20 Houseplants Poisonous To Cats You Should Know
Houseplants are popular in almost every home, but cats shouldn’t be around some plants, like lilies. Colorful flowers or leaves can brighten your home and help clean the air. They have also been shown to help ease anxiety and depression.
Some houseplants are harmful to cats, so you shouldn’t bring them into your home if you have cats. This is especially true since cats are known for being mischievous and like to chew on things.
Toxin vs. Poison
Instead of “poison,” the word “toxicity” is used to talk about plants.
A toxin is a naturally occurring, dangerous chemical that can hurt or kill living things. Toxins range from mild to severe, so they can hurt or kill in different ways. A toxin, on the other hand, will almost always hurt an organism.
Some plants that are dangerous for cats, like the sago palm, aloe vera, peace lily, and dieffenbachia, are also dangerous for humans to eat.
20 Houseplants Safe for Cats and Dogs
Lilies (Lilium or Hemerocallis spp.)
Cats can’t eat “real lilies” from the Lilium family or “daylilies” from the Hemerocallis family. The stems, leaves, flowers, pollen, and vase water of the plant are all poisonous to cats and have been linked to kidney failure in as little as three days.
You should stay away from plants with the word “lily” in their name, since most of them can kill cats.
Properties that make the plant dangerous: No one knows what makes the plant dangerous.
Orchids are a good, safe choice.
- Toxic Properties: Unknown what the toxin is in the plant
- Safe Alternative: Orchids
Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum)
People like them because they have dark leaves and white flowers and don’t need much care. Calcium oxalates in peace lilies are bad for cats and can kill them. They are only dangerous if you eat them; they are safe to touch.
- Toxic Properties: Insoluble calcium oxalates
- Safe Alternative: Cast iron plants
Aloe Vera
Aloe vera plants are often found in homes because they are easy to take care of. The thick, succulent-like leaves of aloe vera have sharp edges and grow up from a base that looks like a rosette. If cats eat it, it will kill them.
- Toxic Properties: Saponins, anthraquinone
- Safe Alternative: Haworthia
Cutleaf Philodendron (Monstera Deliciosa)
Monstera deliciosa is one of the most popular tropical houseplants on social media and in home decor. It has beautiful tropical leaves.
Monsteras, which are also called “Swiss cheese plants” or “split-leaf philodendrons,” are easy-care plants that look great in any home. Monstera deliciosa is poisonous to cats because it has calcium oxalates that don’t dissolve.
- Toxic Properties: Insoluble calcium oxalates
- Safe Alternative: Prayer plant
Pothos (Epipremnum aureum)
Pothos is a popular houseplant because it doesn’t need much care. This is true for both new and experienced plant owners.
The beautiful drape and ease of care make it a great addition to your home, especially if you’re on a budget and want to spice up your decor. Pothos is safe to touch, but cats should not get near it.
- Toxic Properties: Insoluble calcium oxalates
- Safe Alternative: Spider plant
Jade Plants (Crassula)
There are many different kinds of jade plants. They all belong to the family Crassula. Cats, dogs, and horses are especially bad for jade plants, which is a shame. 8
- Toxic Properties: Unknown cause of toxicity but all parts of the plant can cause reactions in cats
- Safe Alternative: Peperomia
Snake Plant (Dracaena trifasciata)
The snake plant is a popular houseplant because it is known to be one of the best plants for low light and to improve air quality.
Snake plants are not dangerous to people, but if cats or dogs eat them, they will get sick.
- Toxic Properties: Saponins
- Safe Alternative: Rattlesnake plant
Sago Palm (Cycas revoluta)
Sago palms give your home a tropical feel and help make the air inside better. Their unique design makes them a great way to start a conversation and a great accent piece.
But these plants have an old way to protect themselves: they are very poisonous to our four-legged friends. 10 If you have cats at home, you should stay away from them at all costs.
- Toxic Properties: Cycasin
- Safe Alternative: Areca palm
English Ivy (Hedera helix)
This similarity may make it look like a tasty meal to interested cats, but eating it can be very dangerous.
- Toxic Properties: Triterpenoid saponins
- Safe Alternative: Swedish ivy
Dieffenbachia (Dieffenbachia amoena)
Dieffenbachia, which is another name for dumb cane, is a popular houseplant because it has beautiful tropical leaves and doesn’t need much care.
When grown the right way, these plants can grow anywhere from 3 to 10 feet tall. Cats can get into a lot of trouble if they eat stupid canes.
- Toxic Properties: Insoluble calcium oxalates, proteolytic enzyme
- Safe Alternative: Staghorn fern
Kalanchoe (Kalanchoe blossfeldiana)
Kalanchoe can make cats sick to their stomachs and change the rate of their hearts. Sometimes called the “mother of millions,” this succulent is native to southern Africa, Madagascar, and Australia.
It resembles jade plants (which are also toxic to cats).The harmful active ingredient is bufadienolides, which are chemicals that are similar to those in digitalis.
They may cause electrical activity in the heart to be out of sync, which can lead to a faster heart rate and, in the end, cardiac arrest.
- Toxic Properties: Bufodienolides
- Safe Alternative: Sedum
Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis)
Even though it’s not a real lily, lily of the valley is still poisonous. They have cardenolides, which are bad for the heart.
All parts of a plant are poisonous and can make you throw up, have an irregular heartbeat, have a weak pulse, and do other things. This strange heartbeat could kill you.
- Toxic Properties: Cardenolides
- Safe Alternative: Spiderwort
Hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis)
Hyacinths are a type of bulb that comes from the same family as asparagus. The water hyacinth and the tulip are related.
These beautiful plants have alkaloids in them that are poisonous to cats if they eat them. The bulbs and plants may cause people to throw up, have bloody diarrhea, feel sad, or shake.
There could be alkaloids like narcissus, such as lycorine and calcium oxalate raphides.
- Toxic Properties: Possibly narcissus-like alkaloids like lycorine and calcium oxalate raphides
- Safe Alternative: Common lilac
Oleander (Nerium oleander)
Nerium oleander, which is native to southern Asia and the Mediterranean, is also called Jericho rose or rose laurel.
All parts of this beautiful plant can kill cats. Cardiac glycosides in oleander can cause stomach pain, irregular heart function, low body temperature, and even death.
- Toxic properties: Cardiac glycosides
- Safe Alternative: St. John’s wort
Yew
The bark, needles, and fruit of yew trees are all poisonous to people, dogs, and cats.
Taxus spp. include taxine, a poisonous component. It can make you shake, lose your balance, have trouble breathing, have severe stomach problems, have heart failure, or even kill you.
A cat could die from just one bite of this plant. After eating the substance, the horses fell minutes later.
- Toxic properties: Taxine
- Safe Alternative: Common juniper
Tulip (Tulipa spp.)
Some of the reactions are feeling sick, sad, having diarrhea, and drooling. Severe poisoning could lead to seizures and heart problems.
- Toxic properties: Tulipalin A and B
- Safe Alternative: Roses
Daffodils (Narcissus spp.)
Daffodils are pretty spring flowers, but cats can’t eat the flowers, leaves, or bulbs. Daffodils have chemicals in them that are poisonous and could kill you if you eat too many of them.
The bulbs are the most dangerous part.In small amounts, daffodils can cause stomach pain, which can lead to vomiting, diarrhea, and drooling.
- Toxic properties: Lycorine, other phenanthridine alkaloids, and calcium oxalate crystals
- Safe Alternative: Nasturtium
Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia Regniae and Caesalpinia gilliesii)
Both Strelitzia regnans and Caesalpinia gilliesii are types of birds of paradise, but they are not the same.
Both are dangerous for cats to eat. Caesalpinia gilliesii, on the other hand, is more dangerous and can cause more problems, such as extreme burning and irritation of the mouth, tongue, and lips, a lot of drooling, vomiting, diarrhea, and trouble swallowing. The Strelitzia strain might make you feel sick and tired.
- Toxic properties: Possibly hydrocyanic acid
- Safe Alternative: Bromeliads
Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium)
Late-blooming mums are a beautiful autumn flower, but cats shouldn’t get near them because they can kill them. They have chemicals in them that could make cats throw up, get diarrhea, drool, or have skin problems if they eat them.
Pyrethrin is found naturally in plants, and it is often used in insecticides, flea and tick medicine for dogs, shampoos, and collars. However, when it is used in these products, it can be harmful to cats.
- Toxic properties: Sesquiterpene, lactones, pyrethrins, and other potential irritants20
- Safe Alternative: Marigold
Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima)
Poinsettia is a Mexican perennial plant that is a little bit dangerous to cats, but not nearly as much as people used to think.
The milky sap of the plant can make your mouth and stomach hurt, as well as make you vomit, drool, and irritate your skin.
- Toxic properties: Diterpenoid euphorbol esters and saponin-like detergents
- Safe Alternative: Polka dot plant
Do your research before putting new plants in a house with cats. You can prevent this by keeping dangerous plants out of your cat’s reach, but it’s better to choose plants that are safe for cats to protect their health.