Houseplants are a great way to bring lively colors to your home and to bring nature inside. Not to mention that bringing plants indoors is the best way to purify the air in your home! However, if you also have pets inside, you should be very careful when choosing the right plants for your home. Pets tend to eat plants, and some of them are very poisonous.
Most of you know that pets have a penchant for eating bizarre things. Cats’ for example, usually go for plastic or wool, and dogs practically chew whatever they get. And plants (garden plants, houseplants, plants in the wild or flowers) usually present a delicious temptation for all the animals. Some of those plants can pose a real danger for your pet’s health.
This is why you should avoid getting those plants that could be toxic for your pets or keep them away from your pets (which is practically impossible when you have a cat…).
For dogs, you can also add bran flakes to his food or try switching its diet to one higher in vegetable fibers to deter cravings for vegetation.
1. Spathiphyllum
This plant is a genus of around 40 species in the family Araceae. It is native to tropical regions of the Americas and a part of Asia. It is an evergreen plant with beautiful white flowers. However, it can be hazardous for your cats and dogs. It could cause vomiting and swallowing problems.
2. Ficus lyrata
You might have seen this plant on Instagram photos when authors try to capture the beauty of their homes. However, even though this plant looks nice, it could be dangerous for pets. It is not deadly, but it can cause problems in the interior of their mouths.
3. Colocasia esculenta
This tropical plant is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the Araceae family. It is known for its edible corms, commonly known as taro. They are a typical food in African, Oceanic, and South Asian cultures, and taro is believed to have been one of the earliest cultivated plants.
Experts say that this plant can cause swelling inside mouth, diarrhea, and vomiting.
4. Eucalyptus
This plant has a calming effect on humans; however, with pets, it causes depression, weakness, and drooling.
5. Aloe Vera
This plant is great for in the treatment of burns but it is toxic to cats and dogs. This is why you need to keep it out of reach for your pets. It could cause depression, diarrhea, anorexia, tremors, and vomiting.
6. Daffodil
Most people already know that daffodils could harm their pets. But, who knows what may happen when you turn your head to the other side. These flowers are extremely toxic to your pets. They cause vomiting, drooling, diarrhea, low blood pressure, tremors, cardiac arrhythmias.
7. Gladiola
I hadn’t known about this one until I ordered it on “flowers by post“. The delivery guy warned me about it because he saw my dog walking around the backyard. The problem lies in its corm. That is the most toxic part of it for dogs and cats. It may cause vomiting, drooling, lethargy, diarrhea, etc.
8. Tomato Plant
You know nothing is tastier than a fresh, homegrown tomato and a piece of fresh cheese. That is why there are plenty of people already trying to homegrown their food, the natural way. However, this plant is not good for your pets. It can cause: CNS depression, confusion, behavioral change, weakness, slow heart rate, weakness, dilated pupils, diarrhea, inappetence, etc. So, tomatoes are not lethal for your pets, but they can cause a serious amount of discomfort.
9. Tulip/ Narcissus
Tulips flowers are large and brightly colored. They flower in the spring and become dormant in the summer once the flowers and leaves die back, emerging above ground as a shoot from the underground bulb in early spring.
Narcissus has conspicuous flowers with six petal-like tepals surmounted by a cup- or trumpet-shaped corona. Flowers are white or yellow.
The highest concentration of toxins is in their bulbs. This means that you need to worry if you have a dog that likes to dig holes. It can cause drooling, loss of appetite, depression of the central nervous system, convulsions, cardiac abnormalities, and intense gastrointestinal irritation.
10. Oleander
I used to think that oleander is the most beautiful tree in the world. However, this beautiful… bush… is actually nothing more than a beautiful poisonous hallucinogenic plant. It could affect cats, dogs, and horses. The entirety of this plant contains a highly toxic cardiac glycoside and can cause: diarrhea (with blood), sweating, shallow breathing, muscle tremors, colic, and quite possibly death from cardiac failure.
Plants that are perfectly safe for your pets and kids alike are:
Christmas cactus, Boston Fern (Nephrolepis Exaltata), Blue Echeveria flowers (Echeveria Glauca), African Violet (Saintpaulia), Baby Rubber Plant (Peperomia Obtusifolia), Baby’s Tears (Soleirolia Soleirolii), Swedish Ivy (Plectranthus Verticillatus), Prayer Plant (Maranta Leuconeura), Wax Plant (Hoya Carnosa), Areca Palm (Dypsis Lutescens), etc.
These are only some of those poisonous or harmful plants that you may or may not be growing in your house right now. This text should serve you as a reminder that you should do research before you decide which new plant to buy for your home.
You can find the complete list of poisonous plants on the ASPCA website.