Cats and Poinsettias

[talkofthetown]

I know that these are poisonous to animals. My question is, are cats actually attracted to them? I wasn’t thinking the other day, and ordered one from a kid at church raising money for something. I love them, I think they’re beautiful and make your home feel Christmas-y. However, I obviously don’t want my cats to croak, either

I could either place the plant in the house (cats go inside), on the front porch (cats go outside), or just be safe and take it to work. The dogs would not have access to it, just the kitties. What are your experiences with animals actually trying to eat the leaves? If it’s at all risky, I will just take it to work. But if it’s VERY unlikely that the kitties would even want to mess with it, I’d rather keep it at home. Thoughts?

[Field_of_Dreams_Mini]

Though they have a bad rap, poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) plants are only mildly toxic to cats and dogs. At the one barn I boarded at one year someone let their horse eat the BM’s plants. he was fine.

[SonnysMom]

My cats have never shown an interest in poinsettias. I worry more about Lilies in flower arrangements. Some lilies are really toxic to cats. I had one cat that loved baby’s breath.

[chestnutmarebeware]

I never did any follow-up research, but when I asked my vet about this very question, she told me the cat would need to eat all of the leaves before she started worrying.

You could also spray the leaves with Bitter Apple or the equivalent, if you wanted to be certain the kitties would leave it alone. Just make sure to re-apply frequently. (And remove any ribbons or bows around the plant–those are probably more dangerous to cats.) Good luck!

[Chall]

Some are! I had that i took to vet, drooling and spacey.
Once there i figured it out.
Took her home and she dove out of my arms for one of the fallen off dried up leaves and gobbled it up despite my yelling at her.

[talkofthetown]

Thanks for the responses. I’m actually surprised to hear this, I grew up thinking that if a cat so much as looked at one, they would drop over. I’m thinking that I will bring it home, and watch the cats closely to see if they are intrigued. If they ignore it, I think we’ll be safe.

[x-halt-salute]

I had one in a supposedly out-of-reach place in my home many Christmases ago and woke up to find my usually non-acrobatic cat had found her way up there and had eaten a couple of leaves. She puked it up a bit later and that was the end of it – no further symptoms of illness. I don’t know if this is typical.

[Chall]

PS My cat was an indoor/outdoor cat and this was in February or March, and all my cats could be found at various times snacking on any house plants, but especially on the dried leaves. So I think they missed eating plants in general.

If you have a house only cat you may not be aware of how many plants and grass cats eat. Not a lot, but often. I did have a cat that grazed like a cow, walk, sniff a blade of grass, inspect, reject, walk, sniff etc, until she found one single blade that she then ate.

[talkofthetown]

Chall, our cats are indoor/outdoor. I have seen them eat the occasional blade of grass but not very often. I’ve had other potted plants and they have never been bothered by the cats.

[LauraKY]

Mistletoe however is HIGHLY poisonous.

[Field_of_Dreams_Mini]

[QUOTE=LauraKY;7869278]
Mistletoe however is HIGHLY poisonous.[/QUOTE]

Especially the berries. That’s why you never find mistletoe in the stores with real berries.

[Justmyluck]

My cat as a young adult (<1 year old) ate like half of a poinsettia that I brought inside out of the freezing weather. He was fine but I have concluded that, as a cat he has a stomach of iron.

[talkofthetown]

[QUOTE=LauraKY;7869278]
Mistletoe however is HIGHLY poisonous.[/QUOTE]

@Field of Dreams Mini Horses;7869347

Especially the berries. That’s why you never find mistletoe in the stores with real berries.

Really! I had no idea, thank you! I normally grab some from my parents’ farm to decorate the house…I will be extra careful that it is not in a cat-zone…

[red_mares]

Cats & poinsettias have peacefully coexisted in multiple households in my family for 40 years that I know of.

After 6 months, my mother is toxic to poinsettias; she’ll water them with saltwater (they won’t die otherwise)

[shiningwizard255]

[QUOTE=red mares;7869489]
Cats & poinsettias have peacefully coexisted in multiple households in my family for 40 years that I know of.

After 6 months, my mother is toxic to poinsettias; she’ll water them with saltwater (they won’t die otherwise)[/QUOTE]

I don’t know if you live in an area with frost and bad winters but if you do, plant them outside in the spring/summer and they turn into real pretty, lush green bushes (no flowers, though, at least none of ours ever did). You get to enjoy them a little longer (bonus if it rains where you are and you don’t have to water as often), and then let nature kill them for you whenever winter rolls around

[Kat_Renee]

We do not keep them in the house (or any plant for that matter) due to my vicious, plant-eating kitty. No plant is safe from his teeth :no:.

However, with my childhood cat, we had all sorts of plants around the house that I only recently discovered were poisonous for cats. My mom can keep those types of plants with their current two kitties with no issues.

[Riverotter]

I have many cats and I bring home 3 or 4 poinsettias a year.
The cats have always been fine, none of the poinsettias have lived through the experience.

One year, a cat decided to systematically destroy one and carefully bit off every leaf, dropped it to the floor, and then broke each stem into 3 pieces. Exactly three. What brought on this dedicated bout of poinsettia destruction I will never know, but the cat was totally fine.

[jenm]

[QUOTE=shiningwizard255;7869680]
I don’t know if you live in an area with frost and bad winters but if you do, plant them outside in the spring/summer and they turn into real pretty, lush green bushes (no flowers, though, at least none of ours ever did). You get to enjoy them a little longer (bonus if it rains where you are and you don’t have to water as often), and then let nature kill them for you whenever winter rolls around :p[/QUOTE]

You can get them to flower again but it’s somewhat labor intensive because it involves moving them inside to a dark place for 13-16 hours each day. It does work!

I’ve never had an issue with my cats being attracted to Poinsettias.