Pet experts have revealed the seven most toxic foods, flowers and medicines that you can feed to your cat.
The Upper Canada Animal Hospital are a popular social media account on TikTok that post various videos to help support and inform pet owners.
The account, which has 338,000 followers, post on the daily about how to look after your four-legged friends, including tips on how to deal with heatstroke.
In the newest video, the vets named seven different things found around the home that can be toxic to cats if they accidentally eat them.
According to the vets, these are the seven toxic things to cats:
- Lilies
- Acetaminophen
- Onions
- Poinsettias
- Permethrin
- Chocolate
- Most essential oils
Seven things that are toxic to cats
Lilies
The entire lily plant is toxic to cats, as the US Food & Drug Administration notes the severe dangers that just a small part of the flower can cause.
The entire lily plant is toxic: the stem, leaves, flowers, pollen, and even the water in a vase.
According to the PDSA, symptoms of lily poisoning include:
- Vomiting
- Not eating
- Drooling
- Drinking/peeing more
- Twitching
- Seizures
- Sudden/unexplained death
Acetaminophen
Acetaminophen is a drug that is used to treat pain and fever - and is also toxic to cats, as reported by the VCA.
This is due to cats not being able to efficiently metabolise acetaminophen, and pet owners wanting to treat their cats pain without heading to the vets could be in danger of poisoning them.
Acetaminophen is commonly found in Tylenol and other pain relief medication.
Symptoms of the toxicity can include:
- Liver damage
- Weakness or depression
- High heart rate
- Abdominal pain
- Vomiting or drooling
- Swelling in the face, paws and forelimbs
Onions
Onions are toxic to cats as well as dogs, as Wag Walking reports that raw onions, onion salt and powder can all be poisonous to the felines.
Common clinical signs noted after a feline has ingested onion includes:
- Panting
- Elevated heart rate
- Weakness
- Hematuria (blood in the urine)
- Haemolytic anemia / Heinz body anemia (breakdown of red blood cells)
- Vomiting
- Diarrhoea
- Dyspnoea
- Liver damage
- Lethargy
- Contact dermatitis (skin exposure)
- Collapse
Poinsettias
Poinsettias are a flower that are particularly popular during the festive season.
The Pet Poison Helpline notes that the plant is mildly toxic to cats, and typically cause symptoms like:
- Drooling
- Licking lips
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Skin irritation (including redness, swelling, and itchiness)
- Eye irritation
Permethrin
Permethrin poisoning is one of the most common poisonings worldwide in cats, and can be life-threatening.
The synthetic pyrethin can be found in dog flea spot-on products that owners use, which means cat parents could accidentally poison their pets.
The Cat Care website states that symptoms include:
- Tremors and shaking
- Twitching
- Oversensitivity to sound and touch
- Seizures
- Fits
- Trouble breathing
- Possible blindness
Chocolate
One of the most common foods that we are told to not allow our pets to eat, chocolate is clearly not meant for pets - unless it has been branded pet-safe.
Chocolate contains small amounts of caffeine and theobromine, which is dangerous to cats, as they can't break down the compound easily.
PetMD reports that the following symptoms will become visible in cats if they ingest chocolate:
Vomiting
Diarrhoea
Decreased appetite
Increased thirst
Increased urination
Increased heart rate
Restlessness
Panting or rapid breathing
Muscle tremors
Seizures
Coma
Essential Oils
A good majority of essential oils are toxic to cats, but the following are ones to watch out for:
- Tea tree
- Peppermint
- Citrus oils
- Ylang ylang
- Lavender
- Wintergreen
- Sweet birch
- Pine
- Eucalyptus
- Cinnamon
- Clove
The PDSA notes that direct skin contact, ingestion and inhalation can all be dangerous to cats, and cause symptoms such as:
- Excessive dribbling
- Vomiting
- Shaking and tremoring
- Walking as if they’re drunk
- Lethargy, depression or dullness
- Difficulty breathing or breathing with their mouth open
- Collapse or seizures
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