Are Daffodils Toxic to Cats?
Yes — the ASPCA lists daffodils as toxic to cats.
What the ASPCA publishes
- Scientific name
- Narcissus spp
- Family
- Amaryllidaceae
- Also called
- Narcissus, Jonquil, Paper White
- Toxic to cats
- Yes
- Toxic to dogs
- Yes
- Toxic principle
- Lycorine and other alkaloids
Clinical signs, in the ASPCA’s words
“Vomiting, salvation, diarrhea; large ingestions cause convulsions, low blood pressure, tremors and cardiac arrhythmias. Bulbs are the most poisonous part.”
⚠️ The ASPCA publishes no threshold for any of these plants — no “this much is a problem”. We don’t invent one.
Common questions
Are daffodils toxic to cats?
Yes — the ASPCA lists daffodils as toxic to cats.
What happens if a cat eats daffodils?
The ASPCA publishes this as the clinical signs, word for word: “Vomiting, salvation, diarrhea; large ingestions cause convulsions, low blood pressure, tremors and cardiac arrhythmias. Bulbs are the most poisonous part.” It names the toxic principle as “Lycorine and other alkaloids”. We reprint their wording rather than paraphrasing it — a paraphrase is what gets quoted back with the caution removed. It does not tell you how much is too much, and neither do we: the ASPCA publishes no threshold for any of these plants.
Are daffodils safe for cats?
Not according to the ASPCA, which lists daffodils as toxic to cats and publishes clinical signs for it. That is the answer to the question as asked; we are not going to soften it, and we are not going to tell you a small amount is fine either — the ASPCA publishes no threshold for any of these plants.
My cat ate daffodils — what now?
Call your veterinarian, or the ASPCA Poison Control at (888) 426-4435. Note which plant, which part, and roughly how much. This page reports what the ASPCA publishes about daffodils; it cannot tell you whether your cat is affected, and no amount is described here as safe.
Other plants the ASPCA lists as toxic to cats
Every cat calculator
- Cat Age Calculator — Your cat’s age in human years, and why the sources disagree
- Cat Pregnancy Calculator — Your cat’s due date from her mating date
- Cat Calorie Calculator — How many calories your cat needs a day
- Kitten Feeding Calculator — How much to feed a kitten, by weight
- Kitten Age Calculator — How old your kitten is, estimated from its weight
- Kitten Growth Chart — What a kitten weighs at each age, from a published study
If your cat has chewed daffodils, call your veterinarian or the ASPCA Poison Control at (888) 426-4435. This page reports what the ASPCA publishes; it is not a diagnosis, and no amount is described here as safe.
Verified on . Based on ASPCA Poison Control (ASPCA, 24-hour emergency line, accessed 2026-07-28) and Kitten Age & Weight Chart (ASPCA Pro, 2023 (golden-test source, not used to build the calculation)). See the method.