Howdy

He did a wonderful job, but as he was returning my plant to my custody, he explained "I watered her every other day, I gave her new dirt, moved her into the sunshine, prayed the rosary-"

"What?"

He looked at me, confused. "Isn't she a plant you pray with?"

"No," I said slowly. "She's a prayer plant. That's the... colloquial name of the plant."

Upon seeing his stricken face, I realized something went wrong. Turns out, this entire time, he's been including my plant in on his prayers and leaving her near icons.

both mini monsteras (monstera adansonii and raphidophora tetrasperma) are fabulous. mine grow like weeds

honestly their daddy is pretty robust too (monstera deliciosa)

pothos (epipremnum aureum). your mileage may vary on this one because i do inevitably murder them but they are supposed to be easy and they tend to droop when they need watering (helpful visual reminder). they come in a lot of fun varieties

heart leaf philodendron is really similar to a pothos but ime harder to kill

fittonia (nerve plant) is colorful and also tends to dramatically flop to the ground when it's been underwatered (but recovers quickly once you remember to water it). honestly i routinely forget about my mostly-fittonia barbie dream terrarium and it's thriving

ponytail palms. i toss mine outside in the spring/summer and after that it's happy for the rest of the year. cat friendly i think

syngoniums come in a crazy number of varieties in all kinds of colors and sizes, they're low light, and they're not fussy. this is the other resident of the barbie dream terrarium that i forget about all the time

aglaonemas are maybe a little higher maintenance than the others, but they're pretty and they can hang in there for quite a while. i had one for years that was very happy in my cubicle with no window

snake plants (sansevierias) are basically plastic plants but alive. i was shocked recently to learn that one of mine had grown babies because they basically do nothing (and need nothing) most of the time

ZZ plants are probably the ultimate ADHD plant. i forgot one in my antique booth for six months with no sunlight and never watered it and it's still happy as a clam. they come in a cute little mini variety called zenzi and a goth variety too

tbh i would consider most of these plants relatively low light plants! variegated varieties (the ones with lighter and darker patches) will struggle more but yeah. snake plants and ZZ plants would be my top picks for you probably

you might also want to look into grow lights! some of them are pretty cute and they can come with automatic timers

none of the plants on this list are super dangerous to cats (like lilies or sago palms – i would never bring those into a house with cats)

that being said, these three are completely non-toxic per the ASPCA Poison Control:

Spider Plant

FIttonia

Ponytail Palm

the rest of the plants may cause nausea/vomiting/diarrhea (snake plants specifically) or oral irritation/difficulty swallowing/vomiting (the rest of them).

i've kept all of these plants in a home with a cat, but not one who's very determined to eat plants. so it might be worth starting with those three and seeing how it goes

a couple of other cat-friendly, easy-to-care-for plants that didn't make the list for no real reason:

Peperomia obtusifolia (baby rubber plant)

Pilea peperomioides

i've kept both and an confirm they're pretty hardy. my Pilea is one of my longest standing plants at this point despite some hardcore neglect