cat ate flower. help!

May 2, 2008 8:22 PM

My cat just ate a flower. What do I do?

My cat just ate about half the petals on this flower. I think it's a tulip, but I don't really know flowers. Is this poisonous to cats? If so, what do I do? Here's another pic of the flower she ate.

posted by Awkward Philip to pets & animals (12 comments total)

That does look like a tulip. Google shows a lot of conflicting reports about it's toxicity (including this person who rang poison control to no avail). The main consensus seems to be to watch for vomiting, diarrhea, drooling and to ring your vet if you're not sure or see anything weird. Ringing your vet (or an after hours vet) for advice should be free so that's probably the best option anyway.
posted by shelleycat at 8:30 PM on May 2

She'll make it
posted by pilibeen at 8:42 PM on May 2

With tulips, the toxic portion is the bulb (the part underground), not the flower/petals. But, just to ease your mind, are you in an area that has after-hours vet services? If so, give them a call and see what they say. Otherwise, just keep an eye on the cat. I'm sure she will be fine.
posted by amyms at 8:45 PM on May 2

Looks like a tulip to me as well. ASPCA says they're toxic, but separately they say that it's tulip bulbs that are particularly toxic. They also have a page of suggestions...I'd call the vet.
posted by needs more cowbell at 8:46 PM on May 2

My cats polished of a small bouquet of tulips last week and they're still sleek and happy (although there was a little vomiting the next day).
posted by OlderThanTOS at 9:38 PM on May 2

Cats eat plants all the time, and then do have a tendency to vomit them back up. (I fail to see the attraction, but they'll do it every time if you give them a chance.)

The point being that even if the cat throws up half chewed flower petals, it should be fine. I'd give it one free vomit, and not start worrying unless it keeps on doing it or something else seems to go wrong.
posted by Naberius at 10:15 PM on May 2 [1 favorite]

Ringing your vet (or an after hours vet) for advice should be free so that's probably the best option anyway.

From my experience, calling an after hours vet or a 24 hour animal hospital will charge you a fee just to tell you whether or not what you pet ate is toxic to them or not. One night my sister's dog ate an entire year's worth of it's worm medication, even ate the box and all. My sister freaked out and called the emergency vet and they wouldn't tell her whether or not her dog was in danger unless she paid them a fee, which I want to say was around 50 dollars. I went online and found numbers of other places and it was all the same thing. They wanted to charge a fee before they would tell us anything.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 10:56 PM on May 2

Your cat should be fine but if you're wooried ring a vet. Bear in mind that it probably eats all kind of things every day of the week when you're not watching. Ignore what you saw it eating and instead keep a look out for any unusual behaviour or symptons.
posted by fire&wings at 2:21 AM on May 3

Just don't freak out if your cat vomits...it's what they do after eating plants. My mom's cat used to eat her Spider plants down to the root and then spend the rest of the day tripping his balls off. Keep an eye out for panting, drooling or staggering - that's when you should worry. If the cat is eating, drinking, peeing or defecating (it doesn't need to be all of these...one will suffice) then it is fine.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 2:50 AM on May 3

It's my understanding that cats eat grass and other plants to induce vomiting, in order to get rid of hairs they ingested in the course of grooming themselves. If it's an indoor cat, eating household plants would have to suffice in lieu of grass.

Tulip flowers (and yes, the flower in your picture is indeed a tulip) are not inherently poisonous - only the bulbs are. In fact, tulip flower petals can be used in salads to add color - they are edible.
posted by gemmy at 8:36 AM on May 3

Thanks for the advice everyone. My cat is totally fine - not even any vomiting (yet).
posted by Awkward Philip at 8:56 AM on May 3

Please be careful with flowers-- if this had been a lily instead of a tulip, your cat could very easily have died. Don't ask how I know.
posted by [NOT HERMITOSIS-IST] at 10:44 PM on May 3