# Tradescantia pallida?



## Rain13 (May 21, 2008)

My recently adopted 1-year-old cat has been munching on one of my house plants called "Tradescantia pallida" and I'm wondering if it's okay for her to eat. 

I can't seem to find it on any of the online lists of plants that are toxic, or non-toxic, to cats. I've heard it referred to as "Wandering Jew", but since "Wandering Jew" apparently refers to three distinct plants and most commonly to Tradescantia zebrina (which is listed on the safe lists) I'm not sure if this particular variety is safe.

This is the plant in question: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tradescantia_pallida

I did find a site which says that its sap can cause eye irritation in cats, but my cat has been nibbling on it for weeks (I had mistakenly thought that it was a Tradescantia zebrina and therefore okay until today) and her eyes are perfectly normal. Can anyone confirm whether this plant is okay? Thanks.


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## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

These are the two references I have:

http://www.cfainc.org/articles/plants.html
http://pets.indiatimes.com//articleshow ... =213537126

I suspect the reference to eye irritation is due to direct contact.


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## Rain13 (May 21, 2008)

Does anyone else have any insight into this plant? My Vet referred me to a list of toxic plants that did not list Wandering Jew, but I'm worried that the reason it's not on these "toxic plant" lists is because it's confused with the other plant called Wandering Jew, which is in fact non-toxic. Thanks again.


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## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

I found this:


> Put purple queen (tradescantia pallida) out of reach. The sap causes eye irritation and skin dermatitis.


And this site lists toxic plants by scientific name:
http://www.library.uiuc.edu/vex/toxic/scilist.htm
and yours isn't on there.


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## Rain13 (May 21, 2008)

Thanks Coaster, I'm going to go ahead and assume it's safe. She's eaten a very good portion of it over the last few weeks (in another few months I may not have this problem anymore, since it will all be gone) and seems perfectly fine.


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## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

Ya, I know how that goes. I'm down to my last plant, and I used to be a house-plant freak.


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## Rain13 (May 21, 2008)

It's so sad  I literally have at least one plant in every window of my 2-bedroom apartment. During the first week I had her I was so happy that she didn't seem to be eating any of the plants, but that joy was short-lived...


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