The most toxic indoor plant people grow at home is the sago palm. One nibble can cause liver failure in a dog or small child within hours. The plant looks cute on a stand but it ranks at the top of every vet warning list.
When I first brought home a curious kitten, I cut three plants from my shopping list right away. Toxic houseplants pets owners need to fear most are sago palm, oleander and lily. All three can kill a cat or dog from a single small bite.
I had wanted a sago palm for the patio for years before the kitten came home. The risk to her made the choice easy in the end. I picked a Boston fern and a spider plant for the same shelf with no worry at all.
Sago palm holds a toxin called cycasin in every part of the plant. The seed packs the highest dose by weight in the whole plant. Vets report a 50 to 75% death rate in dogs that eat sago seeds, even with fast care.
Oleander runs a close second for danger in the home or yard. The plant holds cardiac glycosides that stop the heart in small doses. One leaf can drop a small dog or send a child to the ER.
Dieffenbachia comes next on most pet poison lists at the vet office. The leaves hold calcium oxalate crystals that burn the mouth and throat. A chewed leaf causes drooling, swelling and pain that lasts for hours.
Lilies belong on this list for cat homes in a special way. Every part of a true lily can cause kidney failure in cats within 72 hours. The pollen alone, licked off the fur, has killed cats in many vet reports.
The English ivy toxicity ranking sits in the middle of the pack on most charts. NC State Extension rates the plant as medium severity for pets and people. The leaves and berries make a pet sick but the dose is rarely fatal.
Ivy ranks below sago palm and oleander for raw danger to a small dog. The plant ranks above safe picks like spider plant and Boston fern by a wide margin. A bite of ivy means a vomit session and maybe a vet call, not a death watch.
The full top five poisonous indoor plants list runs in this rough order. Sago palm comes first, then oleander, then lily and dieffenbachia tie for third. English ivy and pothos round out the list with milder but real risk.
Safer picks for a pet home include the spider plant and the Boston fern. Calathea and African violet round out the safe four for cat and dog homes. All four look great on a shelf and pose no real threat to a curious mouth.
If you still want a toxic plant, place it on a tall shelf above the pet zone. Hanging baskets near the ceiling work well for ivy and pothos vines. Keep the plant out of reach of toddlers too since small kids test things with their mouths.
Save the program number for the ASPCA poison line in your phone today. The hotline runs 24 hours and helps both pet and human cases. A quick call can save your pet hours of pain or worse during a chew event.
Read the full article: English Ivy: Care, Cultivars and Caution
