Is baby's tears safe for cats and dogs?
Soleirolia soleirolii
Non-toxic to cats and dogs
Soleirolia soleirolii is confirmed by species. It is sold as terrarium filler, which puts it within reach of everything in the house, and it needs no warning there.
Source: ASPCA Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants.
Baby's tears is Soleirolia soleirolii, and it appears on the ASPCA's non-toxic list for cats and dogs. That matters more here than on most of these pages, because this is a plant that lives at nose height for a dog. It is sold as terrarium filler and as a green mat under taller plants, so a mouthful is a realistic event rather than a theoretical one, and a mouthful is no poisoning risk. The catch is care. It is the thirstiest plant in this group by a wide margin and it flattens the moment it dries.
Worth knowing anyway
Non-toxic covers poison, not quantity. A dog that grazes a whole tray of tiny leaves can be sick from the amount, and if that continues, or the animal is off its food, ring your vet or an animal poison line. Worth checking here is the container rather than the plant. Baby's tears is usually sold planted with something else, in a terrarium or a mixed bowl, and everything else in that glass has to be checked on its own name.
Living with one
It goes at ground level, under a taller plant or across the floor of a terrarium, and it is one of the few things you can put there without thinking about the dog. The catalogue schedules water around every four days and asks for 60% to 80% humidity, so a closed case suits it and an open windowsill in a heated room does not. Miss a watering and it collapses overnight. It usually recovers if you catch it the same day.
How to care for baby's tears
The starting schedule and conditions Kounts Care sets up for this species. Watering adapts from there based on the daylight where you live.
- Water
- About every 4 days, less in winter
- Light
- Medium light
- Humidity
- 60% to 80%
- Temperature
- 15C to 24C
- Soil pH
- 5.5 to 6.5
Let the app remember this for you
Kounts Care holds your plants and your pets in one household, so it checks every new plant against the cats and dogs you actually own, names them in the warning, and runs the check again over your existing plants the day a new animal arrives. Toxicity warnings are free at every tier.
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Questions people actually ask
Is mind your own business the same as baby's tears?
Same plant, different name. Soleirolia soleirolii is sold as baby's tears, angel's tears and mind your own business, and all three names point at the entry the ASPCA records as non-toxic for cats and dogs. The one to keep apart from it is creeping fig, Ficus pumila, which is used for the same low green cover and is on the ASPCA toxic list with mild effects.
Why did my baby's tears go brown and crispy in a week?
It dried out. The catalogue schedules this one around every four days and wants 60% to 80% humidity at 15C to 24C, and a centrally heated room strips that within days. Brown patches usually start where the mat is thinnest and the compost dries first. Cut the dead area out, water it, and raise the humidity rather than moving it into stronger light.
What else can I put in a terrarium with a cat in the house?
Nerve plant and string of turtles are both on the ASPCA non-toxic list, and the nerve plant wants the same 60% to 80% humidity, so it pairs with baby's tears without a compromise. Button fern is another non-toxic option. Two common terrarium ferns are not covered by the ASPCA list at all, the maidenhair and the crocodile fern, which makes them unconfirmed rather than safe.
Can I show a vet what my dog had access to?
Yes. Every plant on the household profile is stored with its care history, and that history can be exported for a vet, which is more use than trying to remember what was on the floor. If something has been eaten and you are worried, call your vet or an animal poison line first and send the record afterwards.