Death of Pi not in vain as pollen awareness gears up

The death of Kayli Levitan’s cat, Pi, spurred her to campaign to make sure that nobody else’s pet would be poisoned by plants sold by major retailers and flower distributors.

Levitan, a communication strategist, was devastated when her beloved Pi died after ingesting pollen from a lily that was sold by all major retailers and flower distributors.

She took her campaign to social media, and managed to get big and small retailers to place warnings where necessary.

Eating the pollen caused Pi to go into kidney failure, and Levitan rushed her to the TAH Rosmead veterinary hospital in Cape Town.

If a few particles of toxic pollen are ingested by a cat, kidney failure will result and, “if left untreated for more than 72 hours, there’s no chance of survival”, Levitan says.

Pi was diagnosed within the 72-hour period, and was then hospitalised for two weeks after she ingested the lily pollen. She couldn’t eat or drink, and vomited for days on end. “She needed dialysis and a feeding tube, and lost one third of her body weight.”

She seemed to be recovering to everyone’s excitement, and was given the nickname “Miracle Cat”. However, two months after being back home, Levitan had to take her back to the vet as her kidneys were in bad shape.

Pi – who was seven years old – died from kidney failure on 1 February 2021. Her illness and ultimate death came with a bill of R30 000.

Levitan posted about her and Pi’s story on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, tagging Woolworths, Pick n Pay, Checkers, NetFlorist, and Spar.

She asked that they label their toxic plants – which include daffodils – and change the timid warnings that they did carry, which simply said, “Keep away from pets”, to “Warning: highly toxic to cats and dogs.”

Those who followed Levitan on her platforms helped her cause by sharing and commenting on her story. Levitan was taken seriously.

Within 24 hours, Woolworths replied, saying that it had updated its website immediately by adding, “Warning: highly toxic to cats and dogs,” as Levitan had suggested.

It had done so on the appropriate platforms, and would add the warning on its next run of in-store labels.

NetFlorist responded by saying that it was “in the process of updating its website” and was brainstorming solutions to inform recipients of lilies as gifts. This, it said, could take the form of “a label, a tag, or even a WhatsApp message”. It also sent Levitan a beautiful bunch of roses with a card saying that it would keep Pi’s legacy alive through the changes that it was making.

Checkers gave her a telephone call, and said that it didn’t have any online sales of lilies but would be adjusting the labels in-store.

Pick n Pay messaged her to say that it would change all of its labels as soon as possible.

Levitan also approached some smaller plant and flower retailers such as Petals and Post in Cape Town, which said it had already seen her story on Twitter, and was going to make the changes.

If this isn’t enough, she has also been talking to one of the big shelters in Cape Town to ensure that all new cat parents know the risks of toxic plants. “Once I have all the details clarified, I’ll take this to all the shelters,” she says.

Levitan says she also wants to get international retailers involved. “We’ll get there – one share of this traumatic experience at a time.” Overall, she says all of this “will understandably take time, but they [the retailers and shelters] have all committed to the change, and I believe that they’ll make it”.

“The fact that my sweet girl didn’t suffer in vain and that our loss might save other lives has put a small bandage on my heart,” Levitan tweeted.