Plants Poisonous to Cats and Dogs: Toxicity Checker

Plants poisonous to cats and dogs, A to Z

Of 109 common houseplants, holiday flowers, bulbs and herbs, the ASPCA lists 54 as toxic to cats and 49 as toxic to dogs, and 46 as non-toxic to both. Three more fall under a genus-wide entry, and six popular houseplants have no entry at all.

Every verdict comes from the plant’s own page in the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plants database. “Genus entry” means the ASPCA lists the whole genus, such as Ficus sp. or Dracaena spp., rather than that exact species.

Which poisonous plants are an emergency?

Lilies (for cats), sago palm and the plants that disturb heart rhythm are the ones the ASPCA and FDA tie to organ failure or death. Most other toxic houseplants on the list cause mouth pain, drooling or vomiting instead, and the ASPCA calls a couple of famous ones over-rated.

True lilies and daylilies: kidney failure in cats

“Just coming home from a funeral where I was gifted one of the flower arrangements. Just started panicking that something might not be cat safe. Any help would be appreciated as we’d like to keep the arrangement if possible. I don’t know anything about plants at all.”
– r/cats, May 2026 (2,684 upvotes)

The FDA points out that lilies are common in bouquets as well as garden beds, and it calls plants in the true lily (Lilium) and daylily (Hemerocallis) families very dangerous for cats. Every part is toxic, including the pollen and the water in the vase: a small bite of leaf or petal, a few pollen grains licked off fur, or a drink from the vase can lead to fatal kidney failure in less than 3 days.

The FDA sets out the timing. Early signs such as low activity, drooling, vomiting and loss of appetite start 0-12 hours after eating. Signs of kidney damage, more urination and dehydration, start at about 12-24 hours, and kidney failure follows at 24-72 hours. If treatment is delayed by 18 hours or more, the FDA says the kidney failure is generally irreversible.

Dogs that eat lilies may get a minor stomach upset but don’t develop kidney failure, according to the FDA. Peace lilies and calla lilies belong to neither family. They hurt the mouth with calcium oxalate crystals, and the FDA says they don’t cause kidney failure in cats.

Sago palm: liver failure

Sago palm (Cycas revoluta), which the ASPCA groups with the cycads, contains cycasin. The ASPCA’s list of signs for cats and dogs runs from vomiting and black, tarry stool to jaundice, bruising, clotting problems, liver failure and death.

Heart rhythm: lily of the valley, oleander, azalea and kalanchoe

For lily of the valley, the ASPCA lists irregular heartbeat, low blood pressure, disorientation, seizures and coma, and the FDA describes the abnormal heart rhythm as life-threatening. Oleander contains cardiac glycosides, and death is among the signs the ASPCA gives. Azalea’s grayanotoxin can cause cardiac failure.

Kalanchoe is milder. For its bufodienolides the ASPCA lists vomiting and diarrhea, and it calls an abnormal heart rhythm rare. Large amounts of cyclamen tuber or daffodil bulb can also upset heart rhythm, the ASPCA says, and for daffodils the bulb is the most poisonous part.

Mouth pain: the calcium oxalate plants

Many of the most familiar houseplants carry calcium oxalate crystals: pothos, heartleaf and tree philodendron, monstera, peace lily, dieffenbachia, Chinese evergreen, arrowhead vine, alocasia, caladium, anthurium, calla lily and schefflera. The ASPCA lists much the same signs for all of them: oral irritation, pain or burning of the mouth, tongue and lips, heavy drooling, vomiting and difficulty swallowing. Writing about peace and calla lilies, the FDA says pawing at the face, drooling and foaming usually go away on their own, and that swelling bad enough to affect breathing can happen but is uncommon. The FDA adds that those signs may show immediately.

Stomach upset: saponins and irritant sap

Snake plant, dracaena, corn plant, ti plant, yucca, hosta and aloe contain saponins. The ASPCA lists vomiting for all of them, diarrhea for snake plant, hosta and aloe, and for the dracaenas and ti plant also depression, drooling and dilated pupils in cats. English ivy, tulip and hyacinth land in the same vomiting-and-diarrhea range, with the tulip’s toxin most concentrated in the bulb, while jade plant can cause vomiting, depression and incoordination.

Poinsettia and pencil cactus have an irritant sap that can irritate the mouth and stomach, and the ASPCA calls both “generally over-rated in toxicity.” Shamrock plant (Oxalis) and begonia contain soluble calcium oxalates. The ASPCA lists kidney failure for shamrock but calls it rare in dogs and cats, and for begonia it says the underground parts are the most toxic.

Toxic to cats but not dogs

Lilies, daylilies and catnip are the only plants the ASPCA flags as toxic to cats but not to dogs. Going the other way, its dog-only entries are black walnut, macadamia nut (also filed as Australian and Queensland nut) and hops, none of them houseplants.

I counted that from the ASPCA’s two published plant lists in October 2026: 985 common-name entries, with 423 marked toxic to cats and 416 toxic to dogs. The count goes by common name, so one plant can appear more than once (snake plant is filed under three names), and it only covers plants the ASPCA has reviewed. Neither list says how much of a plant causes harm.

Catnip is the odd one.

The ASPCA notes that many cats love it, but it can cause vomiting and diarrhea, and it leaves some cats sedated and others stimulated. It isn’t on the dog list at all.

Same name, different plant

Common names cause most of the confusion: one name can sit on a toxic plant’s label and a safe plant’s label at the same time. Match the scientific name on the plant tag before trusting any verdict, including the ones here.

• Rubber plant. The rubber tree (Ficus elastica) falls under the ASPCA’s toxic fig-genus entry. Baby rubber plant and American rubber plant are Peperomia obtusifolia, which is non-toxic.
• Fiddle-leaf. The ASPCA’s “Fiddle-Leaf” entry is Philodendron bipennifolium, toxic. The fiddle-leaf fig (Ficus lyrata) has no entry of its own beyond the toxic Ficus one.
• Bird’s nest. The ASPCA files snake plant as “Golden Bird’s Nest.” Bird’s nest fern (Asplenium nidus) isn’t listed.
• Ribbon plant. The ASPCA uses the name for a dracaena, which is toxic, and for spider plant, which isn’t.
• Ivy. English ivy and devil’s ivy (pothos) are toxic. Swedish ivy (Plectranthus) is non-toxic.
• Jasmine. True jasmine (Jasminum) is non-toxic. Cape jasmine is a gardenia, which is toxic.
• Palm. Parlor, areca, kentia, majesty, lady and ponytail palms are non-toxic. Sago palm can kill.
• Lily. True lilies and daylilies damage a cat’s kidneys, peace and calla lilies burn the mouth, and lily of the valley affects the heart.
• Panda plant. The ASPCA uses the name for Philodendron bipennifolium. The fuzzy succulent sold as panda plant is a kalanchoe. Both are toxic.

Popular houseplants the ASPCA doesn’t list

ZZ plant, croton, bird’s nest fern, maidenhair fern, air plants and string of pearls have no entry on the ASPCA lists. A missing entry is not a safety verdict, so treat these as unknown and keep them out of reach of a pet that chews leaves.

Three more are covered only through a whole-genus entry. Fiddle-leaf fig and rubber tree sit under the ASPCA’s Ficus sp. listing, and lucky bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana) under Dracaena spp. Both genus entries are marked toxic to cats and dogs.

If your cat or dog chewed a plant

Phone your vet or a pet poison line right away rather than waiting for symptoms. The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center is (888) 426-4435 and Pet Poison Helpline is 855-764-7661, both listed by the FDA. The ASPCA says a consultation fee may apply.

Have the plant’s name ready, or take the plant or a photo of it with you. The FDA says that helps a vet tell whether it’s one of the dangerous lilies. For anything not in the A to Z list, the ASPCA database holds about a thousand entries, and a tag with the scientific name settles most of the name confusion.

With a cat and any true lily or daylily, I’d go straight to the vet even if the cat seems fine.

The FDA’s 18-hour window leaves no room to wait and see. I’m not a vet, and nothing on a plant list replaces one who has examined your pet.

Plant toxicity questions