Is string of pearls toxic to cats and dogs?
Senecio rowleyanus · Succulents
Toxic to cats and dogs
Eating the beads can cause vomiting, diarrhea and lethargy, and the sap irritates skin. Call your vet if eaten.
Source: ASPCA Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants.
Yes. String of pearls, Senecio rowleyanus, is on the ASPCA toxic list for cats and dogs. The bigger issue is design: it is a hanging plant made of small round dangling beads, which is functionally a cat toy that happens to be poisonous. The sap also irritates skin, including yours.
What to look for
- Vomiting and diarrhoea after eating the beads
- Lethargy and reduced appetite
- Drooling
- Red or irritated skin where the sap made contact
If your pet has chewed it
Call your vet if your pet has eaten any of the beads, since this one causes gastrointestinal upset rather than just mouth irritation. Wash your own hands after handling or propagating it, and rinse any skin the sap touched.
Can you keep it anyway?
Hanging it higher rarely helps, because cats work out how to reach hanging things. In a cat household this is a plant for a room with a closed door, or one to skip. String of bananas and string of dolphins are close relatives and carry the same listing at the milder end.
How to care for string of pearls
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 12 days, less in winter
- Light
- Bright, indirect
- Humidity
- 30% to 50%
- Temperature
- 15C to 26C
- Soil pH
- 6 to 7.5
- 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.
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Questions people actually ask
Is string of hearts the same?
No, and this is a case where the names mislead. String of hearts, Ceropegia woodii, is a different genus and does not appear on the ASPCA toxic list, though it is also not on their non-toxic list, so the catalogue records it as unlisted rather than confirmed safe. String of turtles, a peperomia, is on the non-toxic list.
What is a safe trailing plant for a cat home?
Spider plants, string of turtles, hoyas and Boston ferns all appear as non-toxic on the ASPCA list and all trail well from a shelf.
My cat batted the strands and a few beads came off. Should I call?
If any were eaten, yes. If it was only batting and nothing was swallowed, watch for vomiting and move the plant. Either way it will keep happening, so relocation is the actual fix.
Does the app treat trailing plants differently?
It treats them by species like everything else, but the warning names your specific pets, which is what makes people act on it. Seeing your cat's name next to a plant reads differently from a generic label.