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Cat Education Resource

Make Your Home Feline Friendly

It has been said that a house is not a home without a cat. But while cats may make homes more pleasant for owners, ther are many things an owner can do to make a house a home for a cat. - Pets And Vets Magazine, Australia

• Basic Cattery Planning - Cat Fanciers' Association(CFA)
• Spot the Winter Holiday Hazards

Greenhouse plants (from http://michiana.org/MFNetLife/CatsFAQ1.html)

Plants from commercial greenhouses may be sprayed with systemics to control pests. Some are fairly nasty and long-lasting. More enlightened greenhouses use integrated pest management techniques and vastly reduce the costs of pest control, and costs to the environment.

You'll need to ask about what the sprays are, how often, etc. They should have MSDS (material safety data sheets) on hand for everything they use. Many greenhouses also buy foliage plants (esp.) from commercial growers in southern states, rather than raising their own plants, so you need to ask about that too.

Household plants

• Gives a rash after contact: chrysanthemum; creeping fig; weeping fig; pot mum; spider mum.
• Irritating; the mouth gets swollen; tongue pain; sore lips -- potentially fatal, these plants have large calcium oxalate crystals and when chewed, esophageal swelling may result, resulting in death unless an immediate tracheotomy is done: Arrowhead vine; Boston ivy; caladium; dumbcane; Emerald Duke; heart leaf (philodendrum); Marble Queen; majesty; neththyis; parlor ivy; pathos; red princess; saddle leaf (philodendron); split leaf (philodendron).
• Generally toxic; wide variety of poisons; usually cause vomiting, abdominal pain, cramps; some cause tremors, heart and respiratory and/or kidney problems (difficult for you to interpret): Amaryllis; azalea; bird of paradise; crown of thorns; elephant ears; glocal ivy; heart ivy; ivy; Jerusalem cherry; needlepointivy; pot mum; ripple ivy; spider mum; umbrella plant.

• Vomiting and diarrhea in some cases: Delphinium; daffodil; castor bean; Indian turnip; skunk cabbage; poke weed; bittersweet; ground cherry; foxglove; larkspur; Indian tobacco; wisteria; soap berry.
• Poisonous and may produce vomiting, abdominal pain, sometimes diarrhea: horse chestnut/buckeye; rain tree/monkey pod; American yew; English yew; Western yew; English holly; privet; mock orange; bird of paradise bush; apricot & almond; peach & cherry; wild cherry; Japanese plum; balsam pear; black locust.
• Various toxic effects: rhubarb; spinach; sunburned potatoes; loco weed; lupine; Halogeton; buttercup; nightshade; poison hemlock; pig weed; water hemlock; mushrooms; moonseed; May apple;
• Dutchman's breeches; Angel's trumpet; jasmine; matrimony vine.
• Hallucinogens: marijuana; morning glory; nutmeg; periwinkle; peyote; loco weed.
• Convulsions: china berry; coriaria; moonweed; nux vomica; water hemlock.

Plants that are poisonous to cats

-A- Alfalfa Almond (Pits) Aloe Vera Alocasia Amaryllis Apple (Seeds) Apple Leaf Croton Apricot (Pits) Arrowgrass Asparagus Fern Autumn Crocus Avacado (Fruit and Pit) Azalea -B- Baby's Breath Baneberry Bayonet Beargrass Beech Belladonna Bird of Paradise Bittersweet Black-eyed Susan Black Locust Bleeding Heart Bloodroot Bluebonnet Box Boxwood Branching Ivy Buckeyes Buddist Pine Burning Bush Buttercup -C- Cactus, Candelabra Caladium Calla Lily Castor Bean Ceriman Charming Dieffenbachia Cherry (Pits, Seeds and wilting leaves) Cherry, (wild varieties ) Cherry, Ground Cherry, Laurel Chinaberry Chinese Evergreen Christmas Rose Chrysanthemum Cineria Clematis Cordatum Coriaria Cornflower Corn Plant Cornstalk Plant Croton Corydalis Crocus, Autumn Crown of Thorns Cuban Laurel Cutleaf Philodendron Cycads Cyclamen -D- Daffodil Daphne Datura Deadly Nightshade Death Camas Devil's Ivy Delphinium Decentrea Dieffenbachia Dracaena Palm Dragon Tree Dumb Cane -E- Easter Lily * Eggplant Elaine Elderberry Elephant Ear Emerald Feather English Ivy Eucalyptus Euonymus Evergreen

-F- Ferns Fiddle Leaf Fig Florida Beauty Flax Four  O'Clock Foxglove Fruit Salad Plant -G- Geranium German Ivy Giant Dumb Cane Glacier Ivy Golden Chain Gold Dieffenbachia Gold Dust Dracaena Golden Glow Golden Pothos Gopher Purge -H- Hahn's  Ivy Heartland Philodendron Hellebore Hemlock, Poison Hemlock, Water Henbane Holly Honeysuckle Horsebeans Horsebrush Horse Chestnuts Hurricane Plant Hyacinth Hydrangea -I- Indian Rubber Plant Indian Tobacco Iris Iris Ivy -J- Jack in the Pulpit Janet Craig Dracaena Japanese Show Lily * Java Beans Jessamine Jerusalem Cherry Jimson Weed Jonquil Jungle Trumpets -K- Kalanchoe -L- Lacy Tree Philodendron Lantana Larkspur Laurel Lily Lily Spider Lily of the Valley Locoweed Lupine -M- Madagascar Dragon Tree Marble Queen Marigold Marijuana Mescal Bean Mexican Breadfruit Miniature Croton Mistletoe Mock Orange Monkshood Moonseed Morning Glory Mother in Law's Tongue Morning Glory Mountain Laurel Mushrooms

-N- Narcissus Needlepoint Ivy Nephytis Nightshade -O- Oleander Onion Oriental Lily  -P- Peace Lily Peach (pits and wilting leaves) Pencil Cactus Peony Periwinkle Philodendron Pimpernel Plumosa Fern Poinciana Poinsettia (low toxic) Poison Hemlock Poison Ivy Poison Oak Pokeweed Poppy Potato Pothos Precatory Bean Primrose Privet, Common -R- Red Emerald Red Princess Red-Margined Dracaena Rhododendron Rhubarb Ribbon Plant Rosemary Pea Rubber Plant -S- Saddle Leaf Philodendron Sago Palm Satin Pothos Schefflera Scotch Broom Silver Pothos Skunk Cabbage Snowdrops Snow on the Mountain Spotted Dumb Cane Staggerweed Star of Bethlehem String of Pearls Striped Dracaena Sweetheart Ivy Sweetpea Swiss Cheese plant  -T- Tansy Mustard Taro Vine Tiger Lily * Tobacco Tomato Plant  (Green fruit, stem and leaves) Tree Philodendron Tropic Snow Dieffenbachia Tulip Tung Tree -V- Virginia Creeper -W- Water Hemlock Weeping Fig Wild Call Wisteria -Y- Yews -- Japanese Yew English Yew Western Yew American Yew

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