Eating House Plants

I recently had a question if cats will avoid poisonous plants. My answer is DEFINITELY NO. Animals (unfortunately) don’t know if a plant is dangerous/poisonous for them, and some might be pretty tasty, so they will eat it anyway, if not taught otherwise. Please do not count on it and check if you have any of the plants mentioned below in your animal’s reach.

Eating plants is a dangerous habit as many household plants are poisonous. If your cat is developing a habit of eating plants, you must either remove the plants or confine your cat to an area with no plants. Do not delay. One good knibble of Dieffenbachia is usually a death sentence for your cat. Do not keep poisonous plants in your house, check our list below and/or ask your nusery. There are so many non-poisonous plants to choose from and no need to put your animal in danger.

If your cat loves to munch on greenery, do not deny him this pleasure. Instead, provide him with his very own special Kitty Garden. There are many commercially available kitty grass or herb gardens for this purpose.

Do not assume that your cat will automatically dine in his new garden. It’s best to teach him that this is his special treat. When introducing the first time make them irresistible by garnishing them with fish, or whatever meets his fancy. When he does eat, praise him lavishly. 90% of the cats love cat grass, if your’s is one of the 10% that does not take to it, don’t worry.

Even some cats have their own cat grass, they will still try to nibble on house plants. An easy way to make them stay away from these forever is to paint the underside of some leaves with hot chile oil and spray the top with some diluted perfume. The cat will follow the smell and try to nibble on the plant. That normally will be followed by a mad dash to the water bowl to get rid of the hot chile taste. Rest assured, a cat that made this experience only a few times will stop chewing up your plants.

Another method to treat your plants is to use Grannick’s Bitter Apple® Spray on them. The product is not harmful but the taste is bad (for cats and dogs). A few licks of Bitter Apple will cure your cat from ever touching the plant again

After a few weeks you can stop painting the leaves with hot chile oil. Keep spraying the plants though with the perfume mix, since cats now will associate that smell with a bad experience and stay away from them.

Listed here are plants that are poisonous or otherwise dangerous to cats and that must be avoided if there are cats in your home. 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.

* Almond *Amaryllis * Angel’s trumpet * Apple seeds * Apricot * Arrowhead fern
* Asparagus fern * Autumn crocus * Avocado * Azalea
* Baby’s breath * Balsam Pear * Beech * Belladonna * Bird of paradise
* Bittersweet woody * Black locust * Boston ivy * Boxwood * Buckeye * Buttercup
* Cactus * Caladium * Calla lily * Castor bean * Cherry * China Berry
* Chinese evergreen * Christmas trees * Chrysanthemum * Coral plant
* Coriaria * Creeping Charlie * Creeping fig * Crown of thorns
* Daffodil * Daisy * Datura * Day lily * Delphinium * Dieffenbachia
* Easter lily * Elderberry * Elephant ears * English ivy * English yew
* Foxglove
* Geranium * Golden chain * Ground cherry
* Hibiscus * Holly * Honeysuckle * Hyacinth * Hydrangea
* Impatiens * Indian rubber plant * Iris * Ivy
* Jack-in-the-pulpit * Japanese yew * Jasmine * Jerusalem cherry
* Kalanchoe
* Larkspur * Laurel * Lily of the valley
* Majesty * Malanga * Marijuana * Mistletoe * Moonweed* Morning glory
* Mother-in-law’s tongue * Mushroom