How a result reads
Three verdicts, worded for what you are holding
You feed a food; you do not feed a drain cleaner. The wording follows what the item is: food, plant, home and garden, or medication.
Toxic
Reads Do not feed for foods, Never without a vet for medicines, and Toxic for plants and home and garden products. Underneath, the ASPCA Poison Control line is one tap away.
Caution
Things that are fine in some forms or amounts and not others, with how to serve it or what to do. Medicines read Vet dose only, because for a cat the dose is the whole question.
Safe
Reads Safe as a treat for foods, with how to serve it, and Non-toxic for plants and products.
What is poisonous to cats
Five dangers every cat owner should know
Why cats need their own safety list
Cats are not small dogs. A cat’s liver lacks some of the enzymes other animals use to clear drugs, phenols and plant oils, so things that are harmless to a person can kill a cat. That is why the FelineSense checker is built on the ASPCA poison-control lists for cats, with the cat-specific hazards called out.
True lilies and daylilies are the cat emergency. Every part of the plant is poisonous, including the pollen a cat grooms off its fur and the water in the vase, and it causes kidney failure within days. A cat that has touched a lily needs a vet now, not when signs appear: treatment works best in the first hours. Flea spot-ons and sprays made for dogs often contain permethrin, which causes tremors, seizures and death in cats. A cat can be poisoned by cuddling a freshly treated housemate, so the app’s advice is to keep them apart for 72 hours and to use only products labeled for cats.
One regular acetaminophen tablet (paracetamol, Tylenol) can kill a cat: the blood loses its ability to carry oxygen, the gums turn brown, the face swells and the liver fails. Onion and garlic damage red blood cells, cooked, raw or powdered, and cats are more sensitive to them than dogs. Essential oils reach a cat through diffusers, skin contact and grooming, and tea tree and pennyroyal are among the worst.
The app’s table goes much further, through everyday foods, house and garden plants, cleaning products and medicines. You search it in the app; this page does not reproduce it.
Source: ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center · FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine (lilies) · Merck Veterinary Manual
Built for the moment it matters
Fast, offline, and honest about what it does not know
Works with no signal
The whole checker lives on your phone. It answers in the garden, at a friend’s house or in a car park.
Finds everyday names
Search the way you would say it, including brand and everyday names. The result tells you what it matched.
Never guesses
No AI decides a verdict. If something is not in the list, the app says “Not in our list” and adds: that is not a yes.
Sourced
Each result names where it came from, led by the ASPCA Animal Poison Control lists for cats.
Already eaten or touched something? Call for advice now.
Your own vet first, or ASPCA Animal Poison Control on (888) 426-4435 — 24/7, a consultation fee may apply. Do not wait for symptoms, and never try to make a cat vomit at home: hydrogen peroxide and salt can badly injure cats. Only a vet can do that safely.
Questions
Frequently asked
Does the safety checker need an internet connection?
What if the thing my cat ate is not in the list?
Where do the verdicts come from?
Are lilies really that dangerous to cats?
Can I use a dog flea treatment on my cat?
My cat has already eaten something toxic. What do I do?
The full checker is in FelineSense: search a food, plant, product or medicine, offline, with the reason, the source and the poison control line one tap away.
See the app