Reference
Pet-Safe Houseplants and Garden Plants: How to Check
The short answer
Do not rely on memory or on 'safe plant' lists copied around the web - check each plant you are considering against the ASPCA's Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants database, which covers over 1,000 species and lets you filter by dog, cat, or horse. Toxicity differs by species, by animal, and sometimes by which part of the plant is eaten.
If a pet does eat a plant you are unsure about, contact your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center rather than waiting to see what happens. Note that some very common plants are seriously dangerous - true lilies, for example, can cause fatal kidney failure in cats even in tiny amounts.
Why you have to check each plant
Plant toxicity is not a simple safe-or-unsafe list. The same plant can be harmless to one animal and dangerous to another, the toxic part may be only the bulb or the leaves or the sap, and severity ranges from mild mouth irritation to organ failure. That is why authoritative databases are organized species by species and animal by animal.
The ASPCA maintains exactly this kind of resource: a database of more than 1,000 plants, each marked toxic or non-toxic to dogs, cats, and horses, with the toxic principle and clinical signs listed. It is searchable and filterable, and you can print per-species lists. Check the specific plant - by botanical name where you can, since common names are ambiguous - before you bring it home.
Common plants worth knowing about
A few widely sold plants are worth flagging because the stakes are high. True lilies (Lilium and Hemerocallis) are severely toxic to cats - even small exposures can cause fatal kidney failure - which is covered in more depth on our Easter lily page. This is the clearest example of why checking matters.
Rather than trusting a memorized 'safe' list, use the ASPCA database to confirm both the plants you want and the ones you already own. If you keep pets that chew plants, favoring species the database marks non-toxic, and keeping known-toxic ones out of reach, is the practical approach.
If your pet eats a plant
If you see or suspect a pet has eaten a potentially toxic plant, contact your veterinarian promptly, or call the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center. Bring or note the plant's name and how much was eaten, since that guides treatment.
Do not wait for symptoms with the most dangerous plants - with lily ingestion in cats, for instance, time is critical. Keeping the poison-control number and your vet's number somewhere findable is a small step that matters in an emergency.
Sources
Reviewed 2026-07-18. We cite university Extension, government, and established horticultural sources — and never invent pesticide rates or dangerous treatments.
- ASPCA - Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants Database — Provides a searchable database of over 1,000 plants marked toxic or non-toxic to dogs, cats, and horses, filterable by animal, with toxic principles and clinical signs, plus the Animal Poison Control Center as the escalation contact for suspected poisoning.