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Lavender toxic or not?

benjessimbenjessim Posts: 5
in Plants
Hi
I, m in the process of trying to make my garden cat friendly  seen an article posted  on the site   in oct 2019 about growing pet friendly plants .. lavender is included in the post.. yet a search showing lavender on this site shows them to be toxic.. so which is correct ..? Thanks

Posts

  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,580
    The list of plants toxic to cats is a very long one. The list of cats made ill from ingesting such plants is a very short one.

    Cats instinctively know what’s good for them. We have had cats for 60 years and I have never had one that has gone ill from eating plants.
    Rutland, England
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,082
    They do occasionally eat grass and throw up on the floor 🤢🤮
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • benjessimbenjessim Posts: 5
    Hi same with me..  never had problem in years of having cats.. but 2 years back i adopted a street cat from Egypt.. shes like no other cat   i, ve had ... she climbs on and up  every thing,  collects leaves, chews things in the garden... I belong to a group of other adopters and all their cats are the same!  in april this yr she was really ill with possible toxic poisoning  the vet suggested i look at plants in my garden  i just wanted some help as there seems to be so much different advice even on the same web pages i really like lavender and have some  as a lot of pages say its ok and yet as I ve said I've  found different advice on here
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,082
    Street cats can be like that, they’ve had to learn to survive on their own and will hoard and eat anything and everything, I would suggest you keep her in for a while,  feed her well so she knows she’s got another meal coming, you can get tablets from the vet or internet (cheaper) to help her cope with the stress. You can also buy a plug In  pheromones  which could help her.

    learning to understand cat behaviour will help you to help her. 

    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • edhelkaedhelka Posts: 2,350
    I have many toxic plants in my garden and a cat which occasionally chews something (or hunt it when it moves, she doesn't really eat it). Many lavenders and no problem (and she tried them). The worst she tried were daffodils but I am quite sure she would have to eat a lot of it to get sick. I removed some potted small lilies to be on the safe side.
    The problem with the list of toxic plants is that almost everything can be toxic, it all depends on the amount ingested. And the lists never tell you that.
    If your cat climbs everywhere, you won't be able to keep her in your garden anyway. If you are worried, consider a catio.
  • benjessimbenjessim Posts: 5
    she, s been with me 2 years now so well settled just has some strange habits.. she has a pen collection as well😳  the garden has cat fencing around so she can only be in my garden 
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