Houseplants!

[avni]

Not sure if this is the right forum! Apologies if it isn't!


So I recently began collecting houseplants (pet safe). I brought in a Boston fern on my birthday this past weekend and LOVE IT but so do my cats! While it is safe for them, I'd rather avoid them tearing the leaves out haha

I'm considering keeping a few planters of catgrass/oat grass/barley grass around but I've heard it makes them vomit? My 3yo cat loves to chew on grass or rub her face against it so I would love to give her her own plant. Anyone used grass and does it make your cats vomit?

 

[ladytimedramon]

Delilah LOOOOOOVVVVVEEEESSS her cat grass. Sometimes between the grass and the green beans I thing she's a vegetarian. She'll nibble on the grass if she's hungry, which is usually a cue to me. Before I got her a timed feeder and spread out little meals, I'd come home from work and see she'd eaten a good section of her cat grass.

The only time she's vomited is if she's eaten too much or a piece tickles her throat wrong.

 

[LTS3]

Lots of cats vomit after eating cat grass Various reasons why: the grass irritates the tumm, the cat eats too much too fast, etc. It's safe to give cat grass. To minimize the vomit, offer your cat one piece of grass at a time and limit it to maybe a dozen total at a time.

Keep pet-safe plants out of reach from the cats if possible. Cats get curious and will knock over pots, dig in the soil, etc. Eating a large amount of a safe plant can cause vomiting or an upset tummy. There's a thread over in the Lounge with members' plants and various set ups to keep the plants out of reach: Share Your Indoor Plant Pictures

 

[gilmargl]

I have 4 cats - and 2 pots of cat grass. At least one cat vomits when she eats (too much?) cat grass. However, since the grass is always available, they don't go mad about it, so they seldom vomit. Things were far worse when I gave them cat grass only occasionally - they destroyed the plant in a very short time and all of them vomited!

I had a "safe" fern among my houseplant collection, which was also destroyed by my cats. Even my spider plant looks rather motheaten. They leave my hibiscus alone but I think some mites have now started to attack it. I can*t win!

 

[Caspers Human]

We got Casper a ponytail palm.

It has long, leathery leaves that stand up to just about anything that a cat can dish out.
We put it by the window, upstairs, where Casper likes to look out and supervise the neighborhood.

He'll sit by the window, look out and, occasionally, turn around and floss his teeth on the leaves of the ponytail palm.

 

[avni]

We got Casper a ponytail palm.

It has long, leathery leaves that stand up to just about anything that a cat can dish out.
We put it by the window, upstairs, where Casper likes to look out and supervise the neighborhood.

He'll sit by the window, look out and, occasionally, turn around and floss his teeth on the leaves of the ponytail palm.

Oh good idea!

 

[Maggiez]

My boy Loki LOVES eating all kinds of plants. I have a few pots of cat grass around. He eats them like crazy and never vomited. When the grass doesn't grow anymore, I dry them out (for compost) and he ate all the dried ones as well lol

I have a few pet safe house plants and his favorite is the little palm tree and the Boston ferns. He also ate partial leaves of
Triostar and Calathea Rattlesnake.

When he eats too much I found undigested leaf in his poop but nothing has caused any issues.
I love house plant and unfortunately my cat loves them even more.

Attaching two short videos for fun:
(Loki eating dried grass)
(Loki eating plam leaves)