Plants toxic to cats, and what to do if your cat chewed one

How to find out what the plant is

Poison lines ask for the plant's name, and "the green one by the window" slows them down. In this order:

• The label. A nursery tag or florist card often gives the scientific name, which is what the ASPCA list is sorted by. Common names overlap: "lily" covers dangerous true lilies and much milder peace lilies.
• The receipt or the seller. A bouquet's florist can tell you whether it held lilies or alstroemeria.
• A photo. Take one sharp picture of a leaf and, if there is one, a flower; our guide to photographing a plant for identification shows what to frame. A plant identification app gives you a name to check in seconds.

Plant Identifier names a plant from one photo, and its Toxicology tool adds AI-written notes on the toxic parts and the symptoms in people, dogs and cats, plus what to do. Treat those notes as a pointer to the right ASPCA entry, never as a verdict: an AI can misname a plant or miss a risk, and it can't judge how much your cat ate. Plant Identifier's result also shows the scientific name, which is the name to match against the ASPCA entry. If you're not sure of the plant, say so on the phone.

How the ASPCA lists common houseplants and garden plants

Each row links to the ASPCA's own entry and repeats the signs that entry names. "Toxic to cats" is the ASPCA's classification, read October 21, 2026. The ASPCA says its list "is not meant to be all-inclusive", and that eating any plant material may cause vomiting and stomach upset in cats.

The Cornell Feline Health Center adds mistletoe, holly, foxglove, baby's breath and sweet William to the plants it calls toxic for cats, and says its list is not limited to those. If you're reading in the UK and searching for plants poisonous to cats, the same plants apply; the RHS also lists ZZ plant (Zamioculcas) as harmful if eaten, a plant we could not find on the ASPCA list. If your plant isn't here, use the ASPCA's full list or our houseplant identification key to put a name to it first.

Lilies: the plants to keep away from cats

True lilies (genus Lilium) and daylilies (Hemerocallis) are a different level of risk. The FDA says every part is toxic to cats: stem, leaves, flowers, pollen and even the water in the vase. Eating a small amount of leaf or petal, licking pollen off fur or drinking vase water can cause kidney failure in less than three days. The toxin has not been identified, and it affects cats only; dogs may get an upset stomach but not kidney failure.

Pet Poison Helpline names Easter, Madonna, Oriental, stargazer and tiger lilies among the Lilium lilies it covers, counts any amount of leaf, stem, flower, pollen, vase water or rhizome, and says early treatment is vital for cats. The FDA's list of lilies dangerous to cats: Asiatic (including hybrids), daylily, Easter, Japanese show, Oriental, rubrum, stargazer, tiger and wood lilies.

Not every plant called a lily works this way:

• Peace lily and calla lily are aroids, not true lilies. The FDA says their calcium oxalate crystals irritate the mouth and throat (pawing, drooling, foaming, vomiting) and don't cause kidney failure. The ASPCA still lists both as toxic to cats, and both belong to the arum family (Araceae) on their ASPCA entries, not the lily family. Our peace lily page covers how to recognize the plant.
• Lily of the valley is not a true lily, but the FDA calls it very dangerous to cats and dogs because it can cause abnormal heart rhythms.
• Gloriosa (flame) lily: the FDA says its roots or tubers can cause serious organ failure in cats and dogs.
• Peruvian lily (Alstroemeria), common in bouquets: the FDA says a large amount may cause mild stomach upset and that it does not cause kidney failure in cats.

The FDA advises keeping true lilies and daylilies out of homes with cats, and out of gardens cats can reach. Check bouquets before they come inside: lilies are common in spring and sympathy arrangements.

Listed as non-toxic is not the same as harmless

The ASPCA list also marks some plants as non-toxic. That is the ASPCA's classification, not ours, and this page doesn't repeat those entries as a shopping list, because the classification comes with limits:

• The ASPCA says eating any plant material may cause vomiting and stomach upset, and that plants listed as non-toxic or as causing mild stomach upset are "not expected to be life-threatening". Not expected is not never.
• Plants are often sold under the wrong common name. Check the scientific name on the label against the ASPCA entry.
• Potting soil, fertilizer and pest sprays on a plant can cause problems of their own.
• A plant missing from any list has not been cleared; it may simply not be there.

So if your cat chewed something and is acting unwell, call your vet whatever the list says. For dogs, the plants that cause the most serious cases are different; see our guide to poisonous plants for dogs.