Are my plants poisoning my cat?
January 18, 2020 4:48 PM Subscribe
So, about a month ago, we got a kitten who loves eating our pothos and our dragon tree. Not, like, in a big way—he just likes taking little nibbles. Just yesterday it finally occurred to me that maybe this is bad for him?
I just googled stuff about plants and cats and I was met with a WebMD-style surfeit of information suggesting that my cat is now on the verge of perishing. However, my cat seems totally fine, and I’d think that if taking the occasional nibble on one of our plants is making him feel bad, he’d realize that and not do it.
We have other plants that he might be snacking on while I'm not looking, but they do not look chewed in any significant way:
Swiss cheese plant
Snake plant
Money tree
English ivy
Boston fern
Spider plant
I just googled stuff about plants and cats and I was met with a WebMD-style surfeit of information suggesting that my cat is now on the verge of perishing. However, my cat seems totally fine, and I’d think that if taking the occasional nibble on one of our plants is making him feel bad, he’d realize that and not do it.
We have other plants that he might be snacking on while I'm not looking, but they do not look chewed in any significant way:
Swiss cheese plant
Snake plant
Money tree
English ivy
Boston fern
Spider plant
and I’d think that if taking the occasional nibble on one of our plants is making him feel bad, he’d realize that and not do it.
I love cats, but these are creatures that can get their heads stuck in a kleenex box.
I'd purge the toxic plants before your cat makes himself badly sick. The fact he's ok now doesn't mean he's not going to ingest more significant quantities when he's bored or curious.
posted by sebastienbailard at 5:06 PM on January 18, 2020 [14 favorites]
I love cats, but these are creatures that can get their heads stuck in a kleenex box.
I'd purge the toxic plants before your cat makes himself badly sick. The fact he's ok now doesn't mean he's not going to ingest more significant quantities when he's bored or curious.
posted by sebastienbailard at 5:06 PM on January 18, 2020 [14 favorites]
Yeah cats can literally starve themselves to death by liver failure with food right in front of them through sheer stubbornness. I would not count on any of them, much less a kitten, to make sensible choices about fun springy plants.
posted by teremala at 5:10 PM on January 18, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by teremala at 5:10 PM on January 18, 2020 [3 favorites]
Don’t assume it would be obvious or that your cat knows how to not get sick in the first place. It’s not worth the risk, so I would also suggest you remove any plants known to be toxic to cats.
posted by girlmightlive at 5:18 PM on January 18, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by girlmightlive at 5:18 PM on January 18, 2020 [3 favorites]
Eh, I agree it’s best and most conservative to keep plants on that list away from cats, but I’d start first with hot pepper and/or bitter apple sprays.
She’s still a kitten and if you can train her not to eat plants now, so much the better! It’s not like all cats inherently enjoy eating poisonous plants. Some cats never bother houseplants at all, some can be trained away, some will go to great lengths to eat anything they shouldn’t no matter what you do.
Btw signs of toxic ingestion of pothos and Monstera are both:
Oral irritation, intense burning and irritation of mouth, tongue and lips, excessive drooling, vomiting, difficulty swallowing.
So yeah, I think you’d notice on that, but you should read up on each from the ASPCA above.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:42 PM on January 18, 2020 [4 favorites]
She’s still a kitten and if you can train her not to eat plants now, so much the better! It’s not like all cats inherently enjoy eating poisonous plants. Some cats never bother houseplants at all, some can be trained away, some will go to great lengths to eat anything they shouldn’t no matter what you do.
Btw signs of toxic ingestion of pothos and Monstera are both:
Oral irritation, intense burning and irritation of mouth, tongue and lips, excessive drooling, vomiting, difficulty swallowing.
So yeah, I think you’d notice on that, but you should read up on each from the ASPCA above.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:42 PM on January 18, 2020 [4 favorites]
Cats like to nibble on a little fresh greenery. Pet stores often sell little packets of oat grass seeds to grow for cats. I keep a small planter of cat grass near my back door all winter, and my cat nibbles on it from time to time. If you can do this, your cat may lose interest in your other plants, although the advice above about researching your plants and removing the toxic ones is more urgent.
posted by zadcat at 6:14 PM on January 18, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by zadcat at 6:14 PM on January 18, 2020 [7 favorites]
Source: I work in a plant store. The only really really really scary toxic plant that should never ever ever be in a house with a cat is the peace lily. That's one where a nibble can lead to death. The others aren't great, but the signs of ingestion would hopefully be noticeable by any reasonably alert cat owner. Pothos is a generally safe plant/mild toxin for cats, my Boss who loves his beloved rescue cat only owns pothos. Dracaena or dragon tree is also generally safe/mild toxin. Philos can be toxic but are easy to keep out of reach. Basically just try to keep your plants out of reach, use stuff like chili sprays and apple sprays and keep an eye on your cat. Like maybe in the future only buy the safe list ones and see if you can train your cat. If you end up with a cat who never nibbles your pothos but likes to chomp on your philo- well, get rid of the philo. And never ever ever bring a peace lily into your home.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 7:11 PM on January 18, 2020 [9 favorites]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 7:11 PM on January 18, 2020 [9 favorites]
My cats obsessively chew on anything green, so I fall on the side of not keeping any houseplants if they’re even mildly toxic to cats. I just think the cost vs. risk equation is such that it’s not worth the risk. Like, it isn’t realistic to remove all risks from life… but this one is pretty easy to remove.
posted by snowmentality at 7:43 PM on January 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by snowmentality at 7:43 PM on January 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
My cat loves to munch on plants and I have found that having a pot of oat grass is a great distractor, she would rather snack on that then on other things.
She has snacked on my pothos occasionally without issues. She ignores pines and most succulents but will explore them if she is in range. Never bring any kind of lily into your home. If kitty gets it they need care immediately because their kidneys can be permanently damaged. I would also recommend checking the ASPCA list before bringing things into your home, it tells you what part of the plant is poisonous and how.
posted by arachnidette at 8:24 PM on January 18, 2020
She has snacked on my pothos occasionally without issues. She ignores pines and most succulents but will explore them if she is in range. Never bring any kind of lily into your home. If kitty gets it they need care immediately because their kidneys can be permanently damaged. I would also recommend checking the ASPCA list before bringing things into your home, it tells you what part of the plant is poisonous and how.
posted by arachnidette at 8:24 PM on January 18, 2020
My toy poodle was vomiting white foam around my house for days before I realized he was snacking on my pothos. Put them up high.
posted by Marinara at 9:28 PM on January 18, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by Marinara at 9:28 PM on January 18, 2020 [3 favorites]
I keep poisonous plants, even mildly poisonous ones, out of reach of my cat.
Some toxins cause damage over time even in small doses. Sometimes cats change their behavior - they might usually do small nibbles but maybe one day they will be bored, or hungry, or their stomach will be upset and they decide to do a big chomp instead.
Relatively little seems to be known about dangerous doses of many plant toxins for pets. A lot of the descriptions are kind of vague about it, and I'm guessing it's because getting the data would involve a lot of sick animals and coordinated reporting. So I decide to play it safe.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 8:58 AM on January 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
Some toxins cause damage over time even in small doses. Sometimes cats change their behavior - they might usually do small nibbles but maybe one day they will be bored, or hungry, or their stomach will be upset and they decide to do a big chomp instead.
Relatively little seems to be known about dangerous doses of many plant toxins for pets. A lot of the descriptions are kind of vague about it, and I'm guessing it's because getting the data would involve a lot of sick animals and coordinated reporting. So I decide to play it safe.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 8:58 AM on January 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
I too have an orally fixated cat. I do not have any plants that are toxic to him. Your cat is not smart enough to stop eating the plants on his own and could kill himself by accident. Go through the ASPCA list linked above and give plants to friends who don't have cats.
posted by bile and syntax at 10:50 AM on January 20, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by bile and syntax at 10:50 AM on January 20, 2020 [1 favorite]
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