It is highly amusing to watch a kitty create something from nothing. Cats can be remarkably imaginative when they want to be. They can take everyday ordinary house hold objects and make it a toy so cool the neighborhood cats are talking about banning Kitty from the cool cat fence and making her sit by herself on the stoop. Cats can be so incredibly fickle. However, not all of their ready made imaginary toys are good for them. Just as you shouldn’t let your kitty play with your razor, there are other regular every day household items that can be dreadfully dangerous. There are, for instance, plants that are toxic to cats. Naturally, many of these dangerous plants are the ones that Kitty and her pals are most steadfastly attracted to. While they may be able to make handy little toys from the leaves of your foxglove, especially with those perfectly shaped flowers in the bell shaped roll-ability, doing so may send them into cardiac arrest.

Some kitties can end up playing endlessly with plants on the dangerous list for a lifetime. In fact, there was a time that most people really had no awareness of potential dangers looming in the garden or on the window sill. Our cats have only grown healthier because the humans have been able to amass a greater deal of information. It’s that simple. The more information we have at our fingertips, the safer and healthier we can keep everyone in our lives, including our precious feline varieties with their never ending curiosity and their perpetual need for self absorbed entertainment.

It is not safe to assume that they will understand that there are these plants that are toxic to cats. In nature, we assume that the creatures of the wild understand inherently what dangers are out there, seeking refuge from an ever present danger that they have never had to experience to know. However, when we pulled the cat from the wild to make her our friend, we also robbed them of a percentage of this type of unearned knowledge, the knowledge of danger that has been passed down in the wild through basic instinct and shared collective memory. As their human guardians, we must assume that the cat does not know that the Easter Lily may affect everything from their ability to eat without vomiting to their heart and may pose a very serious threat to their lives.

There are in fact a great many plants that pose health risks to animals. I say animals instead of cats because there are likelihoods to be covered here. The likelihood that a plant affects more than just one animal is pretty high, although there is truth in the fact that something like the Easter Lily is only toxic to cats. There is also the likelihood that not enough studies (or incidents) have occurred that can conclusively rule out that cats aren’t affected by a plant that other animals are. There are also likelihoods that there are plants that are toxic to cats that nobody is momentarily aware of. In almost all cases we know that some plants pose a hazardous threat because something has happened before to alert us. Usually not just one something, but a great many somethings, because we do not conclude scientific evidence and call it fact because something happened one time on a random Wednesday night. Thus, with all this information in mind, there really can not be a completely accurate—or complete—list of plants that pose a toxic threat to your kitty.

You should consider all plants potentially dangerous to your cat. For the sake of your cat, not to mention the sake of your plant that is desperately trying to survive your haphazard watering schedule and your inability to provide proper lighting, you should not permit your cat to play with the plants. She could be playing with a potentially life threatening toy and is likely to make a serious mess with the potting soil which can feel wonderful between her little toes as she claws it out onto the floor. Since you are not home twenty four hours a day seven days a week with nothing better to do than follow Kitty around and keep her away from the potential danger, keeping plants, especially those on The List, in a room with a closed door or not keeping them at all is advisable.

The List is rather extensive and is growing with alarming regularity. The List covers animals in general, which includes cats, for reasons already explained. As you read through the list and check off the ones you have growing within Kitty’s vicinity, it is safe to assume that the plant growing in your front office is probably on The List. You know the one. It would be the one that your Aunt Edna gave you and you acted really grateful for despite the fact that you didn’t know what it was…the one all your friends ask you about because they would love to have something so unique (squelching of course, it’s uniqueness) in their home but you’ve had it for so long now that you can’t possible embarrass yourself by calling up Aunt Edna and asking her about it. One of your pet-less friends will love you forever for passing it onto them.

And now, without further ado, I present to you and Kitty, The List in its entirety as of this writing (knowing full well that by the time you finish reading the list there will be some sort of official change to it.)

Iris, Jerusalem Cherry, Yucca, Japanese Yew, Yesterday—today—tomorrow (that really is the name of a plant) Japanese Show Lily, Wood Lily, Hyacinth, Hydrangea, Warneckei Dracaena, Hurricane Plant, Variegated Philodendron, Horsehead Ohilodendron, Variable Dieffenbachia, Holly, Heavenly Bamboo, Tulip, Heartleaf Philodendron, Tropic Snow Dumbcane, Hahn’s Self Branching English Ivy, Tree Philodendron, Glacier Ivy, Taro Vine, Gldaiolas, Tiger Lily, Glory Lily, Tomato Plant, Gold Dieffenbachia, Swiss Cheese Plant, Gold Dust Dracaena, Fruit Salad Plant, Foxglove, Sweetheart Ivy, Florida Beauty, Striped Dracaena, Stargazer Lily, Flamingo Plant, Fiddle Leaf Philodendron, Spotted Dumb Cane, English Ivy, Emerald Fern, Schefflera, Satin Pothos, Sago Palm, Saddle Leaf Philodendron, Emerald Feather, Elephant Ears, Rubrum Lily, Easter Lily, Ribbon Plant, Rhododendron, Deadly Nightshade, Red Princess, Red Margined Dracaena, Dumb Cane, Devil’s Ivy, Day Lily, Daffodil, Red Lily, Red Emerald, Queensland Nut, Precatory Bean, Cyclamen, Cycads, Plumosa Fern, Cutleaf Philodendron, Peace Lily, Panda, Orange Day Lily, Onion, Cornstalk Plant, Corn Plant, Cordatum, Oleander, Clematis, Nightshade, Christmas Rose, Chinese Evergreen, Chinaberry Tree, Nephthytis, Charming Diffenbachia, Needlepoint Ivy, Ceriman, Narcissus, Mother—in—law (the plant, not the person, although there are some mother in laws known to make Kitty and her friends miraculously disappear upon her arrival) Morning Glory, Castor Bean, Calla Lily, Caladium, Mistletoe, Mexican Breadfruit, Mauna Loa Peace Lily, Marijuana (but of course you don’t have any of that lying around, and you are certainly not growing it) Marble Queen, Madagascar Dragon Queen, Macadamia Nut, Buddist Pine, Buckeye, Branching Ivy, Lily of the Valley, Lacy Tree, Lace Fern, European and American Bittersweet, Kalanchoe, Bird of Paradise, Azalea, Avocado, Autumn Crocus, Australian Nut, Aloe, Asparagus Fern, Amaryllis, Asian Lily, and Andromeda Japonica.