# Cats and plants



## cdub (Jan 12, 2007)

I'm thinkin of adopting a cat and wanted to know if any of you know of any houseplants or orchids that are dangerous to munch on. My lowest grow shelves for paph and phals are just inches from the floor. I would move my most prized up of course in case any munching does go on. I also have the typical spider plant and aloe plants, christmas cactus, etc. I know things in the lily family can be pretty toxic, but I was unsure of others.


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## likespaphs (Jan 12, 2007)

if i were a cat, i'd click here...


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## NYEric (Jan 12, 2007)

Hi. is this helpful?http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/Spathsp.htm


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## smartie2000 (Jan 12, 2007)

I do not believe orchids are poisonous generally. Serveral cultures eat them. In the past several pet birds ate some phal and cattleya leaves without getting sick, and they enjoyed nibbling on them unfortunately. I heard cypripediums are the more dangerous ones, but I have no experience, I just got my first one recently. I believe cyp reginae can cause rashes in some people, and people should keep thier dogs away from them


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## cdub (Jan 12, 2007)

Great CFA website. I guess I could have found that on my own, I just thought someone might have some personal orchid experience. Guess I'll have to make sure my aloes don't get nibbled on. Thanks smartie!!

On a side note about the aloe, I came home the other night and saw a big "arm" of my largest aloe plant had been sliced off at the base. My soon-to-be wife was in the kitchen applying the leaf juice to a burn on her arm. I told her that next time she needed some aloe, to go across the street to Walgreens, not lop of a stalk of my aloe plant!


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## likespaphs (Jan 12, 2007)

dude! i always lop off leaves. maybe you just need a second aloe, one to be used medicinally....
Cyp reginae is also called nerve root as it causes dermititis in some people...


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## Heather (Jan 12, 2007)

Yeah, if you get mad at your fiance for lopping off your aloe, what's going to happen to the kitten who chews off the orchid spike?


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## Persephone (Jan 12, 2007)

Lettuce leaves work great on burns. Keep the leaf (the darker the better) on the burn site until it gets warm, then change the leaf. Just a little info on behalf of your aloe.


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## Rick (Jan 12, 2007)

I'd say that any orchid is dangerous for cats to mess with at my house.

It chews on my plants it gets the BOOOOT.:evil:


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## NYEric (Jan 12, 2007)

Heather said:


> Yeah, if you get mad at your fiance for lopping off your aloe, what's going to happen to the kitten who chews off the orchid spike?


What's going to happen when she kicks your butt for not being sympathetic about her wound and your dead KAT!?! oke:


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## Jason Fischer (Jan 12, 2007)

I don't think there are any orchids toxic to cats. Mine like to chew on leaves that look like grass, such as cymbidiums. They also tend to chew off paph and phrag spikes, so I can't really display them for too long. Basically things with soft or skinny leaves are potential victims to cats. Then again, some cats don't care about plants at all. I have so many around the house that they really don't bother them that much and would rather play with a ball. The funny thing is, when I get angry at my cats, rest assured, the next day I find a chewed up leaf... they know how to get back at me!


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## NYEric (Jan 12, 2007)

Yeah, but there are a lot of common house plants that are toxic!


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## kentuckiense (Jan 12, 2007)

Philodendrons could be bad.


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## Barbara (Jan 12, 2007)

Cats and orchids you say? Orchids aren't poisonous to cats (or birds) since everything likes to eat them.:sob: Cats also like to play bowling with them. Fortunately birds (parrots) are trainable, cats don't seem to be.


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## Barbara (Jan 12, 2007)

kentuckiense said:


> Philodendrons could be bad.



Ya, that would depend on how you look at that. My Cockatiels and Budgies like to chew their leaves, than I have sweet sweet silence for a little while until the vocal cord freezing wares off.:evil:


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## likespaphs (Jan 13, 2007)

{to be sung to the tune of "why do you think they call it dope?"} why do you think they call it dieffenbachia...i mean, dumb cane....


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## Barbara (Jan 13, 2007)

likespaphs said:


> {to be sung to the tune of "why do you think they call it dope?"} why do you think they call it dieffenbachia...i mean, dumb cane....



:rollhappy: Sorry about that. You're right, I realized my mistake after I posted.
Dieffenbachia (dumb-cane) is what my birds used to try and eat which rendered them silent until I got rid of it. I believe it would probably do the same to a cat too, and it is painful as well. I noticed no long term ill effects, but neither did they have a chance to do this more than a couple times.


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## likespaphs (Jan 13, 2007)

in enough of a quantity, it can cause one's airpipe to swell closed and one can suffocate.


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## olin (Jan 16, 2007)

I Had A Cat For 16 Years And She Wasn't Interested In Any Of My
Orchids Or Other Plants. She May Have Gone Over To Check Them
Out But Never Harmed Them. I Was Lucky, I Do Have Some Friends
And Their Cats Do From Time To Time Take A Nibble....

Olin


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## Whitecat8 (Jan 20, 2007)

It depends on the cat, unfortunately. We have 3, and 1 could live in the orchid room and never bother anything. The second doesn't go after the 'chids, but look out when he's on bug patrol - everything's at risk as he flies through the air, landing on plants, trays, etc. The 3rd cat only snaps off spikes and, like Jason's, the grassy leaves. The miniature cym was on the kitchen counter for 90 seconds while I was in another room, and the tips of 5 leaves were gone.

Too bad you can't tell which cat will do what in advance.


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## Heather (Jan 21, 2007)

The problem I had with my cat was that, when I first started growing, her favorite place to sleep was the sunny table I decided to grow plants on. She had to learn that that was no longer 'HER' place. It took me completely filling with with plants so she couldn't possibly find a place to jump up on to win the battle.  

Then, I got a bigger table, and filled that, and so on. 

Nowadays, the only time she ever even thinks about nipping on a plant or two is when she is clearly trying to get my attention. And she usually gets a few shots from the plant mister for that!


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## paphreek (Jan 21, 2007)

Our two cats have never chewed on any orchids or other house plants, but they were "semi feral" when they adopted us and still insist on going outside where they do chew on grass quite often. My sister's cat, on the other hand, is an indoor cat, and it completely destroys any plant Kathy tries to grow except for an old shamrock that my mother originally had.


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## lindafrog (Jan 21, 2007)

Until we built the greenhouse I could NOT have a miltonia or zygo type orchid in the house for over 90 seconds until the cats would find it and feast. As only cats can do they would add insult to injury. After eating the grassy leafs they would throw up. I ended up not only with a permanantly damagaed orchid but cat hac to clean up too.
Now I grow wheat grass in the greenhouse just for the cats.


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## Gideon (Jan 21, 2007)

Our cat had three kittens a few months back, when they started walking around, my dear wife moved them out of the house into our little granny flat (appartment). Well this is the very same place I was germinating about $1000 worth of Clivia seeds...needless to say, the kittens used the germination trays as catboxes, I was not impressed


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