his paws as soon as I arrived, demanding his treat.   

It was cruel in a way, as he always got it stuck in his teeth and would spend quite some time afterwards stretching and contorting  his jaws and pawing at his teeth, but he always wanted another one the next day.   I’m sure it wasn’t good for his health either, but he still lived to a good old age, and still had all his teeth.

* Anybody who was a child, in 1970s Scotland, or a dentist in Scotland a few years later, will remember penny caramels.

[Weaver]

I was on a way to one of my best friends’ wedding in Kirkwall, Orkney in the town hall. Went past a flower shop with some beautiful yellow lilies. On a whim, hurriedly bought one and ran on to catch up with my friends who were heading to the venue, and I then gave the lily to the bride. Later on she got lily pollen on her wedding dress and the hatred has been everlasting despite my wholly good intentions.

[sevenlayermuddle]

Point being... back on topic?

[kitz]

point being lily pollen leaves yellow stains that are incredibly difficult to get out of clothing.