Dill

How to grow dill around cats.

Yes — dill is safe for cats. The ASPCA lists Anethum graveolens (common dill) as non-toxic to cats, dogs, and horses. The Toxic Principles field on the ASPCA entry says "Essential oils" — that names the chemistry, not the verdict. The classification is non-toxic.

The ASPCA verdict, verbatim: Scientific Name: Anethum graveolens · Family: Apiaceae · Toxicity: Non-Toxic to Dogs, Non-Toxic to Cats, Non-Toxic to Horses · Toxic Principles: Essential oils.

The Apiaceae family is mixed — check by species

Dill is in Apiaceae (the parsley/carrot family). This family is mixed on cat toxicity, so don't generalise from one species to another:

• Dill — safe. ASPCA non-toxic.
• Parsley — toxic. ASPCA-listed; furanocoumarins cause photosensitization. (Calibrated risk — trace culinary doses are low practical risk, but the plant is officially on the toxic list.)
• Carrots — generally safe (the root is fine; the foliage is a different question depending on source).
• Cilantro / coriander — non-toxic (separate ASPCA entry).
• Celery — non-toxic.
• Poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) — deadly, the lethal end of the family.

The Apiaceae family includes species across the full toxicity spectrum from "safe culinary herb" to "kills humans." Always check the species you actually have.

Why "essential oils" on the entry doesn't mean dangerous

A note on ASPCA's listing convention. ASPCA's "Toxic Principles" field describes the active chemistry of a plant whether or not that chemistry is actually dangerous at chew-leaf doses. Dill's essential oils — carvone, limonene, alpha-phellandrene — are real and are what give dill its smell and flavour. At the concentration a cat gets from biting a live frond, they don't produce toxicity. The classification "Non-Toxic" is the answer to "is this dangerous?"; the "Essential oils" entry just tells the chemist what's in there.

This is different from how ASPCA lists genuinely toxic herbs. On the oregano entry, for example, the same family of essential-oil compounds (carvacrol, thymol) is listed AND the toxicity classification is "Toxic." The combination is what matters.

What about concentrated dill essential oil?

This is a separate question and the answer is different. Concentrated essential oils of any plant are NOT safe for cats — cats lack the liver enzymes (UGT1A6 glucuronidation) to metabolise concentrated terpenes, so even small topical or diffused exposures can produce toxicity over time. The ASPCA non-toxic classification for dill covers the live plant and trace culinary use, not distilled or undiluted essential oils.

If you diffuse essential oils at home, dill oil should be in the same "skip it around cats" category as tea tree, peppermint, eucalyptus, cinnamon, and clove — regardless of whether the source plant is safe in living form.

What it does to a cat

In practice, very little. A cat that chews dill foliage gets a mouthful of fragrant leaf and no toxic exposure. Some cats are mildly attracted to the smell (like catnip but much weaker — no behavioural buzz, just curiosity). Most cats ignore it.

The worst likely outcome of a big chew is mild vomiting from plant material in the stomach — generic and self-limiting.

Growing dill in a cat household

Dill is a hardy annual from southern European / west Asian dry country. It wants:

• Full sun, 6+ hours.
• Even moisture — bolts to flower under drought stress.
• Light, slightly alkaline loam. Doesn't like rich nitrogen-heavy soil (lots of leaf, little flavour).
• Direct seed — dill doesn't transplant well. Sow where you want it.

It self-seeds readily, so a single sowing often returns for years. Tall (60–90 cm) when it bolts, so plant at the back of a herb border.

Where it fits in a safe-herb cluster

Dill rounds out the cat-safe culinary herb collection alongside basil, rosemary, thyme, and sage — all ASPCA non-toxic. The cat-irresistible specialty is of course catnip. The toxic herbs to skip in the same garden bed are parsley, oregano, chives (and other Allium species), and mint (calibrated). See safe plants for cats for the full reference.

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