Mandevilla can be brought indoors to overwinter before night temperatures drop below 50 degrees F. Wash the leaves off thoroughly before bringing the plant indoors. You can keep the plant in a brightly lit area but with temperatures around 45 to 50 degrees F, which will bring it into a semidormant state. Water the plant just enough to keep the plant from wilting, but don't overwater. In early spring, you can bring the plant into a warmer, brightly lit area and increase watering as new growth appears. If you do not have an area with these cool temperatures, you can grow it at room temperatures in a brightly lit window. Keep the soil moist. This plant prefers to grow in tropical areas with high humidity, which is difficult to duplicate in homes with forced air furnaces. Place the plant on a tray filled with pebbles and keep the pebbles moist to allow the evaporation to increase the humidity. Other methods used in overwintering the plant include taking 4- to 5-inch cuttings, rooting them, and potting them up. Grow them in a brightly lit window or closely under fluorescent lighting. After an intensive Internet search, there wasn't conclusive evidence that mandevilla would be poisonous to your cat. It is a member of the dogbane family (Apocynaceae) which has some plants that are toxic when ingested.

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