Cat ate small amounts of dried daffodil flower, should I be worried?

Question

Title tells it all - my cat found some dried daffodil flowers in my flat and I couldn’t catch him before he managed to ingest one (it’s not the type of daffodil with huge flowers but rather small ones, so it wasn’t a huge amount). Upon googling I’ve found it is indeed toxic, but I’d guess this amount won’t cause any problems (also maybe the fact that it wasn’t fresh also matters), but you can never be sure with poisonous stuff.

So, should I rush to the vet or it’s probably fine?

Update: since the ingestion (about an hour ago) he already vomited. But just before the daffodils he ate some dry pasta that he found on the floor as well, and I suspect it was those pasta pieces that made him vomit, not the daffodils (he did vomit badly chewed dry food in previous occasions). However I found the daffodil pieces in the vomit too. Not too much, but definitely some amount. I’m getting worried :/

Answer 1

Why take the risk?

You might be right that the amount of daffodil consumed is small enough that it won't affect the cat but on the other hand, you might not. The red flag for me is the throwing up that you mentioned and, as TrondHansen points out, this is one of the symptoms.

This is what the ASPCA have to say about Narcissus (Daffodil):

Toxicity: Toxic to Dogs, Toxic to Cats, Toxic to Horses Clinical Signs: Vomiting, salvation, diarrhea; large ingestions cause convulsions, low blood pressure, tremors and cardiac arrhythmias. Bulbs are the most poisonous part. _{(Emphasis mine)}

Now, you've already got one of the symptoms and perhaps you are right that it was caused by the dried pasta but again you just don't know. The bulb being the most poisonous part is encouraging because you've said they only ate the flower but PetMD says:

If a plant is poisonous, assume all parts of the plant are poisonous -- though some parts of the plant may have higher concentrations of the toxic principle than others.

You'll notice I've said 'might' and 'perhaps' a lot so far and that's because it's very difficult to tell over the internet. If this was my cat that I knew it had ingested even a small amount of a poisonous plant and was now throwing up, I'd be taking it straight to the vet to make sure.

_{Disclaimer - I'm not a Vet}

Answer 2

I called a vet and put up a webcam to be able to monitor him. The vet said over the phone that it's probably not a big deal since it came out pretty quickly and there was not much time for it to be absorbed and that the vomiting was most likely caused by the ingestion of plant matter not it being daffodil specifically. But I'll be on the lookout. Nothing suspicious over the webcam so far either.

Answer 3

Your cat should be fine.

The plant contains the toxic alkaloid lycorine. Bulbs also contain irritant oxalates. But most of the poison effects occur when getting a fresh plant. A dried one will not do that much.

Eating any part of the daffodil plant can cause symptoms including nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. This is not something that kills. Due to the indirect effects of the contents in the plant certain bad sensations are caused (starting from bad taste to burning feeling), but again, most of the effect is from a fresh one.

More severe symptoms have been reported in animals who only ate large large quantities. A small dried quantity that has been removed from the digestive system should have no serious effects.

Throwing up for cats it's something normal for their digestive system and the can ingest a lot of stuff without much bad effect. It's a normal way for cats to purge anything that's not good for them (hairballs included).

I'm not against visiting a vet, but don't be over-scared of the situation. He will probably recommend good hydration.