Calla Lily and Cats: Toxic, but Not Like True Lilies

Yes. The ASPCA lists calla lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica) as toxic to cats and dogs. The plant contains insoluble calcium oxalate crystals, and chewing it causes intense burning and irritation of the mouth, tongue and lips, heavy drooling, vomiting and difficulty swallowing (ASPCA).

What calla lily is not linked to is the kidney failure that makes true lilies so dangerous for cats. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) groups calla lilies with peace lilies: both cause irritation of the mouth and throat from calcium oxalate crystals, and the FDA says those signs usually resolve on their own. Neither the ASPCA nor the Pet Poison Helpline lists kidney damage for calla.

That difference changes how urgent the call is, but not whether to make it. Call your vet or a pet poison line whenever a cat has chewed any plant sold as a lily, because the first question is which lily it was.

The crystals act where they touch, so the signs start in the mouth. The Pet Poison Helpline lists drooling, oral pain, pawing at the mouth, vomiting and decreased appetite, and notes that very rarely the upper airway swells enough to make breathing difficult. Wikipedia describes the same effect in people: a burning sensation in the mouth and occasionally vomiting and diarrhoea, from needle-shaped calcium oxalate crystals called raphides, found throughout the aroid family.

What to do:

• Take the rest of the plant away from the cat and keep a leaf or a photo.
• Call your vet, the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center on (888) 426-4435 (a consultation fee may apply) or the Pet Poison Helpline on (855) 764-7661 (an $89 incident fee, per its site).
• Go to a vet immediately if the cat has trouble breathing or swallowing.
• If the bouquet also held true lilies or daylilies, say so on the call; that is a different, time-critical emergency.

Calla lilies are not lilies. Wikipedia places the genus Zantedeschia in the aroid family, Araceae, with eight recognised species native to central and southern Africa, and notes that it is also distinct from the related genera Calla and Arum. Its flower is a single white or yellow spathe wrapped around a yellow, finger-like spadix that carries the true flowers (Wikipedia); NC State describes a large white spathe tapering to a point around a spadix about 3.5 inches long, above heart- to arrow-shaped leaves with wavy edges.

The true lilies that damage cats' kidneys are Lilium and Hemerocallis: Easter, tiger, Asiatic, Oriental, stargazer and wood lilies, and daylilies. The FDA says the entire plant is toxic, including the pollen and even the water in the vase, and that kidney failure can kill a cat in less than three days.

Other plants called lilies, per the FDA:

• Peace lily: mouth and throat irritation, like calla.
• Lily of the valley: affects the heart and can cause life-threatening abnormal rhythms.
• Gloriosa or flame lily: roots and tubers can cause serious multi-organ failure.
• Peruvian lily: mild stomach upset if a large amount is eaten.

For calla lily, the listed effects come from chewing: the crystals have to be released from the plant tissue to irritate the mouth (ASPCA, Wikipedia). None of the sources we opened describes harm from a cat simply smelling a calla.

True lilies are different, because the FDA lists the pollen as toxic. If a cat has sniffed a Lilium or Hemerocallis flower and has pollen on its nose, face or fur, it can swallow that pollen while grooming; treat it as an exposure and call your vet straight away rather than waiting for signs. The FDA's timeline shows why: early signs such as vomiting, drooling and low activity start 0 to 12 hours after ingestion, kidney damage signs at 12 to 24 hours, and kidney failure within 24 to 72 hours; if treatment is delayed by 18 hours or more, the damage is generally irreversible.

Not true lilies. The FDA's advice is simply not to bring Lilium or Hemerocallis lilies into a home with cats, including cut flowers.

Calla lilies are less dangerous but still on the ASPCA toxic list, so keep them where a cat cannot reach or chew them, and check mixed bouquets, which often combine several kinds of flower. If you want flowers that are safe to leave out, see our list of non-toxic flowers for cats and house plants safe for cats.

Moderately, and mostly as an irritant. NC State rates calla lily's poison severity for people as medium, lists every part as poisonous (flowers, leaves, roots, sap and stems), and adds that the sap can cause contact dermatitis. For cats, the FDA says the mouth and throat irritation usually resolves by itself, and the Pet Poison Helpline notes that airway swelling is very rare.

For a person, especially a child, who has chewed calla lily, call Poison Control on 1-800-222-1222 (free and confidential, per poison.org) or a doctor. Wear gloves if the sap irritates your skin.

Look at the flower. A calla has one funnel-shaped spathe around a single yellow spike (Wikipedia, NC State). If what you see is not that single wrapped spathe, do not assume it is a calla. Colour is no help either: Wikipedia notes the spathe can be white or yellow, so a yellow flower is not automatically something else.

If you cannot tell, photograph the flower from the front and one leaf, and check it in PlantLens. If your cat may already have touched or chewed it, call the vet first and identify the plant afterwards. Our page on true lilies and cats covers the kidney risk in detail.

Research and drafting for this page were done with the help of AI, and every figure was then checked line by line against the sources listed at the end of the page. Sources were opened on 2026-09-25. Where sources disagree, we give each figure with its source rather than picking one. If you find a mistake, tell us and we will correct it.