Is Star Jasmine / Confederate Jasmine safe for cats and dogs?
| Species | Verdict |
|---|---|
| Cats | Safe |
| Dogs | Safe |
Severity: Mild
UC's Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program writes its home-and-landscape guidance for "urban Californians," stating its advice is tailored to "pests and conditions in California." Within that guidance, star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) gets its own page describing an evergreen "often grown as ground cover, trailers, or climbers," with a recommended spacing of five feet apart when planted as ground cover - the layout behind the dense, glossy-leafed slopes and fence lines so common outside California apartment buildings, along freeway-adjacent landscaping, and in single-family front yards. It is a low-maintenance choice: the guidance calls for fertilizing only twice a year, once before spring growth and again after flowering.
ASPCA lists star jasmine as non-toxic to dogs and cats. For a plant grown at this scale and this close to where people and pets actually live in California, that is a genuinely reassuring, sourced answer - though any pet with an unusual reaction after chewing on a large amount of any plant is still worth a call to a veterinarian.
Facts and examples
- UC's Statewide IPM Program (a California-conditions program) describes star jasmine as an evergreen shrub or vine often grown as ground cover, trailers, or climbers, and advises setting plants 5 feet apart when used as ground cover. (source, verified 2026-07-30)
- UC IPM's star jasmine page describes it as an evergreen "often grown as ground cover, trailers, or climbers," recommends spacing plants five feet apart as ground cover, and calls for fertilizing once before spring growth and again after flowering. (source, verified 2026-07-30)
- ASPCA lists star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) as non-toxic to dogs and cats. (source, verified 2026-07-30)
Verdict re-verified against aspca.org, 2026-07-30 — confirmed unchanged. Source
This page is for general information only and is not veterinary advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If your pet is showing symptoms, or you think they ate or touched something dangerous, contact your veterinarian or a pet poison-control hotline immediately.
Last verified 2026-07-30