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A reminder to pet owners who receive flowers for valentine's day... (self.TwoXChromosomes)

submitted ago by mykicksgetchix

Many flowers sold in your typical valentine's day bouquets are poisonous to dogs and cats. A friend's kitty just passed away from eating a spray of baby's breath that came in an arrangement she received for her birthday and she is devastated. Please enjoy your gifts, but remember to keep them out of reach of your pets.

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[–]exotics 28 points29 points ago

Many kinds of Lily have a pollen that is toxic to cats, if the pollen falls on their fur and they lick it, bye bye kitty.

The biggest fear is not that the pets will eat the plants, but that pollen will fall on them.

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[–]Jigsaw_Pixie 1 point2 points ago

I now have to snuggle my kitty extra :'(

[–][deleted] ago

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[–]Jigsaw_Pixie 4 points5 points ago

I'll message you a funny picture of my kitty for you for virtual huggles/snuggles

[–]BexterV 0 points1 point ago

my parents have a cat named Lily who loves to chew on lilies so much that my parents can't have them in their house or garden

[–][deleted] ago

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[–]Rehauu 5 points6 points ago

Same. My cat ate baby's breath basically once or twice a year. Good amounts of it too. She never got sick from it and lived to be pretty old.

[–]bookgirl_72 1 point2 points ago

Yeah, one of our cats eats any and all of the flowers he can. I can't put my flowers on my dining room table anymore since he always gets into them and eats them.

He always pukes it up later, but I had no idea they could be so dangerous.

[–]VividLotus 12 points13 points ago

This is excellent advice. On a related note, I'd add: be very careful to put away all chocolate, if you have dogs. I assume most dog owners know this, but you never know.

[–]pseudosara 2 points3 points ago

Oh man. I made the mistake of taking my kitty to the vet on Valentine's Day a few years ago for an ear infection. Had to wait over an hour while the vet pumped the chocolate-filled stomachs of several dogs. He told me V-Day and Christmas are their two busiest days of the year.

[–]VividLotus 0 points1 point ago

Sadly I am not surprised. I wonder if Halloween (or the day after it) is a big problem as well? The day after Halloween I can't really even take my dog for a walk, because in my area there's so much chocolate randomly on the ground.

[–]21Celcius 0 points1 point ago

My grand parents feed their dog chocolate, I have no idea how the damn thing is still alive and why it's stupid enough to eat it.

[–]Nichidani 5 points6 points ago

Some kinds of chocolate (really, white chocolate) aren't terribly toxic to dogs. While I definitely DO NOT recommend letting your canine friends have chocolate AT ALL regardless of type, if they have a large dog and are only feeding it white or a bit of milk chocolate, it's not going to make it ill. Still not smart at all though.

The dog doesn't know any better, so that's why it's "stupid enough" to eat it. (Also, dogs LIKE chocolate... if you give them any, they are going to want more.)

[–]mizerydearia 0 points1 point ago

Carob - the non-toxic alternative to chocolate

[–]Bugsybear 0 points1 point ago

White chocolate isn't chocolate. Why we call it that, who knows...

[–]Nichidani 1 point2 points ago

well, my point still stands.

[–]Bugsybear 0 points1 point ago

Apparently it actually contains cocoa liquor... your point still stands, and my point is slightly changed LOL

[–]the_peanut_gallery 3 points4 points ago

Well, I think I know why the dog eats it.

[–]quantumsleep 0 points1 point ago

The size of the dog and the quantity and quality of the chocolate matter. A large dog who eats a little milk chocolate will almost certainly be fine. A small dog who eats a reasonably large amount of cocoa or baker's chocolate is in danger.

[–]21Celcius 0 points1 point ago

It is a tiny dog, one of those fluffy yappy types.

[–]WhatTheFrill 0 points1 point ago

My parents had a mini dachshund that ate a whole bag of those andes chocolates. I insisted they take her to the vet, and turns out she got pancreatitis. :( Different dogs have different sensitivity levels. Greasy people food can also cause pancreatitis and it's not really predictable. You could give a dog bacon for years and he'll be fine, but then just one day suddenly develop pancreatitis.

[–]VividLotus 0 points1 point ago

Eh a lot of dogs will eat literally anything, often even non-food items. They can't understand the consequences. It's up to the owner to keep dangerous foods and other items away from them. Have you ever tried talking to your grandparents about this issue?

[–]21Celcius 0 points1 point ago

They don't think it's true be cause the dog loves it and it isn't sick.

[–]VividLotus 0 points1 point ago

Ugh, that is so sad:(. I've never understood the "my pet loves it!" logic-- they're animals, they don't understand if/why something is bad to eat, until it causes them a problem (and even then, they probably won't connect eating that item and feeling sick, unless the reaction is pretty immediate).

Could you email them a link to an article such as this one, or print it out and give/mail it to them if they're not internet users?

[–]KosherDill 0 points1 point ago

When I was a kid we had a crazy Irish Setter that was accidentally not locked in her cage. We all went out and came back to find she ate a whole tray of Hershey kisses. My mom was a vet tech so we just kept an eye on her, that crazy dog was lucky to only have a bad case of diarrhea with foil.

[–]VividLotus 1 point2 points ago

A larger dog has to eat a much greater volume of chocolate than a smaller dog would to become seriously ill from it, and there's also the fact (fortunate, in this case!) that a lot of inexpensive milk chocolate products have a very low content of actual cacao...it's mostly milk and sugar. I am really glad your dog was OK!

[–]KosherDill 0 points1 point ago

So true! I think her insanity factor helped, insane dogs always seem more resilient. : )

[–]Jynx1989 0 points1 point ago

onions too apparently...although if someone gives you an onion for valentines day...you should probably marry them for their sense of humor

[–]Waterrat 3 points4 points ago

The same thing goes for house rabbits and gpigs. \

[–]BexterV 0 points1 point ago

and hedge hogs!

[–]JNDFANTASY 3 points4 points ago

I have been lucky, thanks for the warning. My cats always munch on my flowers. I will forgo them this year. Love my kitties too much.

[–]My_cat_is_cute 2 points3 points ago

I had no idea about baby's breath!

[–]gattofila 2 points3 points ago

Excellent & timely message! I believe orchids are ok for katzies?

[–]mykicksgetchix[S] 11 points12 points ago

The ASPCA has a great list of toxic and non-toxic plants and flowers.

[–]rach42389 3 points4 points ago

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/plants/

[–]gattofila 1 point2 points ago

Thank you very much!!

[–]gattofila 0 points1 point ago

Bookmarked it. The cats appreciate your help!

[–]Cloudycandyx 3 points4 points ago

I always keep any flowers in my bedroom where no cats are allowed because I'm afraid my clumsy kitties will knock over the vase. Thank god, too, because if I lost my baby I have no idea what I'd do.

[–]BexterV 0 points1 point ago

I had to buy an extra heavy bottomed vase to prevent this...

[–]Cloudycandyx 0 points1 point ago

My cats have an amazing ability to knock over anything that has water in it. Heavy bottomed vases, drinking glasses, the dogs' water dish...nothing is safe. So I just keep anything flower in the same room I keep my hedgehog.

[–]BexterV 0 points1 point ago

My cat is also particularly interested in water, she has a certain preoccupation with the toilet and the shower after someone has been in there and of course she's not very sturdy on her feet so she has many a time fallen into the bath. Luckily she isn't particularly interested in the flowers themselves but she is interested in the hedge hog which is why he got a specially built home when she moved in.

[–]Shihana 1 point2 points ago

Oh wow, I knew some houseplants were dangerous but I never thought about flowers. (I've also never had a cat that got on the table, which is where my mom put flowers when she got them, so we were lucky.) I'll remember this and stick to chocolate.

[–]arbormama 3 points4 points ago

Also toxic to cats.

[–]Shihana 6 points7 points ago

Ah, but it comes in boxes so they can't get into it. Also, it uh... doesn't exactly last long enough for kitties to get a chance to try for it.

[–]kornberg 4 points5 points ago

and cat's can't taste sweet and don't like nuts so usually won't eat chocolate like a dog would.

[–]piratepixie 0 points1 point ago

My cat goes crazy when my SO eats peanuts. He wants them, but he's never given them.

[–]kornberg 0 points1 point ago

there are exceptions but usually cats do not care for nuts. maybe he's all up ins on the salt?

[–]piratepixie 0 points1 point ago

Yeah you might be right there, though it might just be because my boy wants anything and everything we're eating, and dislikes being told no.

[–]Please_send_baguette 1 point2 points ago

Thank you for the warning! My dog is not a big chewer, but it's still better to be on the safe side.

[–]StringOfLights 0 points1 point ago

Also keep in mind that even non-toxic flower bouquets probably also have tons of pesticides on them. :(

[–]rach42389 0 points1 point ago

Oh no! I knew about lilies but what other flowers are toxic?! I have TWO kitties that I would be devastated if I lost...

[–]piratepixie 0 points1 point ago

On the super rare occasions I am given flowers (not often, due to SO being an asshole when it comes to flowers), they go upstairs in our bedroom, in the one room in the house the cats aren't allowed.

They're shits for knocking things over.

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