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You might find this question hard to answer if you have a cat and love monstera plants.
There is bad news: the answer is yes. All monstera species (and most aroids, in fact) are toxic to dogs, cats, and humans.
But how dangerous are monstera plants for cats? Can your cat and your monstera plant live together? You’d love to have both.
This piece will talk about what makes monsteras dangerous for cats and what you can do to keep your cat away from your monstera. That way, you can enjoy both your cat friend and your monstera plant without hurting either of them. Cats and flowers can live together without any problems!
One good thing is that monstera trees usually don’t hurt cats, dogs, or people.
If your cat eats some of your monstera, it might irritate their mouth, throat, and stomach walls, which could make them vomit and drool. But unless they eat a lot of the plant, their life won’t be in danger. This doesn’t happen very often, though, because the soreness will start almost as soon as your cat bites into your monstera, making it less likely to eat it again.
When eaten, why are monstera weeds such a problem?
CaCO3 crystals, which can be found in almost every part of the monstera plant, hold the answer.
These very small pieces are made up of oxalate and calcium. They are very sharp and pointy, like a bunch of needles. They can irritate the mouth, throat, and digestive system by making tiny cuts in the tissue there, or they can get stuck in those tissues. It’s also good to wear gloves when you cut your monstera because these crystals can be rough on your skin.
Crystals on the monstera plant are good for it because they keep animals from eating it.
Fruit, which is safe to eat when it’s ready, is the only part of the plant that should be eaten. This lets the plant’s seeds spread to more places through animals and their gut systems.
There are calcium oxalate crystals in most parts of your monstera, like the stems, leaves, roots, and even the unripe fruit, because they are found where the sap runs.
To sum up, your cat should stay away from monstera plants because all parts of the plant are poisonous.
If your cat has eaten a piece of your monstera plant, the first thing you’ll probably notice is that it will be pawing at its mouth or face.
The mouth, lips, or tongue may also swell up.
In the worst cases, your cat’s throat could also get swollen, which would make it hard for it to breathe. (If this happens, take them to the doctor right away.)
Too much drooling, vomiting, and loss of hunger are also red flags.
Most of the time, no.
While some parts of a monstera plant can kill cats, it takes a very large amount to kill them.
If your cat has a lot of calcium oxalate crystals in its body, they might hurt its kidneys. But this doesn’t happen very often because the crystals irritate the body right away, which keeps animals from eating more of the plant.
Still, you should take your cat to the vet right away if it eats any part of your monstera plant.
If you think your cat ate any part of your monstera plant and you see signs of soreness or poisoning, call your vet right away at 1-888-426-4436 or Animal Poison Control.
You should also wash your cat’s mouth, eyes, paws, and any other part of its body that got monstera sap on it with clean water. Also, make sure your cat drinks lots of water. This will help clean out as many of the crystals as possible from its digestive system.
How can you make sure that your soft friends don’t eat your monstera plant?
Keeping them away from the plant, distracting them, and using repellents are all things that work best together.
These tips will help you keep your cat and monstera safe and happy.
Your cat might not be as interested in your monstera plant if you use deterrents on it. It’s possible that they work by making your monstera smell bad to your cat but fine to you, or by teaching your cat that your plant means bad things.
A simple, safe, and effective way to teach cats to stay away from certain things or habits is to spray them with water from a squirt bottle.
If you see your cat going too close to your monstera plant, quickly spray them with water. They will start to avoid the area with the plant and water if you do this over and over again.
This idea can be used in other ways. Because your cat might be scared of the vacuum, you could park it near the monstera plant or stack cans that are easy for your cat to knock over if it gets too close. These steps may make the plant less appealing to your cat over time, even after you take away the barrier.
Citrus fruits smell bad to cats, so put some orange, lemon, lime, or grapefruit peels in the soil or put some citrus essential oil on the pot’s edge.
You could also spray the plant with water that has some lemon juice in it. You can also use vinegar and citronella to keep your cat from damaging your plant, but you might not like the way it smells!
Cats will also stay away from red pepper and mustard. To keep your cat away from the plant, mix a few spoonfuls into water and spray it around.
You can also put rosemary plants in pots near your monstera. Cats don’t like the smell, and it can also be used in cooking!
Nature’s Miracle also makes a great spray that will keep your cat away from plants if nothing else works. Just don’t put it directly on the plant.
Cats won’t be able to dig up your monstera if you put something on top of the dirt that they don’t like to walk on.
Among other things, you can cover the dirt with rocks, bark, or pine cones. Not only will they make it harder to dig, but cats don’t like the way these things feel on their paws, so they probably won’t go near the soil at all.
Monsteras are beautiful flowers, but our furry family members don’t always get along with them.
But it can be done!
These ideas will help you keep your cat away from your monstera. Also, don’t give up if one plan doesn’t work! Try one more. Using more than one method can also work, so give your cat lots of love and fun things to play with, keep the litter box clean, and put things on your plant that will scare them away.
There are many other beautiful flowers that cats will not harm if you can’t get the monstera to work or just don’t want to deal with it in a home where cats are welcome.
