Is Sago palm toxic to cats?
Cycas revoluta · Cycadaceae
Yes. Can kill a cat.
It attacks the liver, not the kidneys, and both the ASPCA and Pet Poison Helpline name death outright.
For a cat
Can kill
For a person
Can kill
What to watch for
- Vomiting
- Black tarry stools
- Jaundice
- Increased thirst
- Bleeding in the gut
- Bruising
- Clotting failure
- Liver damage
- Liver failure
- Death
Stomach signs generally within a few hours, then liver damage over the following days. Bleeding and clotting problems can appear later still.
The numbers
Around 30 percent
Reported mortality
Bertero et al. 2020, in dogs
One or two seeds may be fatal
How little it takes
Bertero et al. 2020, in dogs
Why, and which parts
Every part, and the seed or nut most of all.
Toxic principle: Cycasin
Cycasin is harmless until the gut converts it. An enzyme there turns it into methylazoxymethanol, which attacks the liver, and the plant therefore does its damage after digestion has begun rather than on contact. The seeds hold the highest concentration by a wide margin. A separate neurotoxic amino acid in the same plant accounts for the stumbling and the seizures, and a third compound has never been identified.
How to recognize it
Not a palm at all but a cycad: a stiff rosette of dark, sharply pointed fronds rising from a squat pineapple-like trunk. Sold as a houseplant and, in warm regions, planted outdoors.
Sold as: Coontie palm, Cardboard palm, Cycad, Zamia. A label on a pot is a trade name, not a botanical one, and the two often disagree.
Plants it gets confused with
Areca palm
Sold on the same shelf, under the same word, and genuinely a palm.
Why it matters: The areca is on the ASPCA's non-toxic list. The sago is not a palm at all, and it kills. If a shop label just says palm, the label has not answered the question.
Coontie and cardboard palm
Other cycads, sold as houseplants, closely related to the sago.
Why it matters: Pet Poison Helpline names both as causing the same life-threatening poisoning. Recognizing the sago is not enough; the whole cycad group belongs in the same bracket.
And for a person?
Dangerous to a person too
Dangerous to people too, children in particular, which sets it apart from most plants on this list.
A plant's danger to a cat says nothing about its danger to you, and the reverse is just as true. This is a separate question with a separate answer.
This is information, not veterinary advice, and it cannot tell you what is wrong with your cat. Our rule is a simple one: if something is wrong with your cat, call your vet, and call an emergency clinic if it is out of hours. Nothing you read here is a reason to wait.
Worth keeping a paw on
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Other plants at the same level
Same verdict for a cat as Sago palm. The ones sharing its exact toxic principle come first.
