Contact: Gail Luciani
(215) 898-1475
luciani@vet.upenn.edu

PHILADELPHIA­With Easter rapidly approaching, the veterinarians at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine would like to remind you that Easter lilies are highly toxic to cats, with the potential for causing kidney failure. All parts of the plant are considered poisonous, so please keep these plants away from cats. Lilies dangerous to cats include:

·        Easter lily
·        Tiger lily
·        Rubrum lily
·        Japanese show lily
·        Day lily

A cat may vomit, lose its appetite or become lethargic within a few hours of eating a dangerous plant. If this happens, see your veterinarian immediately.

Also, do not give your pets onions, macadamia nuts or alcohol -- they are toxic to dogs and cats. And never feed your pets chocolate, as it contains the heart stimulant theobromine, which can cause a severe heart arrhythmias or seizures if ingested in large doses.

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The Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital at Penn is one of the busiest veterinary teaching hospitals in the country, seeing more than 31,000 small animal patient visits a year. Of those visits, approximately 11,000 are in our emergency service, which is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and is staffed by emergency medicine clinicians and emergency/critical care specialists, as well as nursing specialists in emergency/critical care, augmented by on- call specialists. In an emergency, please call 215.746.V911 (215.746.8911). To make a non-emergency appointment or for more information about our specialty clinics, please call 215.746.VETS (215.746.8387) weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. The Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital is located on the University of Pennsylvania campus in West Philadelphia at 39th and Spruce Streets.

Visit us on-line at www.vet.upenn.edu