Question
We have two new kittens who have taken quite an interest in our large Peace Palm.  Are these plants poisonous to cats if they should lick, or even chew the leaves?

Answer
Hi Sharon,
  Several palms are listed as poisonous but regardless if a plant is considered poisonous or not any plant can cause illness or even death in animals, especially young animals like kittens, if chewed or ingested.

Chewing your houseplants is a behavior that you are going to want to teach your kittens not to do anyway.
I have 100 + houseplants and 3 cats myself. One thing that I have found to help is to grow a pot of cat grass that the cats are allowed to nibble on. You can find cat grass seeds in most pet stores and a bag of them usually runs for about $2. I also grow the cat grass in the same pot that is very different from the pots my houseplants are in. My cats know that is 'their' pot and watch it carefully for the new sprouts to come up when I start a new pot of grass (cat grass grows VERY quickly).
Another thing some people do is make the plants taste bad with things like bitter apple spray and Tabasco sauce. I have found these things to have limited effectiveness on the cats (had a cat once who went after the plants just to lick off the Tabasco sauce) and it is not good for the plants. However putting fresh orange or lemon peels on top of the soil is a good way to keep cats from digging in the potting soil.

While there is no definite tell tail signs that a plant is poisonous, there are a few standard signs that can help you identify potentially poisonous plants.
The signs for possible poisonous plants are:

Milky Sap
Naturally shiny leaves
Plants that have yellow or white berries
Umbrella shaped plants

Here is a list of some common houseplants that are listed as poisonous;

Amaryllis
Balsam Fir
Calla lily
Caladium
Century plant
Chinaberry
Coffee plant
Dumb cane
Elephant抯 ear
Ficus or weeping fig
Plumeria
Ivy (all kinds)
Lily
Philodendron
Rubber plant
Snake plant
String of beads
Umbrella plant

**(Spider plants are one of those plants that some websites and other botanical sources say are poisonous while others say they are not poisonous)

I hope this helps. If you have any questions or need additional information please don't hesitate to ask.
     Thanks
       Tracy