Has anyone had problems with their cats getting sick from day lilies? I know most lilies are toxic to cats, but day lilies aren't really lilies. I have read mixed things. I had planted a lot for ground cover, then read that they are toxic.
Our cats have access to day lilies in our back yard, but have never paid them much attention. Sometimes use them as cover when they are hoping to ambush a hapless squirrel, but I've never seen them chew them. I could imagine it happening, since they often try leaves that resemble blades of grass, but I wouldn't sweat it anyway. Day lilies are actually edible, for humans anyway.
When i had a cat, I also had daylilies. She would sit underneath a bunch of daylilies whevenever she escaped to the outdoors, and sometimes she'd play with their leaves. But she never seemed to get sick from them.
I have never read anywhere that Hemerocallis are toxic to any animal. However I just checked the ASPCA website and while they claim daylilies are toxic to cats they also claim that they are in the Liliaceae family. This isn't true so I'm disinclined to believe them. Also cats that can get outside are not going to be inclined to eat things that are bad for them when they have access to so much else.
After doing a little more looking it seems that there may be something to the claim and that some cats and dogs have a sensitivity to something in some varieties. Modern day lilies have descended from several different species so may have different compounds. You may want to take a look at the following links:
