Is a peace lily toxic to cats and dogs?
Spathiphyllum wallisii · Aroid family
Toxic to cats and dogs
Not a true lily, no kidney danger, but chewing releases calcium oxalate crystals: mouth irritation, drooling and vomiting. Offer water and call your vet if symptoms persist.
Source: ASPCA Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants.
Peace lilies are toxic to cats and dogs, and the most useful thing to know is what kind of toxic. A peace lily is a Spathiphyllum, not a Lilium, so it does not carry the kidney risk that makes true lilies a genuine emergency for cats. It is an aroid, like monstera and pothos, and it causes the same painful mouth irritation.
What to look for
- Drooling and pawing at the mouth soon after chewing
- Swelling of the lips, tongue or throat
- Vomiting or a refusal to eat
- Chewed leaf edges or a knocked-over pot
If your pet has chewed it
Offer water to rinse the mouth and call your vet if symptoms persist or swelling looks significant, and immediately if breathing or swallowing is affected. If you are not certain which kind of lily you have, do not spend time deciding: describe it to your vet and let them tell you which risk you are dealing with.
Can you keep it anyway?
This is a reasonable plant to keep in a pet household with a bit of care, since the reaction is self-limiting and most animals do not go back for a second bite. Peace lilies droop dramatically when thirsty, which tempts people to put them somewhere visible, and visible often means reachable. Somewhere you can see it and the cat cannot get to it is the compromise.
How to care for peace lily
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 5 days, less in winter
- Light
- Medium light
- Humidity
- 50% to 70%
- Temperature
- 18C to 27C
- Soil pH
- 5.5 to 6.5
- Family
- Aroid family
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 a peace lily as dangerous as a real lily?
No, and the gap is enormous. True lilies, the Lilium and Hemerocallis genera, cause acute kidney failure in cats from a tiny exposure, including pollen. A peace lily is a Spathiphyllum and causes local mouth irritation. Both are worth avoiding around a determined chewer, but only one is a same-day emergency.
What about calla lilies?
Also not a true lily. Calla lilies are Zantedeschia, another aroid, and they behave like the peace lily: oxalate crystals and mouth irritation rather than kidney damage.
My cat bit a peace lily leaf. What now?
Offer water, watch the mouth for swelling, and call your vet if the drooling does not settle or your cat will not eat. Go straight in if the swelling looks like it is affecting breathing or swallowing.
Does Kounts Care tell the two apart?
Yes, and that is the point of identifying by species rather than by common name. A peace lily is recorded as Spathiphyllum wallisii with a moderate warning, and a true lily as Lilium with a severe one that takes over the screen.