Is a jade plant toxic to cats and dogs?
Crassula ovata · Succulents
Toxic to cats and dogs
Can cause vomiting, lethargy and wobbliness if eaten. Call your vet if your pet seems off after chewing it.
Source: ASPCA Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants.
Yes. The jade plant, Crassula ovata, sometimes sold as a money plant or lucky plant, is on the ASPCA toxic list for cats and dogs. What makes it slightly unusual among the succulents is that the reported reaction includes lethargy and incoordination as well as vomiting, and the exact compound responsible is not well characterised.
What to look for
- Vomiting, sometimes hours after chewing
- Lethargy and a lack of interest in anything
- Wobbliness or an unsteady walk
- A slowed heart rate in more serious cases, which only a vet can assess
If your pet has chewed it
Call your vet if your pet has chewed a jade plant, particularly if it seems wobbly or unusually flat afterwards. Neurological signs are a different category from a bit of mouth irritation, and they are worth a professional look rather than a wait and see.
Can you keep it anyway?
Jade plants are small, sit on windowsills and drop their fleshy leaves when knocked, which is how most pets end up with one in their mouth. Keeping it away from a cat's jumping route matters more than height, and sweeping up dropped leaves is the part people forget.
How to care for jade plant
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 14 days, less in winter
- Light
- Full sun
- Humidity
- 30% to 50%
- Temperature
- 12C to 27C
- Soil pH
- 6 to 7
- Family
- Succulents
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.
In review with Apple · iPhone, iOS 26 · Five profiles free when it lands
Questions people actually ask
Which money plant is this?
Money plant is one of those names attached to several unrelated species. Crassula ovata, the jade, is toxic. So is golden pothos, which is also sold as money plant in some regions. Pachira aquatica, the braided money tree, is on the non-toxic list. Identify by the actual plant rather than the shop label.
My cat looks wobbly after chewing one. Is that expected?
It is reported, and it is exactly the sign that turns this into a vet call rather than a wait. Ring them and describe what you saw and roughly how much was eaten.
Which succulents are safe for cats?
Echeveria, haworthia, burro's tail, Christmas cactus and living stones all appear as non-toxic on the ASPCA list. Jade, kalanchoe, panda plant, string of pearls, pencil cactus and crown of thorns do not.
Does Kounts Care distinguish between similar succulents?
Yes, that is the reason it identifies to species rather than accepting a common name. A photo that comes back as Crassula ovata gets the warning; one that comes back as Echeveria elegans does not.