Cat-proofing your home can be a challenge, especially when frisky felines get access to every nook and cranny of the house. Start by limiting access to stringy items such as dental floss, shoelaces or yarn that can get caught in a cat’s intestinal system. It also pays to remove toxic items from your home, particularly plants. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals operates a poison control hotline (1-888-426-4435) that handles more than 160,000 calls each year for accidental poisoning. Many of the calls involve consuming potentially toxic plants. According to the ASPCA, these are the most toxic plants to cats. (You can find a full list with photos at



Insoluble calcium oxalate plants: Needle-like calcium oxalate crystals dig into a cat’s tongue and gums, causing drooling, swelling and vomiting. Unfortunately, a large group of hardy plants contains these crystals. Avoid dieffenbachia, devil’s ivy (Epipremnum aureum), philodendrons, peace lilies (Spathiphyllum) and calla lilies (Zantedeschia).


Desert rose: Native to tropical regions of Africa and Arabia, these succulents make great houseplants in the United States. But they contain toxic chemicals called glycosides that can affect a cat’s heart rate and cause vomiting.

Corn plants: Dracaena can tolerate extreme weather conditions, making them a popular indoors and outdoors. If your cat likes chomping on plants, this one goes on the “do not purchase” list. Corn plants contain toxic compounds called saponins that can cause dilated pupils, excessive salivation and vomiting.




Photo of Sago palm by Home Depot. All others by Flickr users. Easter lily: kilotonic; stargazer lily: Aunt Owwee; daylily: kaiyanwong223; calla lily: wolfpix; devil’s ivy: eraine; desert rose: stefan0; corn plant: murata_s; daffodil: hddod; tulip bulbs: HTML Monkey; azalea: NCReedplayer