Flowers for cat lovers—finally some cat-safe choices
Do you have a cat-loving friend, mother, or sweetheart who would delight in some cat-safe flowers?
Many flowers are poisonous to cats. Lilies, for example, are deadly. Nevertheless, some indoor cats think that any fresh plant that’s worth looking at must be worth biting.
We almost gave up on having flowers in our home until I did some research. I’ve triple-checked the ASPCA plant safety database to find some truly cat-safe flowers.
Tip: Make sure the florist doesn’t add other species into your bouquet–except for most ferns, as they are safe.
Snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus) are considered safe
Snapdragons make a great cat-safe bouquet.
I haven’t found any major online florist who delivers a simple snapdragon bouquet. However, just ask your florist if they can create one for you.
I also see these at the farmer’s market a lot and of course these are grow-able in your backyard to cut too.
Roses (the Rosa species) are safe
The Rosa species is considered safe for cats. How nice! (De-thorned options are safest–most upscale florists de-thorn roses before arranging them.)
1-800-Flowers.com may be a good delivery source – they have the Veriflora certification, the industry’s gold standard certification for supporting sustainable growing.
Sunflowers (helianthus angustifolius) are safe
The bright, happy sunflower is cat-friendly.
Unfettered sunflower bouquets are almost always available at Farmer’s Markets. For an online delivery source, it was hard to find a simple bouquet (with nothing added). I finally found these lovely ones mixed with roses at JustFlowers.com.
Gerbers (Gerbera jamesonii) are safe
These charming cat-safe flowers are usually called Gerber Daisies, but please keep in mind that other daisies (real daisies) are not safe for cats. Be careful to only buy Gerber daisies––and watch out for any kind of foliage or flower that may be mixed in with the Gerbers. (For example “bear grass” IS toxic to cats.
Zinnias (the Zinnia species) are considered safe
I can’t find anyone who delivers Zinnias nationally, but ask your local florist for them.
We have also been able to grow them in our yard (in coastal Northern California) and you may find them at Farmer’s markets.
Now, two more ideas for you…
Cat behavior tips
- I found a cheap trick to keep most vases from tipping as they are attacked! Here’s my post about it.
- A cat behaviorist tip is to use Sticky Paws around flower vases. Most cats don’t like the sticky feeling on their paws and won’t step on it. You can apply these double-sided sticky sheets to cover the cat-reach area around a vase. In my experience, Sticky Paws removes easily without damaging anything.
A DIY cat-friendly herb bouquet
Try picking your own little herbal bouquet of oregano, lavender, sage, and/or rosemary.
Though a full meal of these herbs could cause feline stomach upset, oregano, lavender, sage, and rosemary are considered safe in small amounts according to the ASPCA site.
I realize that herbs are a bit confusing for cat owners because the extracted essential oils are bad for cat’s livers, but small nibbles of the above herbs themselves are considered safe.
I purchased a vintage wall pocket which has done the trick. Cats can’t get anywhere near it.
My husband is being releases from jail next week and i want to make it sexy without killing our baby kitty. He is the son we never had, any ideas. What kind of peddles can I use without getting Rozee sick?
Are cut tulips in a vase ok?
Thanks so much for your research! I have been hiding my flowers from my cat for years because she tries to eat them. Now I know which are safe:)
thanks for the info, my Lilly is 6 months old and eats anything she can find, I’m glad to know about the ones that she can eat!
Pepper is a suggestion I may try to keep my plant- eating cat away. She nibbles anything I’ve tried to have in the house. Knocking over a vase or container is not a problem…..just the eating. Thanks fir the suggestion.
How about some of those great IMITATION flowers from the Dollar Stores????
You could fool me with many of them and they would be safe for our cats.
I have a very nosy “Tortie” who will get into everything and anything—-
Thanks for the info. It’s nice to have a list of what is cat safe.
I have a tip that stopped Chance my Maybe Coon from eating my indoor plants.
I spray the leaves with water and then sprinkle the leaves lightly with Cayenne pepper. He takes one sniff and leaves the plants alone. He seems to generalize from one plant to many.
I hope this is helpful for people who live both plants and cats.
Oh and I loved your blogs on cat food. Thanks!
Love & grateful for your info!! , I’ve been searching for ages all the sites that say ” plants / flowers poisonous to cats” , I finally stumbled upon your site :)) instead of sifening through all that info , it’s great to finally know the nitty gritty, so to speak . I have 3 beautiful bengals and they love to check out my shopping bags & anything new that comes in my house so a BIG THANKYOU !!! to you . I can now finally have flowers too , & know my cats are all safe :)))
Thanks for this! After a near disastrous (and cripplingly expensive) mistake with a funeral bouquet I received I have banned all plants from my home. Nice to be sure of some safe options -and two if my favorites, roses and snapdragons, are safe. Yeah!
It seems like every houseplant put in the funeral baskets are highly toxic to cats. We had to give every one away after my mom passed. Last thing dad needed was his cats to get ill after losing mom. You’d think florists would get that.
Wow! This is a relief. I was buying some flowers to plant in pots and put around my home, when I realized they my not be safe for a feisty little trouble maker. I’m glad I got snapdragons and I made a lucky guess.
Hi Liz,
Love the Sunflowers and Roses bouquet 🙂
Luckily, we have a florist right down the street that has a big walk-in refrigerated area in the back of the shop. We get to go in there and hand-pick each flower to put together a customized bouquet. A bit pricey but worth it. Real nice setup.
DH likes to bring home a bouquet every now and then. But we have a little rascal that eats all the flower petals within a few hours. She really goes to town. She likes to nibble on plants too. Can’t blame her at all.
I even tried keeping the flowers up on the fridge but she gets up there too. She’s a jumper. She’s hilarious.
Anyhow, convenient list of edible flowers. I’ll remember the list next time I visit the florist.
Thanx,
=^-^= Hairless Cat Girl =^-^=
Thanks a lot for this information! I used it when buying flowers and your list is much more approachable than the huge one the ASPCA provides.
Max, you are most welcome. I’m so glad the flower list with the photos is helpful…I figured it might be since I needed it myself!
Thanks for posting this. I have stopped buying flowers and plants because of fear of my cats eating something that might be harmful. My cat George especially likes Tulips. Once a dinner guest brought a bunch of tulips. The next morning I awoke to a vase full of stems–no petals left at all!
Delighted to be of cat-service, Deborah.
Your cat was lucky to fair that episode well because tulips are toxic! But most toxicity is in bulb, so that may explain why: “Vomiting, depression, diarrhea, hypersalivation.” Yeah, I know, no one tells me these things either!
The cat cards you make are very cool!
This is handy info to know, thanks for doing the research.
We had to give up on flowers because Nahum loves to eat them up. He gets so fixated there is no where we can put them that he won’t get to.
What a rascal that Nahum is! I know the type. I do think a great thing will be accomplished when I can find a flower vase that is un-tippable.