28 Low Light Indoor Plants Safe for Cats and Dogs

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Are you searching for plants that are safe for your pets? Here is an exclusive list of 28 Low Light Indoor Plants Safe for Cats and Dogs!

Are you a houseplant enthusiast looking forward to having safe plants for pets? We have prepared a list of some non-toxic, Low Light Indoor Plants Safe for Cats and Dogs, approved by ASPCA. Give your interior a touch of green with these houseplants, and stay assured of your pets!

Check out our article on plants that dogs love to eat

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List Of Low Light Indoor Plants

1. Ponytail Palm

Low Light Indoor Plants Safe for Cats and Dogs

Botanical Name: Beaucarnea recurvata

Offering the appearance of a palm tree, the ponytail plant is an ornamental houseplant, which is highly drought-tolerant. It grows slowly and doesn’t need much care. This is a must-have houseplant for most pet lovers.

2. Spider Plant

Spider Plant with white pot on the table

Botanical Name: Chlorophytum comosum

The spider plant is an easy to grow, adaptable plant. It also has an air-purifying ability, helping to remove formaldehyde and xylene from indoor air. So, you must consider growing this non-toxic, low-light plant in your home, especially if you have a cat.

3. Cast Iron Plant

Cast Iron Plant

Botanical Name: Aspidistra elatior

Reaching up to the height of 2-3 feet, the cast iron plant has lush green foliage, which gives it a stunning look. It is a slow grower, surviving in extreme conditions; as a result, making it a popular house plant for busy people.

4. Prayer Plant

Prayer Plant

Botanical Name: Maranta leuconeura

Prayer plant has glossy, dark-green foliage, with red veins on its leaf. It grows up to 10-12 inches and has a horizontal growth habit. It’s safe for your pets if they accidentally bite it.

Discover some of the best prayer plant varieties

5. Zebra Calathea

Zebra Calathea
shutterstock/Omkoi
Botanical Name: Calathea zebrina

Calatheas can brighten up any space with their bicolor-green foliage and silver brushmarks. It grows up to 3 feet in height and is completely safe for your pets.

See more zebra pattern houseplants

6. Boston Fern

Boston Fern

Botanical Name: Nephrolepis exaltata

The beautiful Boston ferns are famous for their stunning foliage. Their dangling fronds also make them great for window boxes or hanging baskets. If you have pets, then don’t worry; it is a non-toxic plant.

7. Fittonia

Low Light Indoor Plants Safe for Cats and Dogs - Fittonia with yellow pot

Botanical Name: Fittonia albivenis

Fittonia is a low-growing creeper with red veins on its leaves. It has bright green leaves with silver linings all across its foliage. It grows up to 10-12 inches tall and is a pet-friendly houseplant.

8. Parlor Palm

Parlor Palm with white pot
shutterstock/goodmoodphoto
Botanical Name: Chamaedorea elegans

Downward arching, green fronds of parlor palm makes it perfect for offices and homes. This tall houseplant has excellent air-purifying capabilities, too, and is safe for cats and dogs!

9. Gloxinia

Gloxinia with white pot

Botanical Name: Sinningia speciosa

With trumpet-shaped flowers of brilliant hues like crimson, violet, and white over its velvety foliage, gloxinia is a must-have indoor plant if you love flowering houseplants. It attains a height of 6-12 inches, and even if you have a curious dog in your home, you can safely keep it.

10. Baby Rubber Plant

Baby Rubber Plant with black pot

Botanical Name: Peperomia obtusifolia

While ficus elastica (the original rubber plant is slightly toxic to pets), this one is not. It does not require much attention, and that’s the reason many houseplant enthusiasts prefer it. Its fleshy stems store water and do not demand frequent watering.

11. Wax Plant

Low Light Indoor Plants Safe for Cats and Dogs - Wax Plant

Botanical Name: Hoya carnosa

Usually grown in pots and hanging baskets, the wax plant is a very common houseplant with waxy foliage. Also, you guessed right: it is safe for your pets.

12. Peacock Plant

Peacock Plant

Botanical Name: Calathea makoyana

With eye-catching glossy foliage accompanied by dark-green blotches along the veins, it resembles peacock’s feathers, hence the name. Like the prayer plant, it is also non-toxic for cats and dogs.

13. Moth Orchid

Low Light Indoor Plants Safe for Cats and Dogs - Moth Orchid

Botanical Name: Phalaenopsis

Long-lasting and fragrant flowers of moth orchid will elevate your mood with its outstanding aroma. It is typically a foot tall and pet-friendly.

14. Staghorn Fern

Staghorn Fern

Botanical Name: Platycerium

Belonging to the polypod family, staghorn fern has unique fronds. Its flat leaves overlap over each other to offer stability to its ferns. Also, this plant is completely safe for your pets.

15. Bromeliads

Bromeliads

Botanical Name: Bromeliaceae

Bromeliads will provide an exotic touch to the interior of your home with their showy red and yellow flowers over contrasting green foliage.

16. Zebra Plant

Zebra Plant
publiclandstore
Botanical Name: Aphelandra squarrosa

With stripes of green and cream colors over its waxy foliage, it resembles the ones on a zebra, hence the name. Rarely exceeding the height of 12-inches, it is a beautiful, pet-friendly indoor plant!

17. Burro’s Tail

Burro's Tail

Botanical Name: Sedum morganianum

With fleshy blue-green fat leaves and dangling stems, this succulent looks very special. And the best thing about this is–it’s safe for cats and dogs, both.

18. Pearl Plant

Pearl Plant
shutterstock/martanogueira
Botanical Name: Tulista pumila

This hardy, succulent plant, with pearl-like tubercles over its fleshy, blue-green leaves, looks stunning in any succulent collection. Like other plants on this list, it is safe for cats and dogs.

19. African Violet

African Violet
shutterstock/MintImages
Botanical Name: Saintpaulia

A striking option for pet owners, the African Violet is a great addition to your home. Always ensure it is not near a drafty window or vent.

Check out our article on growing African Violets indoors

20. Polka Dot

Low Light Indoor Plants Safe for Cats and Dogs - Polka Dot
plantzss
Botanical Name: Hypoestes phyllostachya

When kept indoors, it grows up to a foot tall and makes a great addition to your indoor garden and for your pets. Keep it near an east-facing window for best growth.

21. Watermelon Peperomia

Watermelon Peperomia
bybrittanygoldwyn
Botanical Name: Peperomia argyreia

This plant gets the most love for its beautiful watermelon-like foliage. It is safe around pets and can be kept out of direct sunlight.

Here’s all you need to know about growing Watermelon Peperomia

22. Pilea Silver Sparkle

Low Light Indoor Plants Safe for Cats and Dogs - Pilea Silver Sparkle
green_lives2020
Botanical Name: Pilea Glauca

In addition to being a pet-friendly plant, this is also a good choice for those who are just starting to grow indoor plants. Choose a location near a window with filtered light and always keep the soil moist so it can thrive.

23. Friendship Plant

Friendship Plant

Botanical Name: Pilea involucrata

The Friendship plant is adorned with intricately patterned leaves that are soft to touch and completely harmless to your pets.

24. Areca Palm

Areca Palm
Shutterstock/Pixel-Shot
Botanical Name: Dypsis lutescens

Want to impress your guests while also keeping your pets safe? Then, Areca Palm is the way to go! Also known as a butterfly palm, it grows up to 4-6 feet tall with big and beautiful fronds.

25. Haworthia

Haworthia
shutterstock/nadianb
Botanical Name: Haworthia

If you are looking for a safer substitute than the Aloe Vera plant, the Hawthoria is your best best. Very similar to a succulent, all varieties in this genus are safe for cats and dogs. Plus, they are low-maintenance and require some indirect light.

26. Swedish Ivy

Low Light Indoor Plants Safe for Cats and Dogs - Swedish Ivy
villaarmoniaplants
Botanical Name: Plectranthus verticillatus

It is considered a low-maintenance houseplant with distinctive & dainty green leaves and can make your home smell aromatic due to its small lilac flowers. Completely safe for animals, this plant is best grown when kept in a hanging planter.

27. Purple Passion

Purple Passion
celestaac_
Botanical Name: Gynura aurantiaca

This beautiful houseplant is completely safe for your cats and dogs. The Purple Velvet is gorgeous and has purple speckles dusted all over each leaf. These plants are huge fans of diffused bright light and moist soil.

28. Chinese Money Plant

Chinese Money PlantBotanical Name: Pilea peperomioides

If you’re looking for a houseplant that won’t cause any harm even after nibbling, this is it. It’s also low-maintenance and known to bring good luck.


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26 COMMENTS

  1. Lucky bamboo is INCREDIBLY TOXIC TO CATS!! this information is incredibly harmful, please remove this plant from your list! YOU COULD KILL SOMEONE’S PET!

  2. When did you get your erroneous information about lucky bamboo? REMOVE THIS PLANT FROM YOUR LIST IMMEDIATELY! It is NOT cat safe.

  3. Lovely plants
    Kindly note that I am living in kanyakumari
    Please let me know how I can get these plants
    With regards
    Solomon

  4. @Chris / whoever else

    Bamboo and Lucky Bamboo aren’t the same thing. Lucky Bamboo, or Dracaena Sanderiana, is moderately toxic to pets whereas normal bamboo isn’t.

    Fortunately it looks like it was removed from the list

    • My cat loves plants he can bat around. Then he eats them. He’s been eating my spider plant for years. He does throw it up. I can’t watch him all the time to chastise him for gnawing on my pretty plant. I like having all the free spider plants in the house (they grow all over the yard). They are definitely non toxic or I would have never put them in the house.

  5. my cat loves to eat the spider plant – after reading up on it I found it has a mild hallucinogenic effect like catnip. Not toxic, though.

  6. Lol not only are not all of these plants safe for cats at the comments demonstrate but most of them also do poorly in low light. This is an awful list.

    • That’s what I was thinking about some of them too. My Chinese money plant can’t get enough light and it sits in a south facing window in Ohio.

  7. Please use the ASPCA list. Many plants can be mild to moderately harmful and end up on a random list. Always use the ASPCA list.

  8. Ah, I see another already suggested the same.
    So many plants have similar names, I like to double check the scientific name.
    For example, Money Plant and Chinese Money Plant are not the same at all.
    So, just better to be safe than sorry.

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