21 Best Cat Friendly House Plants

There are two things that add to the liveliness of any home: pets and plants. The sad news is that most common houseplants are not safe for cats. Some can be toxic to pets when ingested, sometimes causing tremors, seizures, or worse.

Even the most disciplined animals are prone to take a bite of a houseplant at some point, especially cats. This is why it is important to have cat friendly house plants in your living areas.

In this article, we cover some of the plants you can consider having in your house since they are friendly to pets.

Read also: Do Indoor Plants Purify Air?

1. Spider Plant

A darling of veterinarians, this plant is easy to grow indoors and excellently resilient. They are also excellent air purifiers, so they can aid in getting rid of toxins from your home.

Care Guidelines

Spider plants do not like direct sunlight since it scorches their leaves. Although they will tolerate lower light conditions, indirect bright light in temperatures of 60 to 80 degrees F is where they flourish best.

2. Rattlesnake Plant

The distinctly shaped leaves, colors, and easy watering schedule make the rattlesnake plant an excellent addition to a low-light living room.

Care Guidelines

Rattlesnake plants grow best in a loose, fast-draining soil that you can fertilize monthly. These plants do well when placed away from direct light, in an ideal temperature range of 70 to 80 degrees F. They require watering when the top of the soil feels dry to the touch. Also, they enjoy a spritz if their leaves look dry.

3. Parlor Palm

Stick one on a nightstand or credenza that is not too close to a window since this palm needs only a few hours of indirect light a day.

Care Guidelines

Parlor palms are naturally slow growers that take several years to reach 3 to 4 feet tall. As mentioned earlier, keep this plant out of direct sunlight and keep this soil evenly moist for good results.

4. Calathea Orbifolia

This particular Calathea has an exquisite leaf pattern. It requires a partial shade, which makes it an excellent plant for a plant stand or a shelf in a bedroom that does not receive much natural light.

Care Guidelines

A regular water schedule will ensure your plant remains healthy and hydrated. Keep it in a room with temperatures of between 60 to 80 degrees F. Additionally, it thrives in ample humidity, so consider regular misting or keeping it near a humidifier.

5. Ponytail Palm

Also known as Beaucarnea recurvata, the Ponytail palm has a lot of character your pet might want to befriend it. Or enjoy its draping fronds.

Care Guidelines

Ponytail palms are good for the notoriously plant-phobic. They only need to be fertilized 2 to 3 times a year. They need dry soil, so be keen not to supply them with too much water.

6. Succulents (certain)

Succulents such as Echeveria, Haworthia, or a group of air plants are pet-friendly and a good addition to your countertop.

Care Guidelines

Although this plant has low demands of maintenance, you will need to make sure they receive plenty of direct sunlight and light watering every two or so weeks. Ensure the soil is dry before you whip out the watering can.

7. Bird’s Nest Fern

This squiggly green fern does well in the low light and varying humidity conditions that characterize bathrooms. Your tooth-brushing routine just got so much more interesting.

Care Guidelines

Keep your plant in loose, fast-draining soil and fertilize monthly in the summer and spring. These plants can survive comfortably in temperatures of 60 to 80 degrees F. Thoroughly water it when the soil on top feels dry to the touch.

8. African Violet

If you have open shelves in your kitchen, these flowers would be a great, colorful addition. You only need to be keen on not putting the plant near a drafty floor vent or window. This plant will bloom when exposed to indirect sunlight.

Care Guidelines

This plant thrives in temperatures of 73 to 77 degrees F when they are young, but when the grown temperature of 68 degrees works well for them. They require a moderate amount of watering and regular fertilization.

9. Gloxinia

Locate a sunny window, and these flowers with an origin from Brazil will blossom in bright shades of pink, purple, red, or blue. Maintain the soil moist and feed these blooms liquid plant food once every two weeks for maximum health.

Care Guidelines

Consider putting this plant in temperatures of about 71 to 75 degrees F. Allow them to sit in bright, indirect sunlight, and the seeds should germinate in around three weeks.

10. Boston Fern

The good Boston fern is also on the lower end of the maintenance spectrum since it needs food only every two months. Your kitty can eat at the ferns all he wants, but nothing will happen to it.

Care Guidelines

Keep your Boston fern in a cool place with indirect light and humidity. If you need extra humidity, you can set the fern’s pot in a tray of pebbles filled with water as well as mist its green leaves twice a week.

11. Venus Flytrap

On top of being pet-friendly, the Venus flytrap is also super low-maintenance. Sustain the health of your venus flytrap by putting it where it can get at least four hours of direct sunlight. You can also water it with distilled water. For soil, you can use peat moss or sphagnum moss.

It is a great idea to put this plant on a porch since it can feed itself with passerby flies. It requires only one to two insects per month to sustain itself.

Care Guidelines

Venous flytraps need some form of pure water. Therefore, in addition to distilled, reverse osmosis or rainwater can be used. Also, it is best not to allow your plant to dry out – the soil around its base should be damp to the touch.

12. Watermelon Peperomia

Watermelon Peperomia belongs to the Peperomia family. It prefers to be kept out of direct sunlight and does not need a lot of watering to thrive.

Care Guidelines

Although it will not need much watering, you need to water your peperomia when the top inch or two of the soil is dry to touch. It thrives in temperatures of 65 – 80 degrees F.

13. Polka Dot Plant

This amazing plant grows up to three feet tall outdoors in its native Madagascar. However, your Polka Dot plant can only grow to only around 10 inches tall.

Care Guidelines

As per The Spruce, these exotic plants love bright, indirect light and a moderate amount of moisture in the soil at all times. Maintain temperatures at 70 – 80 degrees F and feed once a month during the growing season

14. Staghorn Fern

The staghorn fern, a native of Australia, has two different types of fronds. The pet-friendly plant can be potted, mounted on a wall, or hung in a basket. The staghorn fern will thrive in any room with bright or indirect light, but never in a dark room. Depending on the weather and humidity, you can water it every one to three weeks (the more humidity, the less you need to water it).

If you put it in a bathroom, you will have to water and mist it only every three weeks.

Care Guidelines

Put your staghorn ferns in loose, fast-draining soil at temperatures of 6- – 80 degrees F.

15. Bromeliad

If you would like to introduce a tropical vibe to your space, search no further than a bright bromeliad. Bromeliads – which have blooms that can last up to a few months – will light up any room you put them in. They require plenty of airflows, so we suggest an open area with windows and indirect sunlight, like a living room, bedroom, or kitchen.

Care Guidelines

Bright, indirect light will ensure your bromeliads will flower to their best ability, as will a thorough watering every 1 to 2 months. If your home

16. Friendship Plant

The friendship plant has intricately patterned leaves that are soft to touch and harmless to your cat. The small plant grows 6 to 12 inches high and can withstand low light as long as it gets a few hours of sunlight each day. Once in a while, the plant will flower with pale pink buds.

Care Guideline

It is recommended to keep your friendship plant in moderate to bright, indirect light at about 65 – 85 degrees F. Water it thoroughly, but give time to the soil to slightly dry out between waterings and keep your plant drier in the winter.

17. Date Palm

Would you like to amaze your guests while still protecting your pets? Search no further than a date palm. Also called a Robellini palm, it is one of the many varieties in the Arecaceae family (including Areca palm, Bamboo palm, and Chinese Fan palm) that can flourish indoors while keeping your cat safe.

Caution

You can keep your date palm in bright, indirect sunlight and be careful not to overwater. Make sure your plant stays on the slightly drier side.

18. Prayer Plant

With its attractive leaves and elegant coloration, it’s bound to make your pet curious about its beauty.

Cautionary

Care will vary based on the type of prayer plant you have. However, they generally prefer bright, indirect sunlight and temperatures of 65 – 85 degrees F. You will need to feed your plant once a month in summer and spring with fertilizer and water when the top 25% of the soil is dry.

19. Herbs

Rosemary, basil, and thyme are excellent kitchen herbs that are totally safe for your pet to snack on. These plants thrive when exposed to direct light; therefore, they leave them hanging out by a window all day long.

Caution

Water them regularly and expect seeds to harvest sometime between 75 and 100 days, depending on the herb.