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10 Air Purifying Plants Safe for Cats (NASA Approved)


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Here are 10 of the best air purifying plants that are non-toxic to pets and these indoor plants cleanse the air of VOCs and are NASA approved.


Do you know that plants can affect the quality of your pet’s life? If you’re a cat parent like myself and looking for the best air purifying plants safe for your kitty, then you’ve come to the right place.

Houseplants can add life and comfort to a room. They’re like living sculptures that instantly add warmth to a cold tea tray or excitement to the dreariest decor.

Plants, along with some other components like good air circulation, can help remove chemical contaminants – such as formaldehyde, benzene, and xylene – found in our homes. This can affect both you and your feline friends living conditions.

Let’s dive into a list of the best hand-picked NASA-approved, non-toxic houseplants that clean the air for not only us but our ‘fur babies’ too.

1o Cat-Friendly Air Purifying Plants

Since our pets, and ourselves, spend a lot of time indoors, having air-cleaning plants in our homes certainly makes sense. But not all plants are pet friendly, some plants are toxic to cats, and can cause serious problems.

That’s why it’s essential for us ‘fur parents’ to pay attention to what plants we are buying for our homes. Here is a list of recommended plants for the home that can clean the air and are safe for cats.

Bamboo Palm

Green bamboo plant in a pot on a white chair. Small plants in a vase to decorate the house and office building.

Scientific Name: Chamaedora Elegans

Additional Common Names: Parlour Palm, Good Luck Palm

Bamboo Palm for cats, also known as the parlour palm, is a favourite amongst houseplants for its elegance and height. This beautiful plant likes bright light, but not direct sunlight, and is easy to maintain.

It’s responsible for purifying the air, specifically speaking, it eliminates benzene, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, and xylene. Not only that, but it also transpires a healthy dose of moisture into the air and acts as a natural humidifier.

Best of all, the waxy green bamboo palm is safe for cats.

Areca Palm

Scientific Name: Dypsis Lutescens

Additional Common Names: Butterfly Palm, Yellow Palm, Golden Cane Palm

The Areca Palm, as you guessed, is a species of the palm tree, and is native to Madagascar. It’s a tall, low-maintenance houseplant, great for homes and offices. They’re easy to grow both outdoors and indoors.

The Areca Palm not only cleans the air, but it also leaves an impression in the room. With its lush green leaves, it provides a beautiful touch to your living space.

The plant eliminates carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, xylene, and benzene from their air. This makes them a great addition to the home and is safe for pets.

Check out these seeds and plant your own Areca Palm here.  

Money Tree Plant

Money Tree Plant.jpg

Scientific Name: Pachira Aquatica

Additional Common Names: Money Plant, Water Chestnut, Guiana Chestnut

The Money Tree Plant is considered ‘a lucky tree’, bringing fortune and good luck to anyone that has one. Moreover, this much-loved tree helps remove harmful indoor air pollutants and is an excellent choice for anyone with asthma, lung problems, or who lives in a polluted environment.

What’s great about the Money Tree is that it’s also an attractive looking plant to keep inside your house and is not dangerous for your kitty.

Note: The ‘Money Tree’ and the ‘Jade Money Tree’ are different. The non-toxic Money Tree can be identified by its twisted trunk and can grow up to around 3-feet tall. The Jade Money Tree has succulent leaves and is poisonous to cats. 

Boston Fern

Scientific Name: Nephrolepis Exaltata ‘Bostoniensis’

Additional Common Names: Boston Fern, Sword Fern

The Boston Fern is a popular houseplant, loved for its tiny green fronds arching over the pot. It’s a low-maintenance plant that enjoys indirect sunlight and regular misting of its leaves.

These pet-friendly plants thrive in humidity, making them the perfect addition to the bathroom or shady spots around the house.

They are useful in removing air impurities indoors such as formaldehyde, xylene and toluene, and acts as a natural air humidifier.

These marvellous plants are ideal for homes exposed to city smog and vehicle emissions and are perfectly safe for cats.

Spider Plant

Spider Plant.jpg

Scientific Name: Chlorophytum Comosum

Additional Common Names: Ribbon Plant, Spider Ivy

The Spider Plant is another fabulous air-purifying plant safe for pets.

They look great hanging from baskets and sometimes produce lovely white flowers. It’s easy to maintain and care for, perfect for any beginner. Funny enough, it seems to thrive on neglect, and is resilient to people with poor gardening skills.

The plant prefers bright-to-moderate indirect sunlight. It’s an attractive little plant with long flowing leaves and promotes air purification.

It helps remove impurities such as xylene, carbon monoxide, toluene and formaldehyde, from the air.

These mini green explosions are great to dangle from the ceiling or over a centrepiece, making them an excellent addition to your home with your kitty.

Check out this speckled white hanging plant basket for indoor and outdoor plants as an added accessory.

Gerbera Daisy

Scientific Name: Gerbera Jamesonii

Additional Common Names: Transvaal Daisy, African Daisy, Veldt Daisy, Barberton Daisy

The Bright and cheery Gerbera Daisies are popular cut flowers to have in the house. They come in pretty shades of peach, yellow, orange, pink, and purple.

The Gerbera Daisies are air-purifying house plants safe for pets. In addition, they produce colourful, long-lasting flowers, with a glossy, light green foliage. They’re one of the most popular flowers and by far a florist’s favourite.

These plants are easy to care for; they simply require excellent drainage to avoid any root rot. They favour sunshine and make for the ideal house decoration, and moreover are safe for our fur babies.

To grow your very own colourful array of Gerbera Daisies, check out these easy to grow seeds. 

Moth Orchid

Moth Orchid.jpg

Scientific Name: Phalaenopsis

Additional Common Names: Phalaenopsis Orchid, Moon Orchid

The Moth Orchid is an ideal addition to have in your home, with its unique, colourful flowers and air purifying qualities. They are great, long-lasting perennials and are easy to grow. As an added bonus, they bloom year-round and are low-maintenance.

They require moderate to low sunlight and weekly watering and will reward you with beautiful hues in return for their care. It’s able to absorb xylene and toluene and increase air quality, making it a great accessory for home living.

They are excellent for homes exposed to any city smog, fumes, or smoke. They’re also easy to manage indoors and are safe for cats.

Check out this orchid food to supplement your beautiful plant at home. 

Giant Sword Fern

Scientific Name: Nephrolepis Biserrata

Additional Common Names: Roosevelt Fern, Bold Sword Fern

Similar looking to the Boston fern, the Giant Sword Fern is an excellent accessory to the house, and safe for pets too. They’re also ideal for hanging in baskets, giving you a lush decorative feel around the apartment.

The Sword fern thrives in partial sunlight to full shade, but should not be kept completely in the dark. These plans eliminate xylene, toluene, and formaldehyde, from the air – keeping you and your furry friend breathing clean, fresh air.

Dwarf Date Palm

Scientific Name: Phoenix Roebelenii

Additional Common Names: Phoenix Acaulis

The Dwarf Date Palm, also known as the Pygmy Date Palm, is a tall, slow-growing plant. To add, this gorgeous plant is harmless for your cat.

It is effective in reducing toxins indoors, such as formaldehyde, xylene and toluene. It can also help promote the increase in oxygen and improve air quality.

Prayer Plant

Scientific Name: Maranta leuconeura

Additional Common Names: Red Veined Prayer, Zebra Plant, Maranta, Peacock Plant

Prayer plants provide lush introductions to home decor, bringing tons of texture indoors. Their beautifully coloured green-and-yellow variegated leaves ‘curl’ up at night time, similar to how your kitty curls up for bedtime.

When the sun goes down, the leaves come together like prayer hands. This is how the plant got its name. The folding and unfolding of their leaves happen in a regular pattern, known as the circadian rhythm.

They liven up any room, and best of all they are pet-friendly, making them non-toxic to both cats and dogs. They are ideal for purifying your indoors and work great in laundry rooms or basements.

Houseplants That Clean the Air and Are Safe for Pets

All of us love to decorate our homes with indoor plants that beautify our living spaces and clean the air. However, as pet parents, we need to be aware of what plants are safe for felines – like the easter lilies, sago palms, and oleander – that can be poisonous for our fluffy friends.

An easy way to keep our home safe without compromising on it looking and feeling fresh is by finding air purifying plants safe for pets.

Our little kitties are near and dear to our hearts. We need to ensure they are safe from anything that could cause harm, even when they feel like taking a tiny nibble from the plants.

Note: Be sure to check the scientific name of any plant before buying, as some varieties within the same family aren’t as safe as others. 


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