Yes, if your cat eats the tree it will get sick. For a cat to get sick enough to die, it would have to consume an extreemly large amount. Most of the time you will just have to tell the cat NO! and tap him/her on the nose. Sooner or later the cat will learn. Im am a horticulture student and most of my friends in the major have plants and cats too. It happends to them all the time. All of their cats are still very healthy.

Good luck,

Gardener Guy

GG, thanks so much. I was worried because the ASPCA list virtually shows every plant as toxic...prob afraid of being sued... I wanted to do a hawaiian umbrella but I hear those are highly toxic so I am going to go witg some variety of ficus

Just do your best to place the tree out of your cat's reach. I know that would be quite hard but if you realy want a healthy tree, place it outside when temps are above 60 degrees F day and night. Once it gets cool bring it indoors for the fall and winter. That will limit the time your cat will try to eat it. Oh and another tip... keep the cat well fed so he/her will be less hungry for the tree.

Hope this helps,

Gardener Guy