Plants poisonous to cats © C.M.Hughes

There are various substances poisonous to cats that can be found in the home and these include:

Phenols - often found in disinfectants.  You can tell if something contains phenols by adding water.  If it goes cloudy when added to water then it will contain phenols, so do not use these products if you have cats. Other cleaning products such as dishwasher powder,  deodorants and deodorisers, and polishes.  Medicines - human and animal, including aspirin and paracetamol, car products, such as antifreeze, windscreen washer fluid, etc.  Beauty products, Decorating materials, Insecticides, Pesticides, Slug pellets, Rat poisons, Fungicides (and don't forget, wallpaper often contains fungicides and so does wallpaper paste, so don't let your cat play with strips of offcuts of wallpaper, or wallpaper being taken off walls).  Also, chocolate is poisonous to cats, and the smallest amount has been known to kill a cat (or dog).

There is a list below of some of the plants that are poisonous to cats - undoubtedly there are more plants that could be included here, so don't assume that this list is comprehensive. The effects of these plants will vary from causing mild irritation to blindness, coma, kidney or heart damage, or even death.  There is often more than one name for a plant, so even if a plant isn't on this list by the name that you know it, don't assume it's safe.  Where some of these plants might taste awful to a cat, so they would naturally avoid them, that doesn't go for all of them, and also a cat that is allowed outside might be more choosy what they chew, but an indoor cat might well chew anything they can get hold of in the way of plants.  Be especially careful of Christmas trees - the selection of varieties available now means that there will be some on sale that are poisonous to cats.  Check this with a local nursery.  As you can see in the list below, Holly, Ivy and Misteltoe, and Poinsettias are poisonous as well.  Also, at this time of year, many people are planting bulbs, ready for them to flower at Christmas – daffodil, hyacinth, and crocus bulbs are amongst those particularly poisonous to cats.  These can cause anything from vomiting and diarrhea to sudden death.

There are various links that can be found under 'search' to sites that give information about poisons, and poisonous plants, and this is just one of them: http://www.plants-and-your-cat.com/html/search2.php3?offset=180  This excellent  site gives details on a huge amount of plants, and describes symptoms, other names, toxicity, which part of the plant might be toxic. etc.  The same site also has a list of plants that are safe for cats, and this can be found on: http://www.plants-and-your-cat.com/html/search1.php3 .  Some of the plants listed below do appear on some 'safe plant' lists, but while they also appear on 'dangerous plant' lists, I thought it worth including them.