Cats and Plants
The "good" of plants is the roughage they provide. Instinctively the outdoor cat chews on grass. The Indoor cat on the other hand, needs to be provided with plant roughage in a safe form, namely grass, instead of potentially dangerous house plants.
There are suggested reasons why grass is important to a cat:
• Cats use grass as a laxative to enable them to pass hairballs lodged in their intestines.
• Cats eat grass to make them vomit up hairballs.
• Cats eat grass to add roughage to their diets.
You can grow your own container of fresh grass for your cat, and insure that you are not adding any herbicides or pesticides to your cat's diet..
Some common houseplants can be harmful or fatal depending on the quantity swallowed. Also cats that chew plants are exposed to any chemical pesticides or fertilizers that may have been applied directly to the plants or through the soil. You might want to consider buying a small container of "Kitty Grass" for them, which also has added health benefits.Some of the plants that are toxic to cats are Aloe Vera, Ivy, Lily of the Valley, Tulips, Poinsettia, Daffodils..
Below is a more in depth list of the plants that can cause harm.
| Alfalfa
Almond (Pits) Amaryllis Apple (seeds) Apricot (Pits) Arrowgrass Asparagus Fern Autumn Crocus Avacado (fruit and pit) Azalea Baby's Breath Baneberry Beargrass Beech Belladonna Bird of Paradise Bittersweet Black-eyed Susan Black Locust Bleeding Heart Bloodroot Boxwood Branching Ivy Buckeyes Buddist Pine Burning Bush Buttercup Cactus, Candelabra Caladium Calla Lily 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 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 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 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 Water Hemlock Weeping Fig Wild Call Wisteria Yews: Japanese Yew English Yew |