I have heard from several cat folks who felt that my recent post on common poisons in pets didn’t really apply to them. I see their point. The poisons mentioned in the post (chocolate, rodenticides and xylitol) most often affect dogs.
It is no secret that cats are quite selective about what they consume. That makes them less likely to suffer adverse effects from the poisons in the previous post. But there are plenty of hazards out there for cats. So let’s give cats their due.
Here are some hazardous items that, in my experience, commonly cause trouble for feline companions.
Cheap flea control products. Many topical flea preventatives found in grocery stores and drug stores have low margins of safety. If you apply too much, or if you apply a canine product to your cat, you may see trembling, drooling, disorientation, staggering or even death. High quality flea preventatives do not generally cause these reactions. (Photo credit: CDC)
String, thread and yarn. Norman Rockwell loved to paint pictures of kittens playing with balls of yarn. But if a cat swallows yarn, string or thread it can lead to a life-threatening condition in which the intestines bunch together. Surgery may be necessary, and some cats do not survive. The situation is even more serious if a needle is attached to thread that a cat swallows.
Household chemicals. Cats don’t often consume chemicals straight from the bottle or the floor (an exception is radiator antifreeze–and it’s highly toxic). But if chemicals contaminate a cat’s skin, he or she will lick them off and swallow them in the course of normal grooming.
Houseplants. Many cats love to nibble on houseplants. Unfortunately, many houseplants are poisonous to cats. Lilies and Dieffenbachia species are two of the most common. For a more comprehensive list, click here.
Human or canine medications. Many well-meaning people inadvertently poison their cats with human or canine pain killers, anti-anxiety drugs or other medications. Never give medicine to a cat without consulting a veterinarian.
Please remember that the above list is not comprehensive. However, if more people take care to protect their cats from the hazards in this post, fewer cats will end up in emergency rooms.
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You have questions. 
Hi,
I have two indoor cats. Both are around two years of age. My cat Ashanti, he was two at the end of March, periodically has bladder problems. I don’t know where this comes from. I’ve taken him to a vet and he was given a shot plus antibiotics. This usually last about one to
two weeks, then he goes back to normal. My other cat Leonidaes I found in the street and when taken to the vet, I found out that he had already been fixed. Someone either died or thru him out, but I have had no problems at all with him. They eat together, play and sleep together, yet it’s Ashanti who has never been in the street that seems to have these urine problems from time to time. Is there any info you can give me regarding his problem?
Thank you,
Kimberly V.
Thank you for mentioning Lilies in this main article!!
I was sick one weekend, and some well-meaning friends brought me lilies from the grocery store. No warning on the tag, nothing.
Needless to say, my cat ate some of the flower and leaves, and got quite sick. We had to rush her to the emergency vet in the middle of the night, scared for her life, and every pet owner knows that is a terrible terrible feeling. She came through surprisingly well, but she would have died had I been asleep and not noticed her behavior.
Talk to your vet about low ash content in Ashanti’s food. With one cat, I had been told to keep her on dry food with an ash content below three percent. It seemed to work for years, but she died at 14 from a kidney problem.
A dear friend recently spilled a bottle of prescription medication. One of her cats found a tablet and played with it, eventually picking it up in her mouth where it stuck to her tongue and dissolved. Tragically, the cat was not found until it was too late.
I have 2 brother/cats 2 yrs old. They’ve been for their shots & were fixed. But my beautiful husband passed away 15 mos ago, and the one cat that adored him ‘Lucifer’ hasn’t cuddled up with me since. He lets me pet, scratch, brush him, & it’s been 6 mos, but he finally comes and cuddles in bed with me. The other brother “Merlyn” has never been as smart as Luci, so everthing is about the same. Is there anything you can recommend for him, or is that normal?
Thankyou for your help, as they’re all I have now, & I would like them to try and be normal happy cats.
/sjg
I would like to add tinsel and easter grass to the list of hazardous items around the house.
The ASPCA list of toxic plants referred to in this article lists daylily as a plant that is toxic to cats. Lilium (true lily) toxicosis is well documented, but there is no scientific evidence to prove the claim that daylilies are toxic. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence from daylily growers all over the country that daylilies are not toxic to cats. Members of the American Hemerocallis Society (daylily) have never been able to interest anyone in doing a scientific study. Hundreds of us have cats that eat all different parts of the daylily plant and none have ever been harmed by it. Lilies are a different story. Do not allow your cat to ingest any part of a lily plant. People who make up these toxic plant lists evidently don’t know that a Hemerocallis is not a Lily.
My cat is about 6 years old but i can remember that form and early age he has been chewing and licking the plastic shopping bags i just wanted to know if there is anything really bad about this behavior. he doesnt often get sick and every now-and-then he’ll have a hairball but i just want to make sure that he lives as long and as healthy as he can!
Thanks
Kelly & Beany
My thoughts on allowing cats to play with anything is as goes, if you wouldn’t allow your young child, infant, to play with the item then I wouldn’t allow my cat to play with it. As to me, my elderly cat is my Baby and I wouldn’t give anything to Her if it wasn’t good enough for a child.I certainly would not allow a child to play in a plastic bag, so I wouldnot allow a cat to do the same.
Also if I may add to the list of items dangerous in the house, I would add to be careful when it comes to the burners on your stove as cats are attracted to warmth and they jump onto countertops and often get quite close to the stove burners, and could burn their tender feet.
Hi there everyone who cohabitates with felines!
Just to add some don’t to the list: plastic mice, you find in the kid’s section, neon colored hard plastic, one of my cats ate the tails off of several of them, thank goodness they passed through him with no major repercussions! Don’t but anything that isn’t a cat’s playtoy!
Also, the same cat has problems with any kind of food that isn’t urinary PH food, so I keep all my cats on the same food. Two other things he enjoys chewing and shredding: the blue ear syringes to clean out your ears with (over the counter), and rubber bands! So I keep all plastic anything out of reach!
My kitten (a different cat), finds computer cords, electirc blanket cords, and anything else in a rubber or plastic coating “FUN” to chew on! I find the best way to train her is to use a water spray bottle!
My cats are my children but a water spray bottle works wonders! Also, I don’t let my housekeeper use any products in my house other than bleach, and she makes sure she washes it down after she cleans. We have found another cat of mine, likes to lick the bleach solution when she is cleaning.
Any more cleaning tips from anyone? How about something for hairballs? My long hair cats have some every now and then, even though they get brushed often!
Thanks,
Robin
I’d like to add baby’s breath in dried floral arrangements as things for cat owners to be aware of. I had a cat who absolutely LOVED to eat it. Once I saw her doing that I figured out what was making her vomit so much. I’d been giving her hairball stuff to no avail.
I’m not sure if it would cause something worse in another cat…??
Cats also, like mine, have been known to ingest coins… my cat was acting strange a few years ago & having a hard time going to the bathroom so I took her up to the vets & they x-rayed her & there in the x-ray they found a round object… much to my surprise, after the emergency surgery 2 coins were removed… one was a dime & one was a nickel but they were stuck together & they had been in her system for so long that the acids in her stomach had started eatting away at the dime… it actually had a whole in the center of it & was much much thinner than any normal dime so make sure there are no coins on the carpet ;o) I am not sure if Spookie is just a strange cat or not for eatting the coins but the outcome (or no outcome,scuse the pun) is not good ! I can laugh about it now thank God !
I agree whole -heartedly with Dorothy… if it’s not good enough for your human baby, it’s not good enough for your feline baby. I am lucky that none of my three cats eats any form of vegetation with the sole exception of grass. If you are able to keep the poisonous plants out of feline reach(yes it can be an art) then I’d say they’re okay.
For “green” cleaning, try lemons. Cats don’t really like the smell of lemons or citrus for that matter. For hairballs, try liquid parafin. Many cats quite like the taste, & it will ease the passing of any hairballs & ease constipation. Always give them plenty of clean drinking water even if you give them milk.
One of my cats, Jasmine, throws up from time to time. It is always regurgitated food, Science Diet dry. I’ve tried different foods and hairball products. Could it be she just eats too fast? Also, she breaks out in rashes from time to time, but two different creams from the vet seemed to solve that. She is 2 yrs.,10 months, same as her sister Isabelle, who is a bit bigger and very healthy. Any suggestions?
My cat unknowingly ingested embroidery floss during a relative’s visit. After the houseguest left, the cat started exhibiting signs of being ill, so I took her to the vet. Around $1500 and close to two agonizing weeks later, the cat seemed to show signs of recovery (she did almost die during surgery, and again a few days afterwards, but is fine now, about 4 years after the fact).
My sister’s cat sadly died after being exposed to a topical (but not “cheap” as listed above, so be cautious about any of them) canine flea prevention product. The cat began having seizures, vomiting, and having severe diarrhea; this was traumatic to everyone involved. The vet said to being the cat in, but never asked about flea products for dogs, or any chemicals, until it was too late to save the cat. Had a list like this been available back then, perhaps it could have helped. I do hope this helps prevent further problems for other loving pet owners!
My cat often plays with quarters and other shiny objects, but thankfully (as far as I know) has not ingested any! She also does enjoy grabbing drawstring ends and cords from clothing such as jackets and pants, and also pills that sometimes fall from my hands, so I get those away as soon as I notice to try and reduce the chance of a cat tragedy.
Add rubberbands and ribbon to the list of no-no’s for homes with kitties. My Baguette swallowed a ribbon that almost killed him. He surrived—but only after two surgeries and more than $10,000 worth of vet bills.
He is such a jerk when it comes to such stuff. The other day he barfed up a rubberband—we were horrified becuase we thought we had purged such items—but one snuck in with the mail. Thank goodness it didn’t get stuck.
ac
A few years ago my cat was very sick one night, vomitting quite a few times. The next day the vet did an X-ray and found a foreign object in her, so she said we had to ‘cut her up’ (the exact words she used, can’t express how horrible I felt). At the end of the surgery, the vet showed me a small bunch of threads. When I got home I searched around for clues, and realized that my cat had ingested the loose strands from one of her torn and tattered toy mice. Better keep such toys away!
I find the spray bottle method, quite effective. My 3 month old kitten is experimenting on climbing & chewing on objects. I know the water can’t hurt her, and everyone in the house says down, or Bella Boo I love you, get down. i will remind the children not to give the kitty string or yarn. I never thought of it getting caught in her intestines.
I’d like to add plastic shopping bags to the list because of the danger of strangulation from the plastic handles. My cat got his head through the hole and had the bag around his neck. Thankfully the bag scared him and he ran out into the living room, it was not wrapped around his neck, just had his head poking through the hole. But I have read a story about this and it would be very easy for the handle to twist around the neck very tightly and strangle the cat.
I find my 4yr Siamese mix doesn’t care for traditional kitty toys as he chews and plays with everything else loose in the house if it fancies his attention at that moment. Stealing Q-tips off my night stand seems to be his preference. He also prefers my undivided, interactive attention to play with. I don’t have any plants for him to chew on but I found he chews on box corners and paper bag edges. He even chewed the corner of a Space Bag I left within reach and needless to say a hole in one defeats their purpose. My point being, some cats will find amusement with anything and everything so kitty-proofing a home can be quite a challenge.
To Leslie who posted about her kitty throwing up Science Diet dry food after he gobbles it down and skin rashes… I adopted my siamese-mix almost 2 yrs ago from a shelter. I suppose they couldn’t have know that he has food allergies which has been an arduous chore to irradicate. (Of course my vet had nothing to offer on the subject which thoroughly has irritated me.) I searched the internet and found that A) seafood/fish flavored foods or foods with seafood/fish filler caused the rashes and B) I too fed my guy Science Diet dry until recently. It is made with corn meal and I found out from others on message boards (not from my vet of course) that it may also just be the cause of his skin problems and vomiting right after he ate it too. He got severe skin irritations on his abdomen in the beginning that he scratched/licked at at until he pulled fur out in clumps and scratched his skin open. Recently, he scratched the heck out of his jaw/neck tho I saw no rash. My hearts breaks every time I see him do this so I’ve continued to search high and low for information and found out about ‘limited food diets’ or LID’s that are made without seafood/ fish and/or corn. Lately, I have been phasing him off Science Diet since it’s made primarily with corn. I changed his dry to Natural Balance Green Pea and Duck and wet to Nutro Max Cat’s duck, venison, lamb & chicken/turkey. Search the internet for info on pet food allergies. You may want to investigate a food allergy ‘trial’ as well and see if his condition doesn’t improve, if not go away!? It has for me and both of us couldn’t be happier!
Thank you so much for warning about thread. Our girl Biscuit managed to get a piece of thread hung around her rear teeth, and apparently in an effort to get it loose, she proceeded to swallow over five feet of thread. We did not know anything was wrong until she stopped eating and deteriorated rapidly. She made it through the surgery and is still with us, but it was nearly fatal, and it took its toll on her (she has been healthy but is physically frail and very thin since the surgery). This was actually the second time something like this happened to our family. Our baby boy Riker got a hold of one of those plastic coiled key chains (the kind you can wrap around your wrist), chewed it up, and swallowed several 1/2″-3/4″ segments. Again, we got very lucky and he made it through surgery. He got very sick, though, and it was terribly scary.
With both of them, they went from healthy to losing a significant amount of weight in mere days. Riker would show interest in food but would just vomit after smelling it, whereas Biscuit mostly just withered up and got depressed. If your cat ever quits eating (maybe vomiting or retching early on) and loses a lot of weight in a very short amount of time (especially with abdomen tenderness and/or a visibly sunken-in abdominal area), please consider the possibility of foreign object ingestion and get him or her checked immediately. And, of course, remember that cats are somewhat little furry toddlers that will get into everything and stick it all in their mouths. It took us a while to appreciate that.
kimberly the best thingyou can do for your baby with the urine problem is give him vitamen c 500 mg. one of my cats is like that, and try not to give him so much fish.
Please please PLEASE be careful during the holiday season, especially with Christmas trees. With my Cody - every so often we would find tinsel in his mouth. But one day when we weren’t home he had swatted down an ornament and ate the hook that held it onto the tree (or so we think). We would have never suspected such a thing because in all the years prior he had never done anything like this.
Anyways he was violently sick afterwards and we took him to the vet. They did an Xray and indeed found the hook. The sad part was, the way it was lodged they could not do surgery. All they could do was give us this expensive medicine and told us to feed him vasoline hoping it would maybe pass since where it was would only kill him.
Sadly, he suffered and eventually died. It nearly killed me, but I’m hoping that ALOT of people read this and PASS THE WORD! I don’t want anything like this happening again to anyone’s beloved pet - it was just too awful an experience for any animal to have to go through. And awful for their human mom to witness. Like I said, I would have never thought …
Also a BIG caution regarding lit candles! Every cat I’ve ever shared space with, has been fascinated by the flames. Twice now I’ve had to care for badly burnt paws, because of a minute or two of inattention on my part.
I watch my cat every time he plays with string or something of that nature. A couple of years ago, he ate some Christmas ribbon. It got tangled up in his intestines and I had to take him in for emergency surgery at about 1:00 in the morning. It cost almost $2000, but more importantly, I almost lost my “child” and he was in incredible pain after the surgery. He had 19 staples in his stomach.
Please don’t make the same mistake I did!!!
About the spray bottles: my Rascal (rightly named LOL), just stands there and looks at me and the spray. he’s only 3 months old and water does not seem to have any affect on him at all.. He even let me rinse his paws in the bathroon sink and dry them off when he got poopy from the litter box on them, When I turn on the bathroom tap he comes out of nowhere and starts playing with the water.
I have kitty proofed my place for the most part but he manages to pull out the odd cord.
Also, he likes to attack and bite me when he gets overly excited. The only way i can get him to stop is to hiss very loudly at him.
Any other suggestions as how to keep him off where he’s not supposed to be and to make him stop biting both me and cords?
I say stick with a low ash content food
we have a cat that had bladder infection and spent 5 days with vet.
put him on low ash no problem since! Also we have two other cats thats all they eat no problems. but I saykeep bowls of water on tables etc. thet like to steal water, other than in their regular place. they even drink more!! (i would mention some brands, but dont know if its legal) fred
Wow, this brings back the memories…
My Chester (who isn’t the brightest lightbulb due to phenobarbityl for his seizures) eats ribbon and string like it’s a porterhouse steak. A few summers ago, I had wrapped a present for my father and left the ribbon on the floor while I went to throw away the wrapping paper. There were 3 ribbons. When I came back, there were only 2, and Chester was starting on a second one. Each ribbon was 3 or so feet of sharp curling ribbon. We rushed him to the emergency vet’s, and for half an hour the vet tried to get him to cough it up, but it didn’t work. I was terrified that he would have to suffer that horrible, painful death where their intestines bunch together.
Instead, we took him home, and kept him in a cage and gave him lots of water and food to see if he’d pass it normally.
After 5 days of endless worry and anxiety, he coughed the ribbon up. The whole 3 feet. We were very happy and let him out of the cage.
I moved his cage from the living room to another room, and when I came back, Chester was attempting to swallow the shoelaces on my sneakers.
Add hair elastics to the list, if not already on - a Siamese I had loved to lick hair, and also these elastics, especially the fuzzy covered ones - one day she vomited up a whole one she had swallowed. Now my hurricane refugee Streetcar loves play with them, and also rubber bands.