Are Bonsai Trees Poisonous To Cats?

If you have a cat, you are probably aware that cats will bite and scratch practically any object they come across, including houseplants.

Some houseplants may be toxic for cats. Therefore, before purchasing any house plant, it is essential to ensure that you are not endangering your pet’s life.

So, if you’ve recently purchased bonsai trees or plan on buying one for your home and are wondering if they’re toxic to cats, keep reading to find out.

Are Bonsai Trees Poisonous To Cats?

Most individuals confuse a bonsai tree with a specific plant specie. However, “bonsai” describes the method used to develop and maintain a plant.

Any plant cultivated within a pot has a wood-like stem and branches that can be considered and used as bonsai plants.

The majority of bonsai trees do not pose any threats to cats. However, some bonsai species, such as a sago palm tree, is considered highly toxic bonsai plant.

A poison named cycasin found in bonsai may seriously harm cats’ livers.

What Happens if a Cat Ingests a Poisonous Bonsai Tree?

A cat could suffer mild to severe symptoms upon ingesting a toxic bonsai tree. The severity of symptoms after your cat eats a bonsai tree depends on its consumption type.

For example, if your pet cat eats juniper bonsai, it may suffer mild symptoms like diarrhea and vomiting.

However, if it consumes a sago palm tree, it may suffer severe and life-threatening side effects like liver failure and seizures.

Here are a few signs to look out for to determine if your pet cat has ingested a bonsai tree:

Signs of Bonsai Tree Poisoning in Cats

• Skin irritation, discoloration, or a rash

• Sudden Lethargy

• Drooling

• Loss of appetite

• Excessive coughing

• Shivering

• Diarrhea

• Dilated pupils

• Severe vomiting

• Excessive urination and water consumption

If you suspect your cat has ingested a bonsai tree or suffered sago palm poisoning, take it to the vet immediately, as waiting even a few minutes can cost your pet its life.

You can also contact the local pet poisoning helpline to get immediate medical attention.

For less severe conditions, the veterinarian may only advise medications like antibiotics and recommend modifying the cat’s feed for several weeks while it heals.

Important note! If your pet cat ate a bonsai tree, deadly or not, and is showing some of the above-mentioned symptoms, calling for help is an absolute must.

Cats can be delicate creatures, and some bonsai plants are extremely toxic; therefore, you must not take chances regarding their health.

How to Treat Cats with Bonsai Poisoning

Before we get into how to treat bonsai poisoning in cats, we cannot emphasize enough the need to take your cat to a vet rather than attempting to treat your cat at home.

A vet will likely pump your pet’s stomach to eliminate the toxic plant from its digestive system.

If you choose to treat your cat at home, it will end in the deterioration of your cat’s health, in worst-case situations, death.

However, while you wait for medical assistance, you can take a few measures to help your pet. Firstly, if your cat is choking on the bonsai tree, give it CPR immediately.

Next, you must immediately check your cat’s mouth for traces of the bonsai tree and rinse its mouth with water.

Before heading to the vet, if you are unsure of the species of the tree your cat has eaten, take pictures of it so the vet can determine the bonsai tree species and offer treatment accordingly.

List of Poisonous Bonsai Trees

If you want to purchase bonsai plants for your home, it is critical to avoid purchasing poisonous trees.

Here is a list of common bonsai trees that are poisonous to cats.

• Sago Palm Bonsai Tree

• Fig Tree

• Cheery Trees

• Plum

• Azalea Plant

• Juniper Bonsai

• Baby Jade

• Fern Palm

• Australian Pine

• Ambrosia Mexicana

These are only some of the bonsai trees poisonous to cats.

Therefore, it is essential to research other poisonous bonsai trees to ensure that the tree you bring into your home is not poisonous to cats.

List of Safe Bonsai Trees

If you like decorating your home with bonsai trees, here is a list of cat-safe bonsai trees you can have around the house without worrying about your cats getting poisoned.

• Parlour Palm

• Bamboo Palm

• Prayer Plant

• Ponytail Palm

• Peperomia Green

How to Keep Cats Away from Bonsai Trees

If you are a bonsai enthusiast and want to keep bonsai plants around the house without the fear of risking your cat’s life, you can take the following measures to enjoy the best of both worlds.

• The best way to keep your cats from scratching and ingesting bonsai trees is to keep them elevated, and out of their reach. You can invest in plat holder stands or use colorful wooden tools to add further appeal to the overall look of your house plants.

  Make sure not to have any other elevated surface, like a sofa, near the plants since cats may jump from the sofa onto the plant stand

• Keep toxic bonsai trees outdoors and non-toxic bonsai trees indoors, and make sure that your cat does not manage to make its way to the outdoor area

• If you are a true bonsai enthusiast, you can dedicate a small portion of your house to bonsai plants and keep that area a no-pet zone. With some creativity, you can also turn a spare room in your home into a sanctuary for your bonsai plants

• Using a shelf to showcase your bonsai plant collection can also add a unique aesthetic appeal to your home and enable you to keep the bonsai plants out of reach from your cats. Cats can still reach the lower shelves, so make sure to place the bonsai plants on the upper shelves to keep the bonsai trees safe from a cat attack

• Treating your cat with items like catnip which it can nibble on throughout the day, can also be an effective strategy to keep it away from your indoor plants. Scratchpads also make a useful purchase if your cat likes scratching your plants

• Pet room dividers are another effective method of keeping your cats away from your bonsai plants.

• You can easily purchase pet room dividers online at a minimal price and place them near the entrance of the area in your home where you have placed all your indoor bonsai plants

• If your cat likes roaming around the neighborhood or visiting the neighbor’s house and they have bonsai trees, do not let it out of your home to ensure it does not come back home with bonsai tree poisoning.

If you cannot stop your cat from roaming outside and your neighbors are friendly with your pet cat, and like letting it into their home, you must communicate to them the species of bonsai trees that are poisonous to cats so they ensure your cat does not nibble on their bonsai plants

Can Bonsai Trees Kill Cats?

Yes, if your cat consumes highly toxic bonsai trees like sago palms, it may die due to poisoning.

Sago palm poisoning sometimes has a tragic outcome because cats only have a 50% survival rate.

On the other hand, most poisonous bonsai trees are not as hazardous as sago palm trees. As a result, your cat’s survival chances are dependent on the toxicity level of the tree that your cat has consumed.

You can save your pet’s life if it ingests a bonsai tree by getting immediate medical attention. A poison known as cycasin is found in sago palm trees. 

If a cat consumes any portion of sago palm trees, the poison enters its liver and produces symptoms.

The cat may experience excessive bleeding, clotting, and neurological issues after the poison affect the liver, which may cause a stroke in severe cases.

Untreated liver illness in cats can increase the risk of death. Your cat’s survival rate will depend on how soon it gets medical attention. 

The liver is an organ involved in digestion.

Therefore, when your cat’s liver is unable to work effectively, it may have trouble absorbing nutrition from food which may worsen its health.

Bottom Line

Now that you know some bonsai trees are poisonous to cats, you can use the measures mentioned above to keep your cat from ingesting these toxic plants.

Get immediate vet assistance if your cat shows common signs of bonsai plant poisoning discussed above.