Opinions on toxic house plants

[Meg142!]

So obviously, there are certain plants I will not keep in the house; poinsettias, lilies, hyacinth, daffodils, and other plants that even the pollen on your cats paws can create an issue.

But what about other plants like aloes that are only dangerous if ingested? I ask because I realized a few house plants I have, have sap that can be harmful to cats and dogs if they chew on them. My cat is 4 years old and has never bothered them, so do I keep them? Or toss them? Specifically I have pathos, snake plants, Moses in the bull rush, aloe, chamomile, and lavender plants (these two are outdoor plants in the warm months but come inside for the winter). I knew the aloe was toxic but he has never bothered them so I didn't think it mattered. But the Moses in the bullrush he used to sleep in as a kitten. He's too big for that now but never showed any interest in it other than the fact it in the best sunning window.

Some of these plants are cuttings from plants that were bought by my grandparents and even my great grandparents so I would really hate to give them away.

I was considering growing cuttings and starting a little at home green house but now I'm concerned about them being dangerous.

 

[Kieka]

My general rule of thumb is if:

1. The plant can be accidentally deadly (it could kill my cat without them actively trying to eat it, pollen on paws or licking it accidentally).
-OR-
2. My cat had shown interest in the plant or similar types that could cause them harm (My cat likes to smell or nibble on flowers and a plant flowers could kill or seriously injure them).

Then it doesn't belong in my home or garden. If the plant is only mildly irritating or the plant can't hurt them without my cats actively chewing on it (and none of my current cats are plant chewers) then it's fine. I do have some very dangerous plants (including some that if I see them in the hands of small children I advise the parents to take the kids to the doctor) but my cats leave those plants alone. I have had a few cats over the years that have particular weakness (my moms current cat loves smelling flowers) so I don't keep the specific type of plant that could be an issue in those cases (lily's right now are banned). If a plant isn't deadly but only minorly irritating and my cat isn't inclined to mess with it, I only keep an eye out for plant damage and don't worry if I don't see damage.

I know it may be unpopular, but I do have some respect for my cats common sense and don't expect them to put everything in their mouths. I should mention, my cats are indoor/outdoor and they don't do many bored cat behaviors. If they were indoor only I would probably be a smidgen more careful but I still think I'd keep some mildly irritating plants if my cats didn't show inclination to mess with plants.

 

[Meg142!]

This makes me feel a lot better! He's never bothered any of my plants in the 4 years I've had him, so I won't worry about them now. Even my pathos that drapes over the side of my desk he's never even batted at before. Thank you! I'm glad to know I can keep all my plants.

 

[silent meowlook]

I don’t have any indoor plants. There is too much risk with not only toxicity, but also perforation or obstruction should they start eating them. Not to mention the risk of them getting the fertilized dirt from the pots on their paws from digging and then licking it off their paws.

 

[Caspers Human]

The theory that poinsettias are poisonous is, mostly, an old legend.

Poinsettia Plant - Is it Poisonous to Pets?

ag.purdue.edu

In school, I remember being told that the center buds of poinsettias were the poisonous parts and if you clipped out the buds, the rest of the plant was okay. Years later, a professional florist told me that it was all a bunch of baloney. He said that they might make you puke, that's all.

If your cat eats poinsettia, it might become nauseous, vomit and be sick for a while. That's about it.

 

[Kieka]

The theory that poinsettias are poisonous is, mostly, an old legend.

http://[URL][URL]https://ag.purdue....pt-folder/2021/poinsettia-poisonous-pets.html

[/URL][/URL]

In school, I remember being told that the center buds of poinsettias were the poisonous parts and if you clipped out the buds, the rest of the plant was okay. Years later, a professional florist told me that it was all a bunch of baloney. He said that they might make you puke, that's all.

If your cat eats poinsettia, it might become nauseous, vomit and be sick for a while. That's about it.

Yeah, it's mostly the sap that causes skin irritation but most people get them for the holidays and they die before any trimming is needed. The dead leaves being crunched on ends up being the biggest risk in those cases really. I have a pretty big planted poinsettia and the cats just ignore it. It actually grows pretty slow (at least in my climate) so it isn't trimmed much.

 

[Meg142!]

He's never shown the planets any interest before and most of them are out of his reach. Like my pathos is in a hanging basket, and the rest of my pants are in pots too small for him to really get into. I guess he could potentially knock one down and the dirt would spill out, but I've had him and the plants for 4 years and even as a kitten he never tried to knock anything down. Water glasses on the other hand are fair game

 

[Meg142!]

The theory that poinsettias are poisonous is, mostly, an old legend.

http://[URL]https://ag.purdue.edu/d...pt-folder/2021/poinsettia-poisonous-pets.html

[/URL]

In school, I remember being told that the center buds of poinsettias were the poisonous parts and if you clipped out the buds, the rest of the plant was okay. Years later, a professional florist told me that it was all a bunch of baloney. He said that they might make you puke, that's all.

If your cat eats poinsettia, it might become nauseous, vomit and be sick for a while. That's about it.

Interesting! Thank you, I do really like poinsettias. They're more of an annual plant for my area but I managed to keep one alive and blooming for 4 years!

 

[di and bob]

I have all the 'toxic' plants you do and more and have never had a problem in over 50 years with many different cats. I've even had them chew a little on some and nothing happened, most have to have large amounts ingested to be truly toxic. Even a huge aloe vera I have. i have yews outside and have seen my ferals actively chewing on them with nothing happening. i think if they get a stomach ache they avoid that plant. But I haven't even seen signs of a stomachache either. Just like anything, even water, ANYTHING eaten in large amounts can be poisonous!

 

[stephanietx]

I have all of ONE plant in my house and that's a pathos. It's out of the reach of the kitties and they don't bother it at all. I don't even have artificial plants in my house because one of my cats like to chew those and they have chemicals on them. I have had to say goodbye to all my inside plants, except the one and it's only because I've had it or some generation of it since 1984.

 

[Caspers Human]

It's really hard to sort out all the truth from legend when it comes to knowing which plants are bad for cats or dogs.

Poinsettias are one of the chief offenders but there are others like dieffenbachia. (AKA: "Dumb Cane.") Yes, cane plants are not good for cats but won't kill a cat unless they eat more than a bite or two. Given that they taste bad and irritate the mouth when chewed, I don't imagine that any halfway-intelligent cat would try eating dieffenbachia more than once. As it is with poinsettia, it is the sap of the plant that is the noxious agent. Dried leaves probably aren't going to have the same effect.

Lilies, on the other hand, can be very harmful to cats. Everybody knows...or SHOULD know...that lilies are bad for cats. I don't keep lilies in the house just for that reason.

We keep a couple of potted Ponytail Palms (Beaucarnea recurvata) around the house. They aren't harmful to cats and are super easy to care for. Both of our cats occasionally chew on them but the leaves are long and leathery. There is little chance of either the plants hurting the cats or vice versa.

When the cats chew on the Ponytail Palm leaves, they pull the long leaves through their teeth. Whenever I see one of them doing that, I jokingly say that they are "flossing their teeth."

It's funny because, the more I see them doing it, the more it looks like they actually are flossing their teeth! Who knows? Maybe they really are?!

 

[silent meowlook]

From working over 30 years in veterinary hospitals and 8 of those years feline only, 9 years specialty internal medicine and surgery, and 5 years emergency, 3 years shelter medicine, and the rest general practice, I have seen allot.

it is foolish to have a lackadaisical approach to your cats environment regarding toxic plants is a disaster waiting to happen. Why risk it? Are these plants being inside that important? Can’t the plants be in a separate room the cats don’t have access to?

One important thing I have learned is that cats don’t follow rules or read medical books. This is important if you care about your cat and nobody would be on this site if they didn’t.

Something toxic can kill one cat, yet not another. A cat can be exposed to a toxin and be fine for a long time and then suddenly die from the exposure. Another cat can be introduced to a potential toxin and die at the first exposure.

Lilly toxicity supposedly kills cats after 3 days untreated. I have seen this many times when treatment wasn’t started right away. It is a horrible death.

Then there is the under a year old cat that was exposed to Lilly and wound up in the ER for GI issues. The owner forgot about the flowers so didn’t mention it. Kitten was discharged from the ER with some GI meds. Slight improvement but not much. One week later was when I met the kitten. She was feisty and hyperactive. Took her to work at the cat hospital and her kidney values were off the charts. Started aggressive support and hospitalization. I stayed with her overnight. She wasn’t producing any urine. No bladder. Massive fluids going in but no urine production. It was then that we called the owner and really grilled her on everything the cat had done. The cat was sniffing Lily flowers in a bouquet for a minute before the owner through them out. The kitten had to be euthanized. She didn’t show any signs of renal failure until at least ten days after exposure.

Another family with two young cats. The lily flowers were in the house about an hour before the owner removed them due to the cats playing with them. One cat died a horrible death and one was fine.

Cats are very much individuals, and what is fine for one may not be for another.

This reply isn’t directed at anyone individual. I am honestly very passionate about cats and just don’t understand why anyone would not take this seriously.

 

[Kieka]

I don't think anyone isn't saying to take it seriously. I think we've all agreed that something like a lily doesn't belong in a home with cats. It's the things that aren't necessarily deadly and with cats who don't bother them that, at least I am, okay with (assuming you check regularly that they really haven't eaten parts).

But I know you are coming from a different place and you have seen the worst. I have family in nursing and some of the things they've seen have definitely impacting their views on things too.

 

[artiemom]

Since adopting my cats, I have done away with ALL houseplants and cut flowers.
Geoffrey is a terror, about munching on things.

Unfortunately, I got an early Christmas gift of an Amaryllis Bulb... ugh... I did not want to insult the person who gave it to me.. ugh..
I do miss plants.. This person who gave me the bulb, is a retired florist and potted it really nicely. I did not know what to do with it.
I was tempted to just throw it out, or give it away--- but, everyone would know who it came from, and it would get back to my friend.
I mentioned that I thought it may be toxic to pets, but she did not think so.. sigh.. This amaryllis is a really pretty one: with with red tinges on the flower.

I have it on top of my fireplace, behind the small Nativity set--- hidden from Geoffrey. He cannot and has not jumped up there, in the 5 years I have lived in this apartment. I watch him like a hawk, and keep as much as I can away from him.

I think I will see how things go.. in the meantime, the bulb is pretty much camouflaged.

 

[clevergirlcats]

This is definitely a tough one for me too. My cats aren't chewers, but I tend to keep only "known safe" plants like orchids and prayer plants to save myself the constant worry. My Henry qlikes to climb behind my plant shelf and gaze through the wall of leaves. I call it his jungle.

Many years ago, when I had my first cat and knew nothing about cats, I used to keep day lilies regularly. Favorite flower, all that jazz. LUCKILY we never had an accident, but looking back now, it stops my heart to think about how wildly lucky we were. And I had no idea. I tell you, NEVER will a lily enter my house again and their popularity in gardens is one of many reasons I keep my kitties indoors.

 

[Caspers Human]

I got an early Christmas gift of an Amaryllis Bulb

Just put it in the basement until spring then leave it out on the back porch or some place outdoors when the weather starts to warm up.

Amaryllis are supposed to be kept in the dark until they start to sprout. Aren't they?
Aren't they best grown outdoors, anyhow? Even so, I think flowers should grow outdoors like Mother Nature intended.

My stepdad used to grow amaryllis. He always wintered them in the basement and grew them outdoors in the spring. He was also pretty good at getting them to bloom right in time for Easter. He had a cat, too! To this day, I don't think he knows that amaryllis are deadly poison to cats!

 

[lisahe]

We had a bad incident seven or eight years ago when one cat apparently ate part of a plant and got very sick. We took her to the vet but didn't know what caused her sudden problems (vomiting, mucous coming out of her butt) until we found some very green diarrhea after the vet appointment. It was a scary (and costly because of tests and xrays) episode. What S silent meowlook says about different cats reacting differently is very true: all our plants were allegedly safe but something still made Edwina sick, probably because she ate a lot of it.

We got rid of most of our plants after that, leaving only a few on a very unreachable window shelf in the kitchen. Our vegetable seedlings are in a special cage. I miss the plants but better that than to have a cat eat more and get sick. Like clevergirlcats I love lilies (and other flowers that grow in our gardens) and used to like having them in the house. But no more!

 

[Kflowers]

artiemom I wanted an amaryllis, so I'd looked it up before, but it was more memory than not, so I looked it up again. Here you go. If it's just a bulb bury it somewhere, I send my gardening vibes to it, that should kill it. If it's a flower give it to the nurses desk at a hospital for them. No one brings the nurses flowers, which I think is a little sad.


Amaryllis (Belladonna lily) is toxic to cats. The toxic principles are Amaryllidaceae alkaloids which cause gastrointestinal disturbances (vomiting and diarrhea) and an irritant sap.

What is amaryllis? Family: Amaryllidaceae Scientific name: Amaryllis belladonna

• Toxic compounds: Amaryllidaceae alkaloids, specifically lycorine
• Level of toxicity
  • Mild to moderate
• All parts of the plant are toxic, bulbs have the highest concentration of Amaryllidaceae alkaloids.
  
  The University of California has placed Amaryllis belladonna in the toxic classes of 2 and 4.
  
  2) Minor Toxicity: Ingestion of these plants may cause minor illnesses such as vomiting or diarrhea.
  
  4) Dermatitis: The juice, sap, or thorns of these plants may cause a skin rash or irritation. Wash the affected area of skin with soap and water as soon as possible after contact. The rashes may be very serious and painful. Call the Poison Control Center or your doctor if symptoms appear following contact with the plants.
  

Is Amaryllis (Belladonna Lily) Toxic to Cats? - Cat-World

 

[artiemom]

Yikes!! A type of belladonna!! Omg. Yup, getting rid of it. It is at a spot which Geoffrey cannot access: but, if a piece falls, he will be right at it. Dam. I hate to insult my friend— she did not realize. It is going. I may place it in the small lobby, where we wait for the elevator. It is on my floor. Hopefully my friend will not see it out there!

I think she will feel bad, but would understand.
Problem-/ she walks the floors for exercise.

I am done with it!

I knew there was a reason why I stopped buying them at Christmas. This was 50 years ago, when we had Pumpkin.

Great idea! I am going to bring it in to my doctors appointment tomorrow. In a shopping bag!!

 

[lisahe]

Yikes!! A type of belladonna!! Omg. Yup, getting rid of it. It is at a spot which Geoffrey cannot access: but, if a piece falls, he will be right at it. Dam. I hate to insult my friend— she did not realize. It is going. I may place it in the small lobby, where we wait for the elevator. It is on my floor. Hopefully my friend will not see it out there!

I think she will feel bad, but would understand.
Problem-/ she walks the floors for exercise.

I am done with it!

I knew there was a reason why I stopped buying them at Christmas. This was 50 years ago, when we had Pumpkin.

Great idea! I am going to bring it in to my doctors appointment tomorrow. In a shopping bag!!

I bet she'll understand if you explain it to her, artiemom , especially if you mention that now more people can enjoy it since it's in a public place.