Choosing pet-safe houseplants and cut flowers for a home with cats or dogs

A plant check belongs in a pet-friendly home

Plants arrive with the groceries, as a friend’s bouquet, or as a neighbor’s cutting. Each is something new for a cat to bat at or a dog to chew, and few come with a note about pets.

The ASPCA’s toxic and non-toxic plants database is a good place to start. It lists plants reported to cause systemic effects or intense stomach and intestinal effects in animals, and you can filter it by toxic or non-toxic to dogs or to cats. The ASPCA says the list is not all-inclusive. It covers the plants people encounter most often.

The ASPCA also notes that eating any plant material may cause vomiting and stomach upset in dogs and cats. So “non-toxic” means a plant is not expected to be life-threatening. It does not mean your pet should eat it.

Check the name before you buy

The ASPCA points out that a real plant may look different from the photo in its listing, and asks readers to check the plant’s name to find out whether it is toxic. That makes the plant tag the most useful thing in the shop, scientific name included.

A few examples show why each plant needs its own lookup. The ASPCA lists spider plant and Boston fern as non-toxic to dogs and cats. It lists sago palm as toxic to dogs, cats and horses, with signs that include vomiting, liver damage, liver failure and death.

• Look it up in the shop. Search the database on your phone before you reach the checkout.
• Check for each species you live with. A plant can be safe for dogs and still toxic to cats.
• Keep the tag. Tape it to the bottom of the pot so you can check the name later.
• No name, no purchase. If neither you nor the seller can name a plant, choose a different one.

Lilies and cats

True lilies are a danger specific to cats. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s article “Lovely Lilies and Curious Cats: A Dangerous Combination” explains that lilies in the “true lily” and “daylily” families are very dangerous for cats. The FDA says the entire plant is toxic: the stem, leaves, flowers, pollen and even the water in the vase.

According to the FDA, eating a small amount of a leaf or petal, licking a few pollen grains off its fur, or drinking vase water can cause a cat to develop fatal kidney failure in less than three days. The FDA says dogs that eat these lilies may have minor stomach upset but do not develop kidney failure. The ASPCA’s lily entry agrees. It lists lily as toxic to cats, with kidney failure as the clinical sign, and non-toxic to dogs.

Among the most dangerous lilies for cats, the FDA names Asiatic, Easter, Japanese show, Oriental, rubrum, stargazer, tiger and wood lilies, along with daylilies. Its advice is direct: because these lilies carry a high risk of death, it is best not to bring them into your home if you have a cat.

Bouquets, gifts and plants called “lily”

Cut flowers are an easy way for lilies to slip in. The FDA describes a bouquet of stargazer lilies on the kitchen table as just the thing a curious cat is drawn to. When you order flowers for a home with a cat, ask for no lilies, and look over any bouquet before it goes in water.

Gifts are harder, because you do not choose them. Tell the people who often send flowers that your household avoids lilies. If lilies arrive anyway, thank the sender and take them out of the home.

The word “lily” in a plant name can mislead in both directions, the FDA explains. Lily-of-the-valley and gloriosa (flame) lily do not cause kidney failure but are very dangerous to cats and dogs. Calla lilies and peace lilies contain crystals that irritate the mouth and throat, causing drooling, pawing at the face and vomiting. The Peruvian lily may cause mild stomach upset. Each is a reason to look up the full name.

Placement is not a substitute for choosing safe plants

It is tempting to keep a favorite toxic plant and put it somewhere high. Cats climb, though, and leaves and petals fall. The FDA’s lily guidance shows the limits of placement clearly: a cat can be poisoned by pollen licked off its own fur or by drinking from a vase, without ever chewing the plant.

A shelf may keep a pot out of a puppy’s path, but it is a weak plan for anything seriously toxic. The steadier choice is plants the database lists as non-toxic for every species in your home. For other ways to make a home interesting for a cat, see our indoor cat enrichment guide.

Walk through your home’s plant inventory

This is an original Housemates exercise. You need a pen, paper and your phone.

1. Start at the front door and go room by room. Write down every plant and vase of cut flowers, including balconies, windowsills and the top of the refrigerator.
2. Name each one. Check pot tags and old receipts. Mark any plant you cannot name with a question mark.
3. Look each one up. Search the ASPCA database and write “safe,” “toxic to cats,” “toxic to dogs” or “toxic to both” beside it.
4. Decide on every toxic or unnamed plant. Rehome it, swap it for a safe choice, or move it to a room your pets never enter. Lilies leave a home with a cat.
5. Check the floor. Look under each plant and vase for fallen leaves, petals and pollen.
6. Keep the list. Post it where the household will see it and add each new plant when it arrives.

If a sitter helps out, add the list to the instructions you leave.

If your pet chews a plant

The ASPCA advises that if you believe your pet is ill or may have eaten a poisonous substance, you should contact your local veterinarian or ASPCA Poison Control’s 24-hour emergency hotline at (888) 426-4435. The ASPCA notes that a consultation fee may apply. The FDA also lists the Pet Poison Helpline, 855-764-7661.

For lilies, the FDA says to call your veterinarian or a pet poison control center immediately if you suspect your cat has eaten any part of a lily, its pollen, or vase water. It says early treatment greatly improves the cat’s outlook, and that a delay of 18 hours or more generally leads to irreversible kidney failure. Call as soon as you suspect it. The FDA also suggests bringing the plant to the clinic, or a photo of it, so your veterinarian can identify it.

This guide is a household planning aid. It does not replace advice from a veterinarian, and it cannot list every plant that could harm a pet.