Is philodendron toxic to cats and dogs?
Philodendron hederaceum · Aroid family
Toxic to cats and dogs
Chewing releases insoluble calcium oxalate crystals: mouth pain, drooling and swelling of the lips and tongue. Offer water and call your vet if symptoms persist.
Source: ASPCA Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants.
Yes, across the genus. Philodendrons are aroids, and every variety on the shelf, from the common heartleaf to the Brasil, the micans, the Birkin, the xanadu and the expensive pink princess, carries the same insoluble calcium oxalate crystals. Chewing causes immediate mouth pain and swelling rather than systemic poisoning.
What to look for
- Sudden pawing at the mouth and heavy drooling
- Swollen lips and tongue
- Vomiting or difficulty eating
- Bitten leaf edges on the trailing stems
If your pet has chewed it
Rinse the mouth by offering water, then call your vet if drooling or swelling persists, and immediately if breathing or swallowing is affected. Philodendrons trail, so the practical follow-up is trimming back anything that hangs within reach.
Can you keep it anyway?
Buying a rarer philodendron does not change the risk, which is worth knowing before spending serious money on a pink princess for a room your cat lives in. If you keep one, treat it like pothos: train it upward, keep it short, and put it where an animal has no reason to go.
How to care for philodendron
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 7 days, less in winter
- Light
- Medium light
- Humidity
- 40% to 60%
- Temperature
- 16C 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
Are all philodendrons toxic, or just some?
All of them, as far as the ASPCA listing goes. It applies at genus level, so heartleaf, Brasil, micans, Birkin, pink princess, xanadu and tree philodendron all share it. Some are now formally in Thaumatophyllum rather than Philodendron, and that reclassification does not change the chemistry.
Is a philodendron worse than a monstera?
No. They are close relatives with the same mechanism and the same moderate severity. Which one causes more trouble in a given house is mostly about which one is within reach.
My cat keeps chewing the trailing vines. What can I do?
Move it out of reach and cut back the trailers, because a plant that has been chewed once tends to be chewed again. If your cat is a persistent plant chewer, offering cat grass gives it something to do, and it is worth mentioning to a vet, since regular plant chewing can point at something else.
How does Kounts Care handle the variety I own?
The catalogue records each philodendron cultivar separately with its own care intervals, and the ASPCA cross-reference works at genus level, so an unusual philodendron identified from a photo still raises the warning even if the exact cultivar is not stocked.