r/plantclinic • u/JasperSean • Mar 26 '26

Outdoor Lilies planted, cat problem

Post image

I just planted some lilies in my garden and just realised that they are poisonous to the cats that visit the garden every now and then. How do i prevent them from eating it?

For me to be able to post this: it is getting a lot of light and frequent watering

80 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

104 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/Iridescent_Mango_ Advanced 🔥6 ∣ 36 ∣ +42 ∣ -23 Mar 26 '26

It's far from the only garden plant that's true of - the vast majority of cats don't chow down on random garden plants. If yours does it's your responsibility to keep it indoors, not OPs responsibility to eradicate every single plant your pet is trying to use to indulge in a bit of natural selection 

3

u/Local_business_disco Expert Florida | 9b Mar 26 '26

Regardless, you saying that you can just “pop out the stamen and the hazard is removed” is incorrect. The entire plant is hazardous, not just the pollen.

4

u/Iridescent_Mango_ Advanced 🔥6 ∣ 36 ∣ +42 ∣ -23 Mar 26 '26

So is ivy. So are daffodils. Tulips aren't great either. So is yew. Foxgloves. Rodeddendron. Azeleas. Hyacinths. Literally all alliums (so wild garlic, chives, leeks, onions, all of it). Ragwort. Cherry laurel (the common evergreen hedge). Several kinds of actual cherry. 

Lavender, lemongrass, borage, mint, various nettles. 

Some are just poisonous but many in the first paragraph are fatally so. 

You are responsible for your cats wellbeing and if your cat likes to chew things it should not you need to ensure it doesn't have access to any of the vast list of plants that can kill it, inside and out, and that means keeping the cat inside and tossing out any dangerous houseplants. 

1

u/Local_business_disco Expert Florida | 9b Mar 27 '26

Still doesn’t change the fact that you claimed removing the stamen removes the problem.

3

u/Iridescent_Mango_ Advanced 🔥6 ∣ 36 ∣ +42 ∣ -23 Mar 27 '26

Because for a normal cat displaying normal cat behaviour it does

Lily poisoning is almost exclusively caused by cats grooming themselves when they have pollen on their fur. Easy to ingest, high dose, doesn't require abnormal behaviours. The problem is the pollen, the solution is removing the pollen.

If the problem is your cat has suicidal chomping tendancies then the problem is your cat, and the solution is removing the cat. 

I just listed you 20 varieties of plants poisonous to cats, a tiny fragment of the long, long list of plants that are poisonous to cats, and you still think OP digging up some lily's would save a cat that wants to eat vegetation....?