My cat ate a tulip. Are tulips toxic to cats? Should I call the vet?

Tulips are part of the lily family and can be toxic to cats. They contain a chemical known as Tulipilan A that can cause allergic reactions in humans just from touching a tulip. But because humans are larger than cats and don’t typically eat tulips, the toxin doesn’t pose as much risk for us. Tulipilan A is found in all parts of the tulip, but it is found in the highest concentrations in the bulb of the plant. The flower, leaves, and stem all contain smaller amounts of the toxin, but it is still enough to cause respiratory issues for small animals such as cats. Although your cat eating a tulip flower or leaf is still cause for concern, it’s not as bad as it would be if he were to consume some of the tulip bulbs.Tulips may or may not pose serious problems for your cat. It just depends on how much of the plant your cat ate, what part of the plant he ate, and how big he or she is. But, even with eating a small amount of tulip, your cat is likely to exhibit symptoms. Even if you didn’t see your cat eat the tulip, noticing any of the following signs are good indications that he did.If your cat took a small bite out of the less toxic part of a tulip, including the flower, leaf, or stem, he or she may exhibit minor symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, and excessive drooling. Your cat also may seem depressed or lethargic or express a general sense of not feeling well. Although these symptoms are considered minor compared to what your cat will experience when eating a large amount of tulip, it doesn’t mean that he will recover on his own. You should still seek treatment for your cat to prevent the symptoms from becoming more serious. That means a trip to your trusted vet. You do not need to worry unless the cat ingests the bulb portion of the flower.

Yes tulip bulbs are indeed to toxic to dogs and cats. Signs of intoxication are vomiting, depression, diarrhea, hypersalivation. So your dog clearly has been poisoned. With large ingestions, more severe symptoms such as an increase in heart rate, changes in respiration, and difficulty breathing may be seen. Should you notice your dog having breathing problems or should he appear very ill you should contact your vet or take him to a Pet ER. Generally it is not life threatening in a healthy dog, however every dog is different and there is no guarantee.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! You are correct tulips are toxic to cats. The toxins are more concentrated in the bulbs. If a cat ingests a lot of the plant it can experience drooling, GI upset, breathing problems, high heart rate and neurologic signs like seizures. If you want to keep the plants be sure to put them where Lumi can’t get too. Cats are athletic and can jump up high. I hope this help!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! The toxic components in tulips is concentrated in the bulb but is also present (in less concentrated amounts) in the other parts of the plant as well. I think Rocky will be fine but symptoms you would see would be associated with irritation of the mouth and esophagus: drooling and maybe vomiting. If you didn't do so already, flush out his mouth really well. If vomiting occurs I would have him seen by a vet. I hope this helps and I wish Rocky the best!

Dogs will be dogs! Hyacinth bulbs and the entire tulip family aren't extremely toxic to dogs, but if consumed in large enough quantities they can cause GI upset and even some cardiorespiratory changes. In this case, if only one bulb was chew (not even swallowed) and you have yet to see any clinical signs, you probably shouldn't spend too much time worrying about it. If you want to be really careful, you can certainly go to the vet and start Cali on a decontamination protocol. This would certainly be the safest option but might be unnecessary. Inducing vomiting at this point in time would be pointless as the stomach has already moved anything that was eaten down into the intestines. You might also consider calling up the pet poison helpline and speak with the toxicology experts over there. They know their stuff and deal with this kind of thing every single day. Hope this helps. Good luck with Cali.

Unfortunately the daylily is toxic to cats, and clinical signs usually occur between 6-12 hours after exposure. Watch out for lethargy, increased drinking, increased urination, racing heart beat, increased heart rate, vomiting, and diarrhea. If you see any of those signs, rush Dewey into a vet immediately.

After a couple days, there is no sense in taking him to the vet unless he is acting sick. Fortunately, Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum) toxicity isn’t as great as that of other types of lilies, including Easter lily and Asiatic lilies. The Peace lily, isn’t a true lily, so it doesn’t cause damage to the kidneys and liver like the other lillies do.