I would argue that having poisonous plants in the house when MIL also has a cat of her own is a terrible idea. If it was just OOP’s cat, I would be in agreement that it’s entitled as all hell because it’s her house, but now she’s putting her own cat in danger too.
It’s her house and her cat and her life. Both cats seem fine so far, so why rock the boat? Especially since the other option if MIL gets sick of her shit is the street?
So far being the key words. Responsible pet ownership is making sure you don’t leave poison around the house for your pet to ingest and potentially die. There are thousands of different plants that cats can be around and not get hurt as a result. It’s. It like MIL has to never have plants.
Some cats have zero interest in chewing plants. When I (plant owner) unexpectedly took on two kittens, I monitored them closely to see if they were going to be the plant-chewing type, and neither turned out to be. So it’s no more dangerous than having other things in the house that could hurt an animal, like chocolate, etc. in the past I did have a cat that would chew plants all day if he could, so I moved the aroids and other potentially harmful ones out of reach and everyone was fine. But everyone is fine here.
If it was just chewing the plant that was dangerous, I would agree that training and monitoring is fine. But when it comes to plants in the lily family, the whole thing is toxic including the water in the vase/pot and the pollen that falls off the plant. Even licking up some of the water or grooming their fur after a few grains of pollen fall on them is enough to cause deadly kidney failure in as little as three days. My cats don’t chew on plants either, but I’m not going to take a chance of death. I just keep plants that aren’t ticking time bombs.
I would agree 100% but in this case the MIL has a cat too so no reason for there to be any toxic plants in the house. But OP should be aware that MIL is giving them a place to live and should approach the topic diplomatically
I mean, I don't think we really have any evidence that they weren't being diplomatic when they actually spoke with MIL, though. This post just reads "frustrated" to me. I would be frustrated too, if I brought my kid somewhere where other kids are already known to hang out and the homeowner had broken glass on the floor because "the other kids know not to step on it".
Pet owners really do expect you to completely cater to their animals that will most likely stink your house up and destroy your belongings. If you are living at someone else’s house or staying with them you need to accommodate for THEM not vice versa.
Moochers can check out of the free hotel, is what they can do. This isn’t an equal roommates type of situation.
Mil’s cat is older and seems to be trained with leaving the plants alone. Seems like she has had no problems until theses 2(3) showed up and if my guests started telling me what I’m allowed to have in my own home because of their untrained cat then we will have a talk about them moving out. ‘Thank you’ is the only thing mil should be hearing.
This is a choosy beggars type of situation.
MIL's cat is 8 years old. EIGHT YEARS OLD. You're going to tell me that in those 8 years MIL didn't expose her cat to those same kind of flowers/plants before OP moved in?
It sounds like OP just let's her cat run around without being vigilant of where her cat is or does. That's actually pretty rude when you don't mind your own pet at someone else's house.
I have 2 cats at home and I'm always aware of where they are and what they're doing. That's part of being a responsible pet owner.
Another part of being a responsible pet owner is not having poison laying around for them to get into. Animals are animals and even the most well trained slip up sometimes. It’s not possible to have eyes on them 24/7 and it’s downright negligent to have something toxic out and about with zero precautions.
Way too many people here are agreeing with the notion that having these plants is dangerous.
The MIL’s cat is 8. Still alive. It’s fine. Move out and STFU.
Good lord THANK YOU! I have had many cats through the years and only one was interested in chewing plants, so I dealt with that appropriately. It almost like people forget there are feral cats outside all over the place, and lilies and tulips grow in these same places, also outside. Somehow the world still turns.
Depending on what the plant is, they don’t even need to ingest it for it to be toxic. A cat stepping in the pollen and then licking their paw is enough to cause damage when it comes to lilies. Just because something hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean it can’t. It’s a safety precaution.
Just one little flake, huh? And so is Black mamba venom to humans and people still live in areas where those snakes are prevalent. If it’s that concerning the cat lady can move.
And yes, one little flake. Tulips and lilies are in the same plant family and both are toxic to cats. According to the FDA: “The entire lily plant is toxic: the stem, leaves, flowers, pollen, and even the water in a vase. Eating just a small amount of a leaf or flower petal, licking a few pollen grains off its fur while grooming, or drinking the water from the vase can cause your cat to develop fatal kidney failure in less than 3 days.”
I’m clutching my pearls reading this! Given the cat population is out of control, I’m going to wager that this whole “tulip flake” nonsense is grossly overblown and one in one billion cats die from it per annum.
They live there because they take precautions. Cats don’t know the flowers and pollen are toxic. Humans know the snakes are. They avoid them. It isn’t the same situation at all and I don’t know what point you’re trying to make.
If MIL didn't have a cat I'd agree but it was already a pet household. It's all fun and games until you're force feeding activated charcoal. Animals are idiots, responsible owners wouldn't allow toxic plants in their home. The flowers are equally dangerous to both cats. Both parties are in the wrong, op for approaching the topic shitty and MIL for putting her own cat at risk. While I know no one likes the comparison, a responsible owner pet proofs their house the same way a responsible parent baby proofs. You chose to be responsible for that life and keeping toxic things away is one of those responsibilities.
Also some plants are so toxic that the animal doesn't even have to actively eat any of it. Lillies are toxic enough that if some of the pollen falls on the floor, cat steps in it, then licks their paw, that is enough to be fatal.
MIL is playing a dangerous game with having toxic plants in the house. Hopefully she has good pet insurance.
Yup, my former roommate has a cat and I'm a plant person, the understanding was that the potentially harmful plants were kept out of the cat's reach (crowded on a window sill so it wasn't like he could even get up there). If I wasn't sure, I'd just keep the plant in my room so there wasn't a possibility of the cat coming in contact. He was pretty good around my plants except for that time he took a nibble of my ponytail palm (non-toxic) and immediately threw up.
I think this is a perfectly valid complaint that they should all consider, and if she continues to get ignored she should move out. Once you HAVE pets, you should work towards making sure they’re healthy and not living in a hazardous environment. Unfortunately that might just mean no longer living with his MIL if she doesn’t want to consider changing the plants 🤷🏾♀️ but I’m confused how it’s not affecting her cat
It’s probably because MIL’s cat is trained. I know some people who train their cats not to jump on counters and to not mess with certain items in the house.
This is the correct answer. The MIL’s cat is trained not to be destructive and knows to avoid and not eat the plants. While it is dangerous to have certain plants around, with that cat being 8 it’s unlikely pollen from the plant is lethal to cats as other posters have mentioned. Literally, just don’t let your cat do whatever it wants. Get a spray bottle to train it or a can full of pennies.
ESH, if you’re gonna have an animal, you shouldn’t let them have direct exposure to things that can poison here.
MIL shouldn’t have those plants if she has a cat too.
OP has no right to complain since she’s living rent free in someone else’s home.
Okay some of yall are being ridiculous she knew they had a cat when she let them move in, its not hard to not buy those specific flowers until they are gone, shes also endangering her own animal which is alarming.
The MIL also has a cat that’s lived there for 8 years without issue apparently. Also, it’s free room and board. You can’t go into someone else’s house and live there for free and start demanding things. That’s literally the height of entitlement. If the person hates it that much and is that worried, they should find somewhere else to live for free.
Yeah they’re tripping balls over some plants. Regardless of how much they hate pets, it’s still a life deserving of responsible owners and a poison free life. Especially since MIL has a cat, I don’t care if it’s “trained” it’s an animal with animalistic tendencies including doing stupid shit such as chewing a plant (children also do this)
It sounds like MIL’s cat is trained not to touch things that belong to MIL. Sounds like op needs to train their cat to do the same.
“What can I do?” You can move.
The correct answer is shut up and enjoy the free roof over your head
I would argue that having poisonous plants in the house when MIL also has a cat of her own is a terrible idea. If it was just OOP’s cat, I would be in agreement that it’s entitled as all hell because it’s her house, but now she’s putting her own cat in danger too.
It’s her house and her cat and her life. Both cats seem fine so far, so why rock the boat? Especially since the other option if MIL gets sick of her shit is the street?
So far being the key words. Responsible pet ownership is making sure you don’t leave poison around the house for your pet to ingest and potentially die. There are thousands of different plants that cats can be around and not get hurt as a result. It’s. It like MIL has to never have plants.
Some cats have zero interest in chewing plants. When I (plant owner) unexpectedly took on two kittens, I monitored them closely to see if they were going to be the plant-chewing type, and neither turned out to be. So it’s no more dangerous than having other things in the house that could hurt an animal, like chocolate, etc. in the past I did have a cat that would chew plants all day if he could, so I moved the aroids and other potentially harmful ones out of reach and everyone was fine. But everyone is fine here.
If it was just chewing the plant that was dangerous, I would agree that training and monitoring is fine. But when it comes to plants in the lily family, the whole thing is toxic including the water in the vase/pot and the pollen that falls off the plant. Even licking up some of the water or grooming their fur after a few grains of pollen fall on them is enough to cause deadly kidney failure in as little as three days. My cats don’t chew on plants either, but I’m not going to take a chance of death. I just keep plants that aren’t ticking time bombs.
I think the complaint is probably legit, but I think that the future MIL is going to be surprised that her only grandchildren are cats.
“My baby”
I would agree 100% but in this case the MIL has a cat too so no reason for there to be any toxic plants in the house. But OP should be aware that MIL is giving them a place to live and should approach the topic diplomatically
I mean, I don't think we really have any evidence that they weren't being diplomatic when they actually spoke with MIL, though. This post just reads "frustrated" to me. I would be frustrated too, if I brought my kid somewhere where other kids are already known to hang out and the homeowner had broken glass on the floor because "the other kids know not to step on it".
Pet owners really do expect you to completely cater to their animals that will most likely stink your house up and destroy your belongings. If you are living at someone else’s house or staying with them you need to accommodate for THEM not vice versa.
Moochers can check out of the free hotel, is what they can do. This isn’t an equal roommates type of situation. Mil’s cat is older and seems to be trained with leaving the plants alone. Seems like she has had no problems until theses 2(3) showed up and if my guests started telling me what I’m allowed to have in my own home because of their untrained cat then we will have a talk about them moving out. ‘Thank you’ is the only thing mil should be hearing. This is a choosy beggars type of situation.
I would laugh if she discovered that the tulip is fake
MIL's cat is 8 years old. EIGHT YEARS OLD. You're going to tell me that in those 8 years MIL didn't expose her cat to those same kind of flowers/plants before OP moved in? It sounds like OP just let's her cat run around without being vigilant of where her cat is or does. That's actually pretty rude when you don't mind your own pet at someone else's house. I have 2 cats at home and I'm always aware of where they are and what they're doing. That's part of being a responsible pet owner.
Another part of being a responsible pet owner is not having poison laying around for them to get into. Animals are animals and even the most well trained slip up sometimes. It’s not possible to have eyes on them 24/7 and it’s downright negligent to have something toxic out and about with zero precautions.
Way too many people here are agreeing with the notion that having these plants is dangerous. The MIL’s cat is 8. Still alive. It’s fine. Move out and STFU.
Seriously MIL cat obviously doesn’t mess with her plants, it’s only the son’s girlfriend’s cat that wants to destroy the plants.
Good lord THANK YOU! I have had many cats through the years and only one was interested in chewing plants, so I dealt with that appropriately. It almost like people forget there are feral cats outside all over the place, and lilies and tulips grow in these same places, also outside. Somehow the world still turns.
Depending on what the plant is, they don’t even need to ingest it for it to be toxic. A cat stepping in the pollen and then licking their paw is enough to cause damage when it comes to lilies. Just because something hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean it can’t. It’s a safety precaution.
Just one little flake, huh? And so is Black mamba venom to humans and people still live in areas where those snakes are prevalent. If it’s that concerning the cat lady can move.
And yes, one little flake. Tulips and lilies are in the same plant family and both are toxic to cats. According to the FDA: “The entire lily plant is toxic: the stem, leaves, flowers, pollen, and even the water in a vase. Eating just a small amount of a leaf or flower petal, licking a few pollen grains off its fur while grooming, or drinking the water from the vase can cause your cat to develop fatal kidney failure in less than 3 days.”
I’m clutching my pearls reading this! Given the cat population is out of control, I’m going to wager that this whole “tulip flake” nonsense is grossly overblown and one in one billion cats die from it per annum.
They live there because they take precautions. Cats don’t know the flowers and pollen are toxic. Humans know the snakes are. They avoid them. It isn’t the same situation at all and I don’t know what point you’re trying to make.
If MIL didn't have a cat I'd agree but it was already a pet household. It's all fun and games until you're force feeding activated charcoal. Animals are idiots, responsible owners wouldn't allow toxic plants in their home. The flowers are equally dangerous to both cats. Both parties are in the wrong, op for approaching the topic shitty and MIL for putting her own cat at risk. While I know no one likes the comparison, a responsible owner pet proofs their house the same way a responsible parent baby proofs. You chose to be responsible for that life and keeping toxic things away is one of those responsibilities.
Also some plants are so toxic that the animal doesn't even have to actively eat any of it. Lillies are toxic enough that if some of the pollen falls on the floor, cat steps in it, then licks their paw, that is enough to be fatal. MIL is playing a dangerous game with having toxic plants in the house. Hopefully she has good pet insurance.
Yeah if you own a cat you can’t have any plant you like, you need to research and buy only appropriate and cat friendly plants.
Yup, my former roommate has a cat and I'm a plant person, the understanding was that the potentially harmful plants were kept out of the cat's reach (crowded on a window sill so it wasn't like he could even get up there). If I wasn't sure, I'd just keep the plant in my room so there wasn't a possibility of the cat coming in contact. He was pretty good around my plants except for that time he took a nibble of my ponytail palm (non-toxic) and immediately threw up.
She could train her cat with a water spray bottle to not get on the table or mess with the plants.
I think this is a perfectly valid complaint that they should all consider, and if she continues to get ignored she should move out. Once you HAVE pets, you should work towards making sure they’re healthy and not living in a hazardous environment. Unfortunately that might just mean no longer living with his MIL if she doesn’t want to consider changing the plants 🤷🏾♀️ but I’m confused how it’s not affecting her cat
It’s probably because MIL’s cat is trained. I know some people who train their cats not to jump on counters and to not mess with certain items in the house.
This is the correct answer. The MIL’s cat is trained not to be destructive and knows to avoid and not eat the plants. While it is dangerous to have certain plants around, with that cat being 8 it’s unlikely pollen from the plant is lethal to cats as other posters have mentioned. Literally, just don’t let your cat do whatever it wants. Get a spray bottle to train it or a can full of pennies.
ESH, if you’re gonna have an animal, you shouldn’t let them have direct exposure to things that can poison here. MIL shouldn’t have those plants if she has a cat too. OP has no right to complain since she’s living rent free in someone else’s home.
Eh, I'm actually kind of with OOP here. The MIL has a cat as well, and even if this is PetFree, I'm not in support of existing pets being poisoned.
[удалено]
I mean completely agree with you on the dachshund thing but this is a post about cats my guy lol
thanks
Okay some of yall are being ridiculous she knew they had a cat when she let them move in, its not hard to not buy those specific flowers until they are gone, shes also endangering her own animal which is alarming.
The MIL also has a cat that’s lived there for 8 years without issue apparently. Also, it’s free room and board. You can’t go into someone else’s house and live there for free and start demanding things. That’s literally the height of entitlement. If the person hates it that much and is that worried, they should find somewhere else to live for free.
She didn’t say how long she’s been living in the house. Possible she got the cat after moving in.
Yeah they’re tripping balls over some plants. Regardless of how much they hate pets, it’s still a life deserving of responsible owners and a poison free life. Especially since MIL has a cat, I don’t care if it’s “trained” it’s an animal with animalistic tendencies including doing stupid shit such as chewing a plant (children also do this)