🧄 My cat ate garlic — what do I do?
Call your vet today, even if your cat seems fine. Garlic is roughly 3–5 times more toxic than onion and destroys red blood cells, but anemia often takes 3–5 days to show. Powders, garlic bread and sauces count. Recent, larger amounts may need the vet to induce vomiting.
🧅 My cat ate onion
Cats are the species most sensitive to onions. Poisoning has followed less than a teaspoon of cooked onion. Call your vet, keep watching for lethargy, pale gums and red-brown urine over the next week, and don't forget hidden onion in gravy, soup and baby food.
🍫 My cat ate chocolate
The darker the chocolate, the bigger the danger. A lick of milk chocolate is rarely serious, but dark chocolate, baking chocolate and cocoa powder can cause vomiting, a racing heart, tremors and seizures within 6–12 hours. Note the type and amount, then call.
🌷 My cat licked lily pollen or chewed a lily
Go to a vet now. True lilies and daylilies cause kidney failure in cats, and pollen groomed off the fur is enough. Treatment started early has a much better outcome; delays of 18 hours or more often lead to irreversible damage. Wipe the fur and bring the plant.
🍇 My cat ate a grape or raisins
Call your vet or a poison line. Grapes and raisins can cause kidney injury, and there's no known safe amount. Evidence in cats is more limited than in dogs, but poison lines now see enough cat cases that vets treat any ingestion seriously.
💊 My cat ate Tylenol (acetaminophen)
This is a life-threatening emergency. Cats can't process acetaminophen — signs have occurred at around 10 mg/kg, a fraction of one tablet. Watch for brown or blue gums and a swollen face. Vets have an antidote (acetylcysteine), so go immediately.
💊 My cat ate ibuprofen, Advil or Aleve
Go to a vet now. Cats are especially sensitive to NSAID pain relievers: ibuprofen can cause stomach ulcers above about 5 mg/kg and kidney injury from about 20 mg/kg. Licked Voltaren (diclofenac) gel counts too. Bring the box.
🐕 I put dog flea medicine on my cat
Many dog spot-ons contain 45–65% permethrin, which can cause twitching, tremors and seizures in cats within hours. If your cat is calm, wash the area with liquid dish soap and lukewarm water, dry and keep warm, then go to a vet. If trembling has started, skip the bath and go now.
🧪 My cat drank or licked antifreeze
Go now — every minute counts. About a teaspoon can be fatal to a cat, and the antidote only works when started very early (within about 3 hours in cats). Cats often look "drunk", then seem better before kidney failure sets in.
🐀 My cat ate rat or mouse poison
Go to a vet and take the package. Baits differ: anticoagulants cause bleeding 3–7 days later, bromethalin causes brain swelling (cats are extremely sensitive), and vitamin D3 baits damage the kidneys. The exact active ingredient decides the treatment.
🌿 My cat licked essential oil or got some on its fur
Cats lack liver enzymes needed to process many essential-oil compounds; tea tree oil is the most common culprit. Move your cat to fresh air, wash oil off the fur with a little dish soap (if calm), and call a vet or poison line. Don't induce vomiting.
🧵 My cat swallowed string, thread or ribbon
Don't pull it out if it's hanging from the mouth or bottom — string can anchor in the gut and saw through it. Call your vet now; if a needle was attached, go straight in for an X-ray. Vomiting, not eating and lethargy are warning signs.
🍺 My cat drank alcohol or ate raw dough
Cats absorb alcohol quickly and signs start within 30–60 minutes: wobbliness, drooling, vomiting, low body temperature and slowed breathing. Raw yeast dough also expands in the stomach and ferments into alcohol. Call a vet now.
🍬 My cat ate sugar-free gum (xylitol)
Xylitol is deadly to dogs. A small study suggests cats are less sensitive, but the evidence is limited and gum can also cause a blockage — so call your vet or a poison line with the product name and how much is missing.
🪴 My cat chewed a houseplant
Pothos, philodendron, monstera, peace lilies and calla lilies irritate the mouth (drooling, pawing, vomiting) but don't cause kidney failure. Sago palm, lily of the valley and true lilies are emergencies. Not sure what it is? Take a photo and call.
✨ My cat bit a glow stick
Dramatic drooling and foaming are typical — the liquid tastes extremely bitter — but glow-stick liquid is low in toxicity. Offer a little tasty wet food or water to clear the taste, wipe the mouth, and wash glowing spots off the fur. Call your vet if signs persist.