Hello all! Today was my first day experiencing the vivid UBC online community! Being unaware of its existence, I am enthralled with the wonderful experiences, knowledge, and support found rooted in this community! That being said, I am hoping someone will be able to identify this plant, and inform whether or not this plant has any effects, good or bad, to pets, and in particular, one's orange house cat.
My cat has nibbled on the tips of this plant once and in a while with no ill effects. It taste like grass to him I guess.... I now keep lots of cat nip on hand! Baron Boy.
I don't think the parlour palm is a problem but the Syngonium at the base would cause problems for kitty if chewed. They contain calcium oxalate crystals which would cause irritation and swelling in the mouth.
Yeah, he does look a little into himself, but really, he's super mellow! He liked to nibble on a spider plant too (most cats do I think) climbing up on a table full of just watered plants to get to the hanging spider leaves and babies, grrr. The spider has since been moved to much higher ground!
See, and I gave up on trying to get mine not to eat the spider plant. So she has one of her own now, which keeps her out of the young roses about 50% of the time. She's taken to eating all of the new growth off of them, and I despair of them getting any taller. Recently, too, she's discovered the joys of hot-pepper leaves. But no, the palm won't hurt your cat. And as somebody mentioned earlier, the Syngonium might, if kitty chews on it more than just a tiny little bit. My experience with cat and aroids tells me that they take one tiny nibble, immediately dislike the taste, and avoid the plant in the future. The bigger problem is with aroids and kittens, who generally have a less-steep learning curve than adult cats.
lorax, That's funny that your cat has a spider plant of her very own. I got a chuckle out of reading that! Good idea though. Hot pepper leaves? Oh, brave kitty!
"this is my dog stinky, and this is stinky's dog nunzio..." My cat has had a number of her own plants. She's rotten taking care of them, but nonetheless they keep her out of the worst of veggie trouble.
Just like people, cats are individuals. (And how.) Some cats LIKE hot pepper leaves. I had a dog when I was a kid who went nuts for raw carrots. Go figure. ---I was once acquainted with a zoo elephant who disliked green peppers to the degree that she would stomp them flat and kick them vigorously away when she found one in her daily portion of produce.
My previous cat was nuts for green peas and cauliflower. This one won't touch 'em, but steals yams off my plate if I'm not paying attention, and I have to restrain her around peppers of any sort. She prefers the leaves, but she's not above eating the fruits as well. Out of curiousity, what breeds of cats are we dealing with? I have a Russian Blue, and have previously had Abyssinian mutts and a wandering giant orange stray who would eat anything that he found on the floor.
Mine aren't anything special, both are common tigers, a brown, and an orange, More like Blonde, or straw colored for the orange one. Neither I don't think would eat peppers, pepper leaves, or yams (funny about the yams) but with any animal, one nerver knows what one will eat, good or bad.
