Help, Cat Ate Flower?

[VeuveNoire]

Stupid question but I picked one of these flowers the other day for my mom and apparently my cat went into her room and ate it 20 mins ago ish. Please help, is it toxic? They're growing all over a shrub/bush

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! Can you contact your vet? Is your cat acting normal?

 

[Furballsmom]

In case you aren't familiar with this, if you call the regular number for your vet, listen to the greeting and there should be an emergency number provided so that you can talk to someone.

 

[tabbytom]

Please help, is it toxic? They're growing all over a shrub/bush

Do you have an id for this flower? Some flowers and plants are toxic to cats.

Here's a check list of those plants and flowers:-

animal-poison-control

cats-plant-list

ToxicPlants.aspx

If you cannot determine the id of the plant, keep watch over your cat and get her to the vet ASAP should there be any abnormal behavior like vomiting, seizure, diarrhea, hiding or anything out of the normal.

Do keep us updated.

 

[vince]

It looks like an azalea or rhododendron. They're supposed to be toxic to cats. Better call the vet.

 

[Margret]

If you're in North America, you can call 1-785-532-5679 for free poison control assistance, assuming you can't get in touch with your vet. What Is the Free Number for Poison Control for Animals?

If your vet is available, however, that would be preferable. Please keep us updated; we're very good at worrying.

Margret

 

[LTS3]

I did a reverse Google Image search. The flower in question is a gardenia. The ASPCA considers gardenia as mildy toxic. Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, possibly hives. I'd get the cat to a vet ASAP for monitoring and treatment.


EDIT: Apparently the flower may or may not be a gardenia. In any case, the OP should call the vet and ask for further advice.

 

[Furballsmom]

I did a reverse Google Image search. The flower in question is a gardenia.

 

[catapault]

Not a gardenia, which is an evergreen shrub that grows in mild winter areas. In colder regions it is a greenhouse potted plant. Flowers are extremely fragrant, with multiple petals. V vince suggestion of rhododendron or azalea is a better guess. The leaves look more like an azalea's leaves too.

My cats tend to chew leaves rather than flowers. Is it possible that your cat carried the flower off somewhere and abandoned it?

 

[Margret]

I did a reverse Google Image search. The flower in question is a gardenia. The ASPCA considers gardenia as mildy toxic. Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, possibly hives. I'd get the cat to a vet ASAP for monitoring and treatment.

Oh, that's a relief! I don't know how to do a reverse image search, but I had about come to the conclusion that it most resembled an azalea.

Again, do please keep us in the loop, V VeuveNoire . We'll worry until we know for certain that your cat is okay.

Margret

 

[Margret]

Not a gardenia, which is an evergreen shrub that grows in mild winter areas.

How do you know the O.P. doesn't live in a mild winter area? If this flower was picked from a shrub today, it sounds like a mild winter area to me.

Margret

 

[catapault]

I don't know where the OP lives, nor does it matter. A picture of a flower was posted. Someone other than the OP identified it as a gardenia. Regardless of where the OP lives that flower in the picture is not a gardenia.

 

[VeuveNoire]

I live in Louisiana. I had picked these flowers within the past few days from a shrub and as I said left them in my mom's room for her. She claimed my cat ate them but said it "happened quickly, and the flowers were wilted and sounded crunchy". They would not take me to a vet and kept saying "it's nothing, it's just a flower" which is extremely upsetting because I, too, came to the conclusion that the flower is toxic based on photo comparisons. I don't really know what to do at this point and now I feel a lot of regret for not thinking about the possibility of my cat eating them or that they were potentially toxic. I couldn't find the flowers at all when searching her bedroom but I'm going to do a double take. My cat seems to be ok right now as far as I can tell, but I don't know how long this particular flower would take to start hurting her

 

[catapault]

Of course it is not ideal that something potential harmful is eaten. You were doing something nice for your mother, bringing her a flower from outdoors. Then the cat goes and eats a wilted flower and you are justifiably horrified and concerned.

If you have an 8 pound cat and we're talking about one azalea flower it is likely that your cat will be O.K. One flower should not be lethal. Just watch for drooling and nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Next time, put the flower under a bell jar so the cat cannot get at it.

Lots of nice plants and flowers in Louisiana. Especially right now and compared to where I live in New Jersey - it's snowing and we can expect 8 inches before morning.

 

[vince]

I didn't think of it, as people don't usually grow gardenias around these parts (southeast Michigan), except as hothouse plants. The OP's picture could be a gardenia. Looks to be pretty close to some pix I found on the internet. Still warrants a call to the vet I think, just to be on the safe side.

 

[catapault]

V vince Look at the original image provided by the OP Notice the long thread-like stamens. Count the number of flower petals. There are 5.

Now look at whatever image you found of a single flowered gardenia. Which is difficult as the double flower form is more popular. A single flowered gardenia has 6 petals and short stubby stamens.

 

[DreamerRose]

It's definitely not a gardenia. Gardenia petals look velvety, and that one is not. The foliage also indicates an azalea. It's probably a large size single flower azalea. It seems awfully early for azaleas to be blooming, though. Most of them flower in April.

 

[Furballsmom]

My cat seems to be ok right now as far as I can tell, but I don't know how long this particular flower would take to start hurting her

From what I'm reading, keep an eye on your kitty for the next few days. If she starts to drool, vomit, have diarrhea, weakness, pale gums, excessive thirst, tremors or nervousness, or hyperactivity, you'll want to call your vet and get your kitty in quickly.

 

[vince]

I stand corrected. A botanist I ain't. I can kill one of those plants just by looking at it! Had all three of them: Gardenia, rhododendron and azalea and they all died.

 

[VeuveNoire]

So far she's normal, but I do know sometimes it can take days for certain toxins to kick in so to speak. I'm going to be keeping a close eye on her. I'm assuming activated charcoal wouldn't help at this point?