SAA received the following alert:

From The Telegraph:

Cat owners warned over killer flowers
By David Sapsted
(Filed: 06/05/2005)

A national alert has been issued to pet owners after pollen from a bunch of
supermarket flowers killed a cat.

When John Hartnett bought his wife oriental stargazer lilies, he was
unaware that he was passing a death sentence on the family's 13-year-old
Siamese, Catalina.

The cat brushed against the flowers then licked the pollen from its fur.
Within minutes she started being sick and, within hours, had died after
going blind, suffering renal failure and becoming virtually paralysed.

The RSPCA, which is reporting an increase in such cases, is to launch a
campaign to alert people to the dangers and lobby for warnings on the
flowers.

The RSPCA said: "The problem of lilies isn't widely known and we are seeing
an increase in the number of cases we come across. This is because the
flowers are becoming more readily available in Britain.

"All lilies are poisonous to cats, with just one leaf eaten possibly
leading to death. We will now be urging both manufacturers and producers to
issue warnings on their goods so that consumers have an informed choice.

"We also hope to work with the Royal College for Veterinary Surgeons'
poison department to produce information fact sheets and figures on this
awful matter."

Mr Hartnett, 51, a computer engineer from Folkestone, Kent, said: "Catalina
was a curious, fastidious animal and would have investigated the new
flowers. But this proved absolutely fatal.

"She endured a vile death. She was suffering terribly. I blame myself but
the vet we rushed her to said there was just no chance to save her.

"We have seen the flowers in many places, all with no warnings at all. In
America, I have discovered that there is immense coverage on this subject
warning people of the dangers but, here, there is nothing.

"I can't believe something so simple as a flower can kill pets in such a
terrible, terrible way, and there is absolutely no way of knowing about it."

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals singles out
the Easter lily (Lilium longiflorum), tiger lily (Lilium tigrinum), rubrum
lily (Lilium speciosum), Japanese show lily (Lilium lancifolium) and some
species of the day lily (Hemerocallis) as liable to cause kidney failure in
cats.

The Feline Advisory Bureau, a charity based in Tisbury, Wilts, said:
"Symptoms of poisoning from these plants include protracted vomiting,
anorexia and depression and ingestion can cause severe, possibly fatal,
kidney damage."

Cats can survive if taken to a vet within six hours but the chances of
survival decrease rapidly after that. After 18 hours, the kidneys stop
working.

Alex Campbell, a toxicologist and managing director of the Poison Advisory
Service for vets, said: "When we recieve a call about cats coming into
contact with any of the lilium flower family we treat it very seriously
indeed. It is one of the worst reactions an animal can come across and it
needs highly aggressive management. All parts of a lily are extremely
toxic.

"A cat that comes into contact with a lily deteriorates very rapidly. I
have even heard of a cat being given human dialysis in an attempt to
overcome the effects of toxins in the kidneys."

The danger to cats only began to emerge in 1990 when the first incident was
reported in America. Last year, the poison control centre at the ASPCA
handled 275 cases.

John Cushnie, a panellist on Gardeners' Question Time, advised gardeners
who wanted to avoid harm to cats to select tall lilies and stake those that
need support.










Essex Animal Freedom

PO Box 5707
Southend-on-Sea
Essex
SS1 1WW

E:essexanimalfreedom@...

T:0709 2033 024

Campaigning for the Liberation of all Animals

Nothing contained in any Essex Animal Freedom e-mail, is intended to encourage
any illegal activity or to incite any violent act.


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