Houseplant pet toxicity: 270 tested against ASPCA

Houseplant pet toxicity: 270 tested against the ASPCA

Every plant profile in our library records a pet-toxicity status sourced from the ASPCA's toxic and non-toxic plant database (with Pet Poison Helpline and university Extension sources where the ASPCA does not list a species by name). We added them up. The headline: roughly half of the houseplants people actually buy are not safe for a cat or dog that chews leaves — and the riskiest plants are often the trendiest.

This is a summary of our open dataset. The full per-plant table — with the toxic principle and ASPCA status for all 270 plants — is free to browse and download (CSV + JSON) on our plant toxicity dataset page.

The headline numbers

Across 270 plants:

• 51% are pet-safe — listed by the ASPCA as non-toxic to cats and dogs.
• 24% are mildly toxic — usually insoluble calcium oxalate or saponin oral irritants (burning mouth, drooling, vomiting), uncomfortable but rarely dangerous.
• 25% are toxic — including some with genuinely serious toxic principles (cardiac glycosides, lycorine, grayanotoxins, persin).

So a coin-flip: pick a popular houseplant at random and there is about a 49% chance it is on the ASPCA's toxic list in some form. For a household with a leaf-chewing cat or a curious puppy, that is worth knowing before you buy.

Riskiest and safest plant groups

Toxicity is not evenly spread. Grouped by plant type:

The takeaway most pet owners miss: the most photogenic, most-bought "statement" plants are the most likely to be toxic. Monstera, philodendron, pothos, anthurium, alocasia, dieffenbachia and dracaena are all on the ASPCA toxic list — almost the entire modern aroid trend. If you want a big, lush, genuinely pet-safe plant, the calatheas (prayer-plant family), parlour palm, and many ferns are the exceptions.

The toxicity name-traps that catch people out

Researching each plant against the ASPCA surfaced a set of naming confusions that routinely mislead even careful owners. These are the ones worth flagging:

• "Asparagus fern" is not a fern — and it is toxic. It is Asparagus aethiopicus, and the ASPCA lists it as toxic to cats and dogs. The "fern" in the name implies the safety of true ferns; it does not apply here.
• Red spider lily is not the ASPCA's "Spider Lily." Lycoris radiata (red spider lily) contains lycorine and is toxic, but the ASPCA's "Spider Lily" entry is a different genus (Hymenocallis). Matching by common name alone gives the wrong answer.
• Calamondin (Panama orange) is a true citrus — and citrus is toxic. The little ornamental orange tree is Citrus × microcarpa; the ASPCA lists it (as "Calamondin Orange") as toxic to cats, dogs and horses via essential oils and psoralens.
• The ASPCA page titled "Fiddle-Leaf" is not the fiddle-leaf fig. That page is for Philodendron bipennifolium; the fiddle-leaf fig is Ficus lyrata, whose toxicity comes from the genus-level Ficus listing (ficin/ficusin sap). Citing the wrong page is a common error.
• "Mother of thousands" is more than a stomach upset. Kalanchoe daigremontiana contains bufadienolides — cardiac glycosides that act on the heart — so it sits well above the typical oral-irritant houseplant.
• Arborvitae's risk is neurological, not just digestive. Thuja foliage contains thujone, a neurotoxin; large ingestions can cause more than the mild GI upset many sources imply.

The lesson running through all of these: check the botanical name, not the nickname — and confirm pet safety against an authoritative source rather than a plant tag.

How to use this

• Browse or download the full 270-plant table on the plant toxicity dataset (CSV + JSON, free, ASPCA-sourced).
• Looking for safe options? See our guide to pet-safe houseplants.
• Worried about a specific plant? Check its /pet-safe/{plant} page for the ASPCA status and the toxic principle.

If you suspect your pet has eaten a toxic plant, contact your vet or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435.