Do I need to get rid of all my plants if getting a cat?

[KoreanBeauty]

I’d like to adopt a cat next year, never had one. I have quite a lot of houseplants and regularly have flowers and bulbs in pots in the winter etc. Do I have to get rid of them all? My home is not that big so the cat would have access to the whole place and I guess there isn’t such thing as places they can’t access as they jump everywhere presumably (for example shelves, tables and windowsills). I am curious, do all cat owners go without houseplants and never buy flowers?

It depends very much on which flowers and plants. Anything related to lilies is bad, or poinsettias at this time of year. Alliums (onion family) are another. Have a google "plants poisonous to cats " or similar and a list will come up.

Regarding bulbs, I think even those which are safe FOR the cat won't be safe FROM the cat. Bulbs = little pots of soil, and that's something very few cats can resist digging in!

One of DSiL's cats had a "thing" about cacti, and they had to lock them all in the kitchen or she would get prickles in her nose the silly thing. She would eat the succulents.

Your future cat might just ignore the houseplants (as did all our previous cats) or it may enjoy swiping at them them and gnawing them, which is what our current cat does. It is impossible to predict.

I used to wonder why people were concerned about lilies etc being poisonous to cats as I’d never had a cat that licked or chewed on houseplants. Then current cat came along.

My kittens destroyed my cat safe houseplants and crapped in my blueberry/raspberry 'flower boxes' outside.

I no longer have houseplants or fruit bushes 😆.

I think until you know your cat you can’t take any chances, and even then it may not be worth the risk. Our cat has no interest whatsoever in plants. None. So effectively we could have a whole house full of the most poisonous plants and I doubt he would ever get within 2 feet of them. Having said that, we don’t take any chances anyway. Dh absolutely loved all his house plants and threw them all out when we got Gary.

Gary’s a great name for a cat.

I’d start by Googling all your current houseplants & giving any poisonous ones away, then as a PP said see what your cat’s like. You might be better with a calm adult cat than a kitten, and a decent rescue should be able to find you a good match.

I used to wonder why people were concerned about lilies etc being poisonous to cats as I’d never had a cat that licked or chewed on houseplants.

The problem especially with cut flowers is the pollen. That goes into the air, or the cat brushes past & gets some on their coat that way, then they ingest it when they groom themselves.

No.

but this will depend on the cat.

i have a fair few plants that I over winter inside. One of my cats is stupid and likes to chew them. I cannot imagine why.

they seem to survive and none of the plants are poisonous to any animal.

Our cat has no interest at all in plants or flowers. I wouldn’t have lilies in the house though, as they can shed pollen which can get on paws and then get licked off. I got the most beautiful, huge, bouquet of lilies from some students a few years ago (I’m a lecturer, not just random students) and my neighbour was very grateful to be gifted them. Such a shame as it probably cost them a bomb, but I just wouldn’t chance it.

I wouldn't have spiny cacti. 😂

You need to avoid all of the lily family as the pollen is highly toxic to cats. It gets on their fur and they ingest it when they wash. That means avoiding bouquets of flowers with lilies too.

I've had cats and house plants together for many years, and the main ones to avoid are ones with thin strappy leaves like spider plants as cats quite like to chew them, (reminds them of eating grass I suppose), and that sort is the only thing I've ever known any of my cats to chew. That is why my ponytail palm (beaucarnea recurvata) lives in the porch - the cats can't get at it.

Perhaps the best thing to do is research each plant species to see if any of them are a definite no-no.

The main issue is that cats tend to knock house plants off windowsills, to the detriment of the plants rather than the cats.

I have two cats and at least 50 houseplants. The dog chewed one once when he was a puppy, but other than that pets and plants coexist without friction.

My cats ignore all my houseplants so no issue here. I never have lilies in the house though because they only need to get the pollen on their fur and then groom themselves.

I'm so glad so many more people know about the lily pollen thing nowadays.

My cat destroyed one of my plants but has completely ignored my other plant. As PPs have said it is hard to predict what sort of cat you will get. I didn’t know about poinsettias.

I've always had cats and my house is stuffed to the gunnels with houseplants, and, from spring to autumn, flowers from the garden in vases. My cats have always roundly ignored the plants and vases. Enjoy your new cat!

Depends on the house plants and it depends on the cat. Unfortunately that's not a great answer for you. You won't know how the cat will react (some always chew on plants, some do only occasionally and some never do)
But you can take the time to research each one of your houseplants which is tedious but at least with photo apps, there's a lot of plant identification apps out there that can be correct more than they're incorrect...

The problem is the cats are very different and almost everything is toxic to them. They can also be very curious and although chewing on a plant usually the worst thing that will happen is that they'll have vomiting or diarrhea, in some cases it can actually be fatal and even the first time.

So what you going to have to do is identify your plants. It is possible that some of your plants can be rearranged in places that are way too high for a cat (although never underestimate a cat, plus, it is always possible that they could drop a flower or a leaf or something else that the cat could possibly then find on the ground)

I have probably at least 50 houseplants of which there are at least 30 different types, and most of these are in some way shape or form toxic to cats. And yet I have three cats. I have arranged mine so that they are most dangerous in the least accessible area, and least dangerous closer to the ground. This isn't perfect, But my cats also seem to show no inclination to not on plants and I've had the cats and plants in the same house for 8 years with no problem.

But to be safe, yes, you should get rid of any plants that's considered to be toxic to cats. Which of course sucks for you because obviously you enjoy your plants.

Hope this helps, and I hope that you do decide to adopt a cat and that you will find the love and comfort of the cat will far outweigh the displeasure you might feel at having to rehome a few houseplants

Google is your friend here - I use it when I'm considering buying a plant and have so far avoided exposing Dcat to anything that might harm her.