What house plants are fatal to cats?

December 20, 2022 9:32 AM

What house plants would cause cats severe illness or even death? I see lots of "toxic to cats" info on the Internet, but my cats have got into a few of those over the years and been totally fine.

My cats aren't much into destroying plants--they only chew on a plant once in a blue moon to signal that they want food. The distinction I'm trying to figure out is not what I should keep away from my cats, but what I should keep out of my apartment altogether.

Cat tax -- you can see the lil one is definitely a climber, hence my question.

posted by kensington314 to Pets & Animals (9 answers total)

Best answer: This is maybe not the answer you want, but in years of having cats and plants I've found the only thing to do is research every plant individually. There are plants (like lilies) that can be deadly in very small doses, and then there other many other plants that you'll find on lists of "toxic plants" that generally only will result in minor pain if they chew on it but otherwise is fine.

Anyway, this list seems to cover most of the deadly plants I'm aware of.
posted by coffeecat at 9:41 AM on December 20, 2022 [5 favorites]

Best answer: Lilies are the most important to avoid, because even a tiny nibble can be fatal (and they’re very common). IMO no one with cats should ever have lilies indoors, even if the cat normally avoids plants.
posted by maleficent at 9:53 AM on December 20, 2022 [14 favorites]

Best answer: Not as common as lilies but a croton almost killed my cat.
posted by Jess the Mess at 10:27 AM on December 20, 2022 [1 favorite]

I've heard that even lily pollen can be toxic, so just being in the room may damage the cat. That's the one I would absolutely avoid.

One of mine loves to play with the leaves of my Madagascar jewel, which secretes toxic sap like most Euphorbias. He's not been deterred so far. He's also batted around ficus leaves and left toothmarks on aloe, but sticks to chewing on cat-friendly ferns and spider plants - thankfully those grow back fast.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 12:20 PM on December 20, 2022

I recommend the PictureThis app to expedite your plant / cat toxicity ID process!
posted by thejoshu at 4:14 PM on December 20, 2022 [1 favorite]

I've heard that even lily pollen can be toxic, so just being in the room may damage the cat

Yes, I've seen vets say this.

A bouquet of lilies on a table or shelf drops/sheds pollen onto the floor - the cat gets pollen on its paws from the floor and licks itself clean = catastrophe.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 6:14 PM on December 20, 2022

We generally don't get (cut) flowers in the house because the cats will wreak havoc with them. We recently received some though from a friend, and so just a few days ago I wondered about this same question myself. According to Mrs. Intermod, poinsettias are the worst, and the ASPCA confirms that poinsettias are toxic. Then again, they list hundreds of plants that are toxic to cats ...
posted by intermod at 9:33 PM on December 20, 2022

Poinsettias are apparently not great but they're definitely not the worst. The ASPCA says in the above link that they're "Irritating to the mouth and stomach, sometimes causing vomiting, but generally over-rated in toxicity."
posted by Don Pepino at 8:24 AM on December 21, 2022

What house plants would cause cats severe illness or even death? I see lots of "toxic to cats" info on the Internet, but my cats have got into a few of those over the years and been totally fine.

I've always had cats, and I'm also getting more and more into houseplants. A lot of toxicity information just isn't that great because we don't have a lot of testing, just anecdotes. I mean, how are we going to test that?

For plants like lilies, the toxicity is serious enough that we know any amount is a bad idea. But there are a lot of plants that are toxic without being that toxic; you'll hear stories from people whose cats ate some and were fine, and people whose cats ate some and almost died. How bad it is depends on how much your cat eats, your cat's health, and probably the position of the stars.

I have generally adopted this stance:

* If I find a reputable page that explicitly states it's not-toxic, I keep it.

* If I find a reputable page that explicitly states it's only toxic in large amounts, and that the consequences are thinbgs like stomach upset rather than things like organ failure, I keep it out of their reach, like on a high shelf.

* If I don't find a reputable page that states either of these things, I don't either don't keep it at all, or keep it in a locked plant cabinet.

* I do not keep things like lilies which are known to be fatal in incredibly small amounts.

I've not found a single source that I can rely on all the time, so I evaluate on a plant-by-plant basis.

As a side note: I had a cat who never bothered my plants, and so I felt comfortable having "mildly" toxic plants in my apartment. Nothing that would usually be deadly in small amounts, but things like a christmas cactus, which is very mildly toxic - she'd have to ingest a lot to get sick.

One day, she just totally changed her mind about plants. She knocked the christmas cactus off the shelf and went to town on it. I now think it was because she maybe wasn't feeling well and her instincts were telling her that eating a plant might help. (Cats do get grass cravings when they have an upset stomach sometimes.) Anyway, if that was what she was trying to do, it did not help her feel better.

I'm sharing this story because you mention your cat doesn't really bother your plants. Don't rely on that.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 9:52 AM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]