Plants and Your Cat

Plants add the needed finishing touches to any decor. But, if you have a feline, that beautiful plant could become a deadly enemy.

Listed here are plants poisonous to cats that must be avoided if there are cats in your home. Note that lilies(*), in particular, are dangerous to cats. While in some cases, just parts of a plant (bark, leaves, seeds, berries, roots, tubers, spouts, green shells) might be poisonous, this list rules out the whole plant. If you must have any of them, keep them safely out of reach.

Should your feline friend eat part of a poisonous plant, rush the cat to your veterinarian as soon as possible. If you can, take the plant with you for ease of identification.

Plants Poisonous to Cats

Alfalfa

Almond (Pits of)

Aloe Vera

Alocasia

Amaryllis

Apple (seeds)

Apple Leaf Croton

Apricot (Pits of)

Arrowgrass

Asparagus Fern

Autumn Crocus

Avacado (fuit and pit)

Azalea

Baby’s Breath

Baneberry

Bayonet

Beargrass

Beech

Belladonna

Bird of Paradise

Bittersweet

Black-eyed Susan

Black Locust

Bleeding Heart

Bloodroot

Bluebonnet

Box

Boxwood

Branching Ivy

Buckeyes

Buddist Pine

Burning Bush

Buttercup

Cactus, Candelabra

Caladium

Calla Lily

Castor Bean

Ceriman

Charming Dieffenbachia

Cherry (pits, seeds & wilting leaves)

Cherry, most wild varieties

Cherry, ground

Cherry, Laurel

Chinaberry

Chinese Evergreen

Christmas Rose

Chrysanthemum

Cineria

Clematis

Cordatum

Coriaria

Cornflower

Corn Plant

Cornstalk Plant

Croton

Corydalis

Crocus, Autumn

Crown of Thorns

Cuban Laurel

Cutleaf Philodendron

Cycads

Cyclamen

Daffodil

Daphne

Datura

Deadly Nightshade

Death Camas

Devil’s Ivy

Delphinium

Decentrea

Dieffenbachia

Dracaena Palm

Dragon Tree

Dumb Cane

Easter Lily *

Eggplant

Elaine

Elderberry

Elephant Ear

Emerald Feather

English Ivy

Eucalyptus

Euonymus

Evergreen

Ferns

Fiddle-leaf fig

Florida Beauty

Flax

Four O’Clock

Foxglove

Fruit Salad Plant

Geranium

German Ivy

Giant Dumb Cane

Glacier IvyGolden Chain

Gold Dieffenbachia

Gold Dust Dracaena

Golden Glow

Golden Pothos

Gopher Purge

Hahn’s Self-Branching Ivy

Heartland Philodendron

Hellebore

Hemlock, Poison

Hemlock, Water

Henbane

Holly

Honeysuckle

Horsebeans

Horsebrush

Horse Chestnuts

Hurricane Plant

Hyacinth

Hydrangea

Indian Rubber Plant

Indian Tobacco

Iris

Iris Ivy

Jack in the Pulpit

Janet Craig Dracaena

Japanese Show Lily *

Java Beans

Jessamine

Jerusalem Cherry

Jimson Weed

Jonquil

Jungle Trumpets

Kalanchoe

Lacy Tree Philodendron

Lantana

Larkspur

Laurel

Lily

Lily Spider

Lily of the Valley

Locoweed

Lupine

Madagascar Dragon Tree

Marble Queen

Marigold

Marijuana

Mescal Bean

Mexican Breadfruit

Miniature Croton

Mistletoe

Mock Orange

Monkshood

Moonseed

Morning Glory

Mother-in Law’s Tongue

Morning Glory

Mountain Laurel

Mushrooms

Narcissus

Needlepoint Ivy

Nephytis

Nightshade

Oleander

Onion

Oriental Lily *

Peace Lily

Peach (pits and wilting leaves)

Pencil Cactus

Peony

Periwinkle

Philodendron

Pimpernel

Plumosa Fern

Poinciana

Poinsettia (low toxicity)

Poison Hemlock

Poison Ivy

Poison Oak

Pokeweed

Poppy

Potato

Pothos

Precatory Bean

Primrose

Privet, Common

Red Emerald

Red Princess

Red-Margined Dracaena

Rhododendron

Rhubarb

Ribbon Plant

Rosemary Pea

Rubber Plant

Saddle Leaf Philodendron

Sago Palm

Satin Pothos

Schefflera

Scotch Broom

Silver Pothos

Skunk Cabbage

Snowdrops

Snow on the Mountain

Spotted Dumb Cane

Staggerweed

Star of Bethlehem

String of Pearls

Striped Dracaena

Sweetheart Ivy

Sweetpea

Swiss Cheese plant

Tansy Mustard

Taro Vine

Tiger Lily *

Tobacco

Tomato Plant (green fruit, stem and leaves)

Tree Philodendron

Tropic Snow Dieffenbachia

Tulip

Tung Tree

Virginia Creeper

Water Hemlock

Weeping Fig

Wild Call

Wisteria

Yews —

e.g. Japanese Yew

English Yew

Western Yew

American Yew

List compiled by Jeffrey D. Rakes


Reprinted from PET Magazine’s Cat Care Guide, Summer 1987

Updated with the assistance of Dr. Jill Richardson,

ASPCA National Animal Poison Control Center, December 1997