Poisonous Plants for Pets & Signs Something Isn’t Right (2024)

Did you know some of your favourite household botanicals can be poisonous plants for your pets?

Fear not; our floral team are here to help keep your furry friends safe!

Familiarising yourself with the plants and nature surrounding your pets is rewarding and, in some cases, can be life-saving.

Plus, discover signs to look out for and how to act quickly if you suspect something is wrong.

*We understand not everyone reading this will be familiar with all the different plant names. If you're unsure of any, we've linked each one in blue to open in a new tab with pictures and more information. We hope it helps!

You may not be aware of it yet, but many plants are poisonous for pets.

Some of them may surprise you, such as the deceivingly innocent peace lily, daffodil, azalea, and yew, all of which can cause problems such as stomach upset.

Other more toxic, poisonous plants for pets can result in more serious illnesses and even death.

Highly poisonous plants include:

- Many species of mushrooms/fungi, which can lead to fits and organ failure in pets.
- Giant Hogweed, which can cause skin burns and blisters in both animals and humans.
- All lilies, which can be fatal to cats even if they only ingest a small amount.

You may feel a little daunted, scared, and worried after reading.

It's only normal, given this may be the first time you're learning it.

However, with the right education and preventative measures in place, you can safeguard your pets from harm while still enjoying nature's bounty.

Do you have a friend that needs to read this? Help us protect as many pets as possible by sharing this post with your friends.

House plants bring a fresh and serene atmosphere to any home.

Some of them even help to purify the air! - "NASA Study Reveals Best Air-Cleaning Plants For Your Home"

But which common houseplants could do serious harm to your four-legged friends?

- Aloe Vera - toxic to cats and dogs, causes symptoms including vomiting, depression, diarrhoea, anorexia, and tremors.

- Amaryllis - toxic to cats and dogs, causes symptoms such as vomiting, depression, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, hypersalivation, and anorexia.

- Arum Lily - toxic to cats and dogs, causes symptoms including irritation in the mouth, excessive drooling, vomiting, and problems with swallowing.

- Asian Lily - toxic to cats, causes symptoms including vomiting, lack of appetite, reduced energy levels, kidney failure, and death.

- Asparagus fern - toxic to cats and dogs, causes symptoms including allergic dermatitis, vomiting, and abdominal pain.

- Begonia - toxic to cats and dogs, causes symptoms including irritation of the mouth, excessive drooling, problems with swallowing, and vomiting (the tuber is the most toxic part of the begonia).

- Bird of Paradise flower - toxic to dogs, cats, and horses, causes symptoms including nausea, vomiting, and drowsiness (poisoning is mostly caused by the seeds and fruit of the plant).

- Chinese Jade - toxic to dogs and cats, causes symptoms including nausea.

- Clivia Lily - toxic to cats and dogs, causes symptoms including vomiting, salivating, low blood pressure, and cardiac arrhythmia (the bulb is the most toxic part of the plant).

- Coleus - toxic to dogs, cats, and horses, causes symptoms including vomiting, diarrhoea, depression, and anorexia.

- Corn plant - toxic to cats and dogs, causes symptoms including vomiting, dilated pupils in cats, anorexia, and hypersalivation.

- Cyclamen - toxic to cats and dogs, causes symptoms including salivation, vomiting, and diarrhoea (if large amounts of the plant's tubers are ingested, an animal can die).

- Devil's Ivy - toxic to dogs and cats, causes symptoms including irritation of the mouth, problems with swallowing, vomiting, and excessive drooling.

- Dieffenbachia (Dumb Cane) - toxic to dogs and cats, causes symptoms including irritation of the mouth, vomiting, excessive drooling, and problems with swallowing.

- Easter Lily - toxic to dogs and cats, causes symptoms including vomiting, lack of appetite, lack of energy, kidney failure, and death.

- Giant Dracaena - toxic to cats, causes symptoms including vomiting, depression, anorexia, hypersalivation, and dilated pupils.

- Jade Plant - toxic to cats and dogs, causes symptoms including vomiting, depression, and ataxia.
- Lily - toxic to cats, causes kidney failure.

- Nephthytis - toxic to dogs and cats, causes symptoms including irritation of the mouth, excessive drooling, vomiting, and problems with swallowing.

- Poinsettia AKA the Christmas Plant - toxic to cats and dogs, causes symptoms including irritation to the mouth and stomach.

- Stargazer Lily - toxic to cats, causes symptoms including vomiting, lack of appetite, lack of energy, kidney failure, and in rare cases, death.

- Swiss Cheese Plant - toxic to dogs and cats, causes symptoms including irritation of the mouth, excessive drooling, vomiting, and problems with swallowing.

- Yucca - toxic to cats, dogs, and horses, causes symptoms including liver disease.

This list isn't exhaustive.

If you have any doubts about the plants you're buying for your home, check labels carefully and seek veterinary advice when necessary.

Outside of the home, it's also useful to familiarise yourself with poisonous plants for pets.

You may not be able to control every plant your pet comes into contact with, especially if you have a feline companion, but you can pay attention to which plants you have in your garden or around where you live.

Doing so helps you to keep playtime fun for the pets you love.

With the safety of your pets in mind, here are some of the most common poisonous plants for pets you may find in and around your garden/outdoor spaces.

- Azalea - toxic to cats and dogs, causes symptoms including vomiting, diarrhoea, hypersalivation, weakness, coma, hypotension, CNS depression, cardiovascular issues, and death.

- Baby's Breath - toxic to cats and dogs, causes symptoms including vomiting and diarrhoea.

- Caladium - toxic to dogs and cats, causes symptoms including irritation of the mouth, excessive drooling, vomiting, and problems with swallowing.

- Carnation - toxic to cats and dogs, causes symptoms including mild gastrointestinal pain and mild dermatitis.

- Chrysanthemum - toxic to dogs, cats, and horses, causes symptoms including vomiting, diarrhoea, hypersalivation, lack of coordination, and dermatitis.

- Daffodil - toxic to dogs, cats, and horses, causes symptoms including vomiting, salivation, diarrhoea, low blood pressure, convulsions, tremors, and cardiac arrhythmia (the bulbs are the most toxic part of this plant).

- Dahlia - is toxic to cats and dogs and causes symptoms including mild dermatitis and gastrointestinal issues.

- English Ivy - toxic to dogs, cats, and horses, causes symptoms including vomiting, abdominal pain, hypersalivation, and diarrhoea (the foliage is the most toxic part of this plant).

- Fig - toxic to cats, dogs, and horses, causes symptoms including irritation of the mouth, salivation, vomiting, and dermatitis.

- Gladiola - toxic to dogs, cats, and horses, causes symptoms including salivation, vomiting, drooling, lack of energy, and diarrhoea (the bulb is the most toxic part of this plant).

- Hellebore - toxic to cats, dogs, and horses, causes symptoms including drooling, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, colic, and depression.

- Hyacinth - toxic to dogs and cats, causes symptoms including vomiting, diarrhoea, dermatitis, and allergic reactions (the bulb is the most toxic part of this plant).

- Kiss-Me-Quick - toxic to cats, dogs, and horses, causes symptoms including tremors, seizures, diarrhoea, vomiting, hypersalivation, lack of energy, coordination, and coughing.

- Mistletoe - toxic to cats, dogs, and horses, causes symptoms including gastrointestinal issues, cardiovascular collapse, dyspnea, bradycardia, erratic behaviour, vomiting, diarrhoea, and rarely low blood pressure.

- Lily of the Valley - toxic to cats, dogs, and horses, causes symptoms including vomiting, irregular heartbeat, low blood pressure, disorientation, coma, and seizures.

- Primrose - toxic to cats and dogs, causes mild vomiting.

- Spring Parsley - toxic to cats, dogs, and horses, causes symptoms including photosensitization and ocular toxicity.

- Sweet Pea - toxic to dogs, cats, and horses, causes symptoms including weakness, lack of energy, pacing, head pressing, tremors, seizures, and death.

- Taro - toxic to cats and dogs, causes symptoms including irritation of the mouth, excessive drooling, vomiting, and problems with swallowing.

- Tomato - toxic to dogs, cats, and horses, causes symptoms including hypersalivation, lack of appetite, severe gastrointestinal upset, diarrhoea, drowsiness, CNS depression, confusion, behavioural change, weakness, dilated pupils, and a slow heart rate.

- Tulip - toxic to dogs and cats, causes symptoms including vomiting, depression, diarrhoea, and hypersalivation (the bulb is the most toxic part of this plant).

This is not an exhaustive list of poisonous plants for pets that can be found in a garden.

So, always use caution when choosing plants for your outside space, and seek professional advice if you have any concerns.

Every pet can be affected by poisonous plants, including small animals like rabbits and guinea pigs.

Often herbivores who love to nibble on plants and fruits it pays to be even more vigilant in this case in case the plants in question aren't good for them.

If your pets eat the wrong plants, they can suffer from illness, distress and, in extreme cases, death.

As a general rule, ivy, plants from a bulb, evergreens, plants with berries, and plants that produce a stone are poisonous at some level.

So, you should avoid using these plants outside or inside if your herbivore pets have access to them.

In addition to the general rule about poisonous plants for pets that are not cats and dogs here's a list of other plants you should avoid:

- Aconite
- Agave (leaves)
- Almond
- Amaryllis
- Anemone
- Anthurium
- Antirrhinums
- Apple (seeds)
- Apricot (seeds and skin)
- Asian Lilly
- Asparagus Fern
- Avacado
- Azalea
- Begonia
- Belladonna Lily
- Bird of Paradise
- Bitter Cherry
- Bittersweet
- Bluebells
- Calendula
- Carnation
- Cherry Tree
- Chinese Lantern
- Christmas Rose
- Chrysanthemum
- Clematis
- Coffee Bean
- Common Privet
- Crocus
- Cyclamen
- Daffodils
- Dahlias
- Daisy
- Deadly Nightshade
- Devil’s Ivy
- Dianthus
- Easter Lilly
- Elder Flower
- English Ivy
- Foxglove
- Geranium
- Gladiola
- Hellebore
- Henbane
- Hyacinth
- Hydrangea
- Iris
- Jasmine
- Laburnum
- Lily of the Valley
- Lobelia
- Marsh Marigold
- Mock Orange
- Narcissus
- Peace Lily
- Peach (leaves, twigs, seeds)
- Pear (seeds)
- Poinsettia
- Primrose
- Ranunculus
- Rhododendron
- Tiger Lily
- Toadstools
- Tulips
- Umbrella Plant
- Violet
- Yucca
- Yew

and, Wisteria.

As with our previous lists of poisonous plants for pets in this post, this one isn't exhaustive.

If you have any doubts about plants you're buying for your pet, home or garden, read the labels carefully and check with a veterinarian if necessary.

Even if you're really careful with the plants around your pets, there's always a chance they will mistakenly eat something poisonous.

This situation is more common if you have a cat who loves to wander.

Call a veterinarian immediately for advice if your cat is acting out of sorts.

You shouldn't wait for symptoms before you do this.

However, symptoms can indicate that your pet has eaten poisonous plants if you didn't see it happen.

If you haven't seen your pet eating poisonous plants, you should still seek advice if you notice any or all of the following symptoms:

- Lack of energy
- Vomiting
- Blood in poo
- Increased thirst
- Increased urination
- Pale gums
- Twitching
- Tremors, seizures
- Shortness of breath
- Collapse
- Drooling
- Lack of appetite
- Diarrhea

In some cases plants act as an irritant to pets rather than a toxin.

These plants cause issues such as rashes, ulcers, and swollen tongues, lips or gums.

If you notice any of these issues, search for advice online and contact a professional if you still have concerns.

The good news?

The majority won't cause much more than an upset stomach, and most dogs and cats won't eat poisonous plants.

Most toxic garden plants, such as granny's bonnet, bluebells and hellebores, need to be eaten in such huge quantities to cause harm that they're very unlikely to do so.

Most cats are fastidious creatures and are careful about what they eat. 

Poisoning in cats is, therefore, generally rare.

The young inquisitive cat or kitten is most at risk of eating harmful plants, particularly household ones. Boredom also has a part to play.

*Disclaimer: covering ALL the poisonous plants in the world in one article is an impossible feat, so instead, we've listed the most common that you or your pet will encounter in your day-to-day life.

Remember - always check labels, do your homework and ask your vet for advice if you're unsure.

Do you want to know more about poisonous plants for pets?

Pop something in the comments, and we'll help if we can.

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