The tulip is one of the most loved flowering plants across the globe due to its breathtaking beauty, colorful, vibrant flowers, and easy availability. Homeowners love to have it in their garden or yard. Tulip blooms in the garden make it welcoming and make an awe-striking border with an impeccable visual appeal. Unfortunately, they have a significant drawback: they are toxic to cats if they ingest the flowers, bulbs, or leaves. Keep your cats away from tulips, so plan the garden planting and flowering while keeping the safety of the cats in mind. Check out information on the reasons and symptoms and what to do if cats ingest tulips.
Are Tulips Toxic to Cats, and Why?
Tulips are, unfortunately, toxic to cats if they ingest even a small amount. Tulips are part of the lily family, and lilies are also harmful to the cat's health. The entire tulip plant is toxic to them: leaves, stems, bulbs, and flowers, out of which bulb has the highest content of toxins. If a cat consumes even a small amount of tulip bulbs, you should immediately take the cat to the vet because severe problems arise after consuming tulip bulbs. If cats ingest small amounts of leaves, it will cause irritation in the mouth.
The reason for toxicity is the presence of alkaloids, glycosides, and allergenic lactones, which cause health hazards if ingested. All tulip parts have compounds that cause health issues in the mouth, skin, intestines, and stomach in cats.
Early Symptoms of a Small Amount of Tulip Ingestion
- Vomiting
- Drooling
- Diarrhea
- Depression
Early Symptoms of Large Amounts of Tulip Ingestion and Bulb Ingestion
- Pain in abdomen
- Tremors
- Increased heart rate
- Convulsions
- High respiratory rate
- Trouble in breathing
- Coma
- Weakness
- Skin irritation
- Intestinal obstruction
What Should You Do if a Cat Ingests Tulips?
The treatment depends on the symptoms shown by cats. If cats show normal behavior after vomiting, you need not worry but take the cats immediately to the vet if they show signs of gastrointestinal symptoms. Doctors usually administer fluids and give anti-nausea medicines. The vet may advise hospitalization in case of severe symptoms.
Tips: You should first remove the leftover tulip or fur from their mouth to prevent them from eating more.
Diagnosis of the Problem
When you take the cat to the vet, the doctor will conduct a physical examination of the cat to observe the symptoms, complications, and the cat's reaction and vitals. The vet may ask a few questions regarding the medical history of your cat. Carry all the medical papers of the past; if you have, that will make the diagnosis easy and accurate.
Treatment for Tulip Poisoning
The treatment depends on the size of the cat, the amount of tulip plant part ingested, and the time when it was eaten.
Vomiting
Once you observe that the cat is restless and you should not wait, take your cat to the vet as soon as possible. The vet may give some medicine to induce vomiting to empty the stomach to reduce the absorption of toxins and prevent further complications. This method also works if consumption time is less than four hours. If more than four have passed, the toxins must have moved to the intestine.
Stomach Pump
A stomach pump, named gastric lavage, in medical terms, is a more serious treatment when cats are hospitalized and given supportive therapy. This is done under a general anesthetic to flush out tulips from the cat's system. Your vet will provide you with all the information.
Intravenous Fluid
Cats are given intravenous fluids so that they don't become dehydrated due to loss of water after vomiting. After induced vomiting, cats may refuse to eat or drink anything, so intravenous fluid will help them flush out toxins with more peeing and also support the function of the other organs.
Other Treatment
Activated charcoal is also given to cats to avoid further absorption of poison from the digestive tract to their bloodstream. This is helpful if toxins are lying in the stomach. Timely diagnosis and treatment can prevent the deadly impact of poison.
Which Part of the Tulip is Poisonous for Cats?
All the parts of the tulip plant are toxic to cats, but the bulbs have maximum toxins. Other parts of the plant, such as flowers, stems, and leaves, are all harmful.
How to Avoid Tulip Poisoning in Cats?
The best possible way to prevent poisoning in cats is to keep tulips away from cats. When you bring tulips into the house or save bulbs for the subsequent planting season, make sure they are stored in a place that is inaccessible to them. Cats are damn smart and have a strong sense of smell, so make an extra effort in fencing or blocking the tulip plant area to prevent the little mischief from entering. Another way is to train your cats to avoid tulips, but the best way is to keep plants out of their reach.
Conclusion
Tulips, loved for their rainbow colors and breathtaking visual impact, are unfortunately not suitable for cats. If you are a pet owner, grow tulips in the garden but fence them off to keep them out of the reach of cats.
