Pet-safe houseplants: what is actually safe around cats and dogs

This is general information, not veterinary advice. If your pet has eaten a plant and is unwell, call your vet or an animal poison line straight away rather than searching. The ASPCA maintains the reference list most vets use, searchable by plant name, and it is the right place to check a specific species.

Individual animals vary, and "non-toxic" means it will not poison them — not that eating a whole plant will have no effect.

Spider plant, Boston fern and bird's nest fern, parlor palm and areca palm, calathea and maranta (prayer plants), peperomia, hoya, African violet, cast iron plant, phalaenopsis orchid, and most true palms.

Spider plants deserve a note: they are non-toxic but mildly attractive to cats, who chew them and are then sick from the volume rather than from poison. Hanging them helps.

Lilies and cats are the serious case. True lilies (Lilium) and daylilies (Hemerocallis) can cause acute kidney failure in cats from a very small exposure — pollen, a petal, or the vase water. If you have a cat, do not have lilies in the house, including in cut flower bouquets.

Sago palm (Cycas revoluta) is severely toxic to dogs and cats, and the seeds most of all. It causes liver failure and is frequently fatal.

Both of these are in a different category from the irritant plants below, and warrant an immediate vet call rather than watchful waiting.

Pothos, philodendron, monstera, dieffenbachia, peace lily and ZZ plant all contain insoluble calcium oxalate crystals. Chewing them causes immediate mouth pain, drooling and sometimes vomiting. Unpleasant and occasionally distressing, but rarely dangerous — and the pain usually stops a pet from eating much.

Aloe causes vomiting and lethargy. Snake plant causes mild stomach upset. Both are common and both are mild.

Height helps more than species choice for cats, who will find anything reachable. Hanging planters, high shelves and closed rooms do most of the work.

Giving a cat something it is allowed to chew — cat grass, or a pot of oat or wheat grass — redirects the behaviour better than trying to suppress it.

If you are starting a collection in a home with a determined chewer, build it around the non-toxic list above and simply keep lilies and sago palms out of the house entirely.

A good plant shop will know which of its stock is pet-safe and will happily walk you round on that basis. It is a completely normal question and a useful test of how well the staff know what they are selling.