Many common houseplants and garden plants are toxic to cats, causing welfare harms ranging from mild irritation to life-threatening emergencies.
Toxic plant ingestion causes welfare harms ranging from temporary distress to fatal organ failure in cats. Lily nephrotoxicity is particularly insidious because small exposures to pollen or vase water cause irreversible kidney damage that is not apparent until failure is advanced. The welfare cost of toxic plant exposure is preventable through informed plant selection in households with cats. Cat-proofing the environment is a fundamental welfare responsibility that extends to checking the toxicity of all plants before introducing them to spaces accessible to cats.