Monday, January 16, 2012

Plants and Pets... (Non-toxic houseplant options)

Being a plant lover and an animal lover don't always mix. A blog reader asked me to write about safe (non-toxic) plants that you can keep in your home without worrying about your pets health and safety.

As a pet lover, and a plant lover, I have to admit, I have many toxic plants in my home, living in perfect harmony with my 3 cats and a dog.  I have never found my pets to bother with many of my plants.

The cats occasionally chew at my spider plants or dracena when I have them down to water.  They tend to like the grassy-type leaves of these plants.  In order to keep these types of plants safe... I keep them on a shelf that the cats can't get to.

Providing cats with cat-grass (easily grown from seed) or purchased at a pet store can help to curb your cats appetite for your houseplants.

Bubba and Vader
I will do another blog shortly on toxic plants to avoid...and in the early spring, on plants to stay away from in your garden.

The following list of plants are non-toxic, and safe around pets.

African Violets (Saintpaulia)
Aralia (False and True)
Aluminum Plant (Pilea cadierei)
Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum)
Wandering Jew (Tradescantia Zebrina pendula)
All houseplant type ferns
Jade Plant (Crassula argentea)
Prayer Plant ( Maranta leuconeura)
Gynura aurantiaca
Coleus
Saintpaulia
Dracena and Yucca plants
Hoya
Banana Tree (Musa species)
Kalanchoe
Baby Tears (Soleirolia soleirolii)
Norfolk Island Pine
Peperomia
Swedish Ivy (Plectranthus australis)
Maranta leuconeura
Begonias
Sanseviaria
Air Plant (Tillandsia species)
Bromeliads
Cast Iron Plant (Aspidistra elatior)
Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera species)
Cattlaya, Phalaenopsis, and Cymbidium orchids
Gloxinia (Gloxinia slyvatica)
Goldfish Plant (Nematanthus gregarious)
Lipstick Plant (Aeschynanthus species)
Nephrolepis exaltata 'Tiger Fern'
Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima)
Purple Passion Plant (Gynura aurantiaca)
Ficus 
Echeveria
Echeveria 
Living Stones (Lithops aucampiae)
Zebra Plant (Calathea zebrina)
Most Cactus

This is in no way a complete list, however it does give you a good starting point towards creating a safe environment for your pets without jeopardizing the beauty of plants in your home.

Take this list down to a local garden centre, and bring home some peace of mind...

All photos on this blog by Paul Gellatly

8 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. Looks fine to me, I have an iMac. I guess you should downgrade from your "expensive monitor". :-)

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  3. Yucca plants are not safe for cats. It may not kill them, but it causes vomiting and diarrhea.

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  4. My dog ate some Kalanchoe and I discovered it is toxic to dogs. It can affect their heart and if eaten in enough quantity can cause death, so you should probably take it off your list of 'safe' houseplants.

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  5. This particular tools are extremely important to me whenever I require because they help me get the practical analysis of my project completed. Benefits of Heartgard Plus

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  6. nearly none of the plants are non-toxic for pets

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  7. i have a cat and some toxic plants.she chewed almost every plant and vomited afterwarsd.after some time she learned what is healthy and what is not.animals
    are smart.i was stupid.i didnt know there are poisonous plant to plants.i learned and im still learning.

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