Heartbroken: This four-month-old kitten was killed by flower pollen
Four-month-old Mr Mistoffelees was found covered in orange pollen by his devastated owner Elizabeth Mackie.
The 38-year-old, who had been given the flowers as a gift, was worried that the pollen wouldn’t come off, so shared a picture of her kitten on social media .
But she was left horrified when she was told the pollen was exremely deadly to cats.
Vets rushed Mr Mistoffelees emergency surgery, where they frantically tried to save the cat - but he died later that day.
Both Elizabeth and the veterinary surgery have now launched a petition demanding that supermarkets and other florists put warning stickers on all lilies, stating that they should not be kept near cats.
Appeal for help: Elizabeth posted a picture on social media after her kitten was covered in pollen
“Someone had given me them as a thank you and I had put them on the window ledge in a big bay window.”
“Mistoffelees had been brushing up against them a lot as he liked to look out of the window.
“I found him covered in orange and realised it was pollen.
“He kept getting upset when I tried to clean it off so I put a post on social media to see if friends had any advice of how to do it.”
“Suddenly people started warning me that lily pollen is toxic to cats and I should check he hadn’t eaten any.”
“I had never heard this before, I was immediately very worried so I called the vets.”
Warning: Vet Andy Nelson wants to warn other cat owners
“They advised me to rush him in as an emergency even though it was a Sunday.”
Once they were at Leonard Brothers Veterinary Centre in Whitchurch, veterinary surgeon Andy Nelson sedated the kitten and then tried to induce vomiting in case lilies had been consumed.
However Elizabeth soon realized that Mistoffelees had licked pollen off his fur and his condition quickly deteriorated and he died of a combination of kidney and liver failure.
Elizabeth said: “When he stopped breathing the vet went to get adrenaline.”
“I massaged his chest as shown by the vet in a bid to save him while he got the adrenaline but unfortunately we couldn’t revive him.”
“I was devastated. It was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life as he was just a baby and I was there trying to save him like that. It was awful.”
Elizabeth and the vets’ petition has now reached more than 800 signatures - just 192 short from the 1,000 target.
Elizabeth said: “I had no idea that lilies could do this and since launched the petition lots of people have got in touch saying they didn’t know either.
Help: Elizabeth wants to warn others about the dangers of flowers to cats
“If only I had known I would have got rid of them and Mistoffelees would be fine.”
“I would hate for anyone else to go through what I have so I hope that our petition can at least raise some awareness and if the shops do start labelling them, then that could save a lot of cats from dying a horrible death.”
Veterinary surgeon Andy Nelson, who helped create the petition and owns a cat himself, states: “This is the second cat in the last year that I have seen die from lilies just because the owner did not know that they were dangerous for cats.”
“I’m amazed at the number of people who simply do not know how deadly they can be for cats, as they are popular pets and lilies are popular flowers - but the two just cannot go together.”
“I hope our petition at least raises some awareness about the danger but I’m really hoping we can get the shops to put a sticker on lilies to ensure it doesn’t happen anymore.”
“It’s a very simple change but could save a lot of cats a very painful death from kidney failure and their owners a lot of heartache.”
Elizabeth had got Mistoffelees to ‘cheer herself up’ after her mum Pat Mackie died of a stroke back in September at the age of 76. She had battled dementia for a number of years.
You can sign the petition here: Link