# Cats & Christmas trees....?



## Meezer_lover (Apr 19, 2011)

This year will be Yoshi's first Christmas, and I'm starting to think about how he'll be with our tree. Actually, I know how he'll be.....BAD. 

The problem is, he's a chewer. He's gotten much better and listens to us when we yell & say no, but he'll be alone with the tree during the day when we're at work. We have an artificial, pre-lit tree....so if he chews through any of the wiring, none of the lights will work and the tree will be useless.

I was thinking of trying that Ssscat training aid, where it has motion sensors and will blast air when he goes near it. Do you think that might work?

Other than that, I have no ideas.....other than not to put the tree up this year! 
Thoughts, experiences?


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

Funny you mention that, I was just thinking the same thing earlier today with Shepherd. I don't he'll be ripping ornaments off and using the tree as a climbing toy...... 

I was thinking of just putting up my small tabletop one and minimizing the damage to its tiny plastic ornaments.......


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## bkitty (Aug 17, 2009)

I gave up on Christmas trees about 12 years ago. By the third Christmas with Methos, he had pretty much destroyed all the decorations. He was a tree climber. Now I just drape a few wooden decorations swagged in doorways & put out the Christmas sleigh/kitty bed.


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

I worried at first how my girls would be with the tree. When I put up the tree, they're always all over the lights and ornaments, wanting to play with everything. But, once the tree is up, they tend to leave it alone. Muffs sometimes sleeps underneath it, and Abby sometimes plays with some dangly ornaments at the bottom, but that's about it. If I ever were to have trouble, I'd give the ssscat a try.


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## BoBear (Sep 8, 2011)

If you are going to put up a tree, do it the safe way. What I did last year, which was the first year for my three litter-mate cats to experience Christmas was I chose a simple artificial tree. No water and climbing to worry about. I secured it to the corner with a line to prevent it from falling over incase one of the cats decided to try and climb it. I also laced the string of lights with tobasco (Bitter apple may be a preferred option) and used little wooden ornaments, pine cones and other ornaments that would not pose a problem to the cats if they were removed and played with. I also made sure that the wire hanger for the ornaments were well secured to the item. No tinsle was used and we strung popcorn and cranberries on a string for the garland. We ended up referring to it as an old fashion Christmas tree! I even omitted ribbons on the gifts that were under the tree. I thought for sure that the tree would be the centre of their attention and it ended up that only one ornament was knocked off and it was most interesting to them when it was going up and when it was being taken down. But now that I know, I'll allow a few nicer oranaments this year.... though I'll still stick to a simple artificial tree just to be safe.


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## Penny135 (Apr 6, 2011)

Omg, my first Christmas a few years back with my 2 new kittens was a disaster. Autumn my older cat had never bothered the tree but Shadow and Ceasar destroyed my 7ft Christmas tree. They climbed the branches all the way to the top and chewed up LOTS of ornaments. When it was time to take the tree down I just threw it away. The branches were all broken and hanging downward from the tree.  I hope Mia doesnt bother the tree this year but I only have a 2ft one just incase.


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## SpellQ (Dec 12, 2010)

Zoe didn't bother the tree at all. In fact she LOVED sleeping under the Xmas tree and sulked when it came down each year. Gabe used to climb it and make a wonderful mess. 

Last year Apple and Pedro had just come to live here so I wasn't certain with Apple's wildness what would happen. I put up a 2 ft table top tree. I'm still finding ornaments from it all over the place. 

This year I'm getting a wall decal tree! I have a nice table I can put under it for gifts and I figure I'll make underneath the table wonderfully exciting for the kitties so she'll be more interested in playing under the table than on it. I really don't think Pedro will bother it at all. It's Apple who is my full time hard core menace.  Thank gawd she's cute!


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

SpellQ said:


> Zoe didn't bother the tree at all. In fact she LOVED sleeping under the Xmas tree and sulked when it came down each year


That's what MowMow would do, curl up in the Christmas tree skirt.


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

SpellQ said:


> Zoe didn't bother the tree at all. In fact she LOVED sleeping under the Xmas tree and sulked when it came down each year.


 


MowMow said:


> That's what MowMow would do, curl up in the Christmas tree skirt.


Muffs too. Here she is, with her eyes doubling as Christmas lights!


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## Time Bandit (Aug 17, 2010)

Last Christmas was the first one with the kitties, and they actually did pretty well with the tree. They loved laying on the tree skirt. 

Occasionally I would come home to find an ornament or two on the floor (but thats why I have plastic ornaments ). We also put a few stuffed animals in the tree every year, and last year we included three little stuffed kitties randomly in the tree...nearly every day those three little kitties were knocked out of the tree (no matter how high we put them up), and were laying in a small pile under the tree. :roll:

I don't think I could ever not have a Christmas tree with the cats...they get as much entertainment out of it as we do.


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## pchel (Aug 16, 2011)

My Pepper, of 15 years, never bothered out Christmas trees. I've had foster kittens all in it. So, I'd suggest plastic ornaments until you figure out how your cat will do.


In the mean time... 
http://youtu.be/nn2h3_aH3vo


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## Wry_Martini (Nov 9, 2011)

How timely! I was looking at the Christmas decor at the store today, wondering if I dare try and have a tree this year. Thinking of putting up a tree as a test while I'm home all day over Thanksgiving... 

By the way, ever notice how hard it is to find a pretty tree skirt that is feline-safe? Most of them have sequins and beads & other flotsam & jetsam that would wind up in Violet's mouth pretty darned quick!


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## SpellQ (Dec 12, 2010)

I just realized I had a pic of Zoe under the tree in my sig. lol Definitely a safe bet where she was if the tree was up and we couldn't find her!

Because she liked to play underneath it though she sometimes would knock it and rather than risk an ornament falling and potentially encouraging her to suddenly want to play with the tree, I'd decided when she was a kitten to not put ornaments on it. We have lights, extra wide ribbon for garland, and I put all of the holiday cards I receive on the branches. Cards aren't much fun when they fall and certainly aren't a worry if they're damaged by kitties.


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

Wry_Martini said:


> By the way, ever notice how hard it is to find a pretty tree skirt that is feline-safe? Most of them have sequins and beads & other flotsam & jetsam that would wind up in Violet's mouth pretty darned quick!


I used a red fleece blanket for a twin size bed as a tree skirt. That probably contributed to why MowMow enjoyed laying under the tree, his favorite throw blanket was under there.


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## Milky's Mammy (Oct 17, 2011)

Thanks for posting this thread! My husband and I have been debating whether we should have a tree or not too, as it's Milky's first Christmas. We have an artificial one with glittery branches, and we put up the lights and ornaments ourselves.

Although Milky is supposed to be a short-legged cat, we have no idea how he can climb so high! We're afraid he'll climb the Christmas tree (if we put it up) and we're also afraid he'll get injured or try to eat the tree/lights/ornaments. And what happens if he gets glitter in his mouth?? It's all so worrying!

I might see if the Sssscat deterent is available in the pet shops, although I somehow doubt I'll be able to find it...


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

Maggie is my tree destruction artist. The other two aren't really interested. Thankfully Maggie has slowed down a bit as she's gotten older (she's 15) and she no longer aspires to be the angel on top of the tree. But she has bent all the branches, chewed through wires, stripped off tons of ornaments (during the night and brought them upstairs and put them in my bed), attacked the motion fawn I put under the tree (now his head has a permanent "tick" noise when it moves) and more. 

So...the tree gets tied to a hook in the ceiling. I put bells on it so I know when she's in it. I found out that she wasn't so much interested in chewing wires, but she liked the labels on them...so all the labels on the lights are removed. Non-breakable ornaments, no tinsel or garland...I use 3" wide fabric ribbon and silk poinsettias. No ribbons or bows on presents and my gift recipients know that the corners of their box or gift bag are likely to be chewed. 

I think I may actually buy a new tree this year. She's pretty much stopped climbing the last couple years and the old one is really bent and saggy. And there's a whole section of lights out. Might be the time to do it....


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## Time Bandit (Aug 17, 2010)

Wry_Martini said:


> By the way, ever notice how hard it is to find a pretty tree skirt that is feline-safe? Most of them have sequins and beads & other flotsam & jetsam that would wind up in Violet's mouth pretty darned quick!


Yeah most tree skirts have some sort of non-safe kitty decorations on them. We use a large fleece blanket we got at Walmart as our tree skirt...warm and soft and most importantly, kitty-safe! Plus it has snowflakes on it, so it's Christmasy.


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## Wry_Martini (Nov 9, 2011)

Fleece blanket, what a great idea! I know I've seen some pretty Christmas-y ones lately, I'll have to pick one up.


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## jmurray01 (May 5, 2011)

When Buttons was a kitten (many, many years ago!) we worried about the tree too.

I remember her first Christmas didn't go that well in terms of tree climbing/clawing/_*eating!*_

She must have been 5 months old when the tree went up, and within an hour she'd climbed all the way to the top, and it fell over, then when we put it together again she clawed at the branches and started gnawing on them.

I think by the end of Christmas we wanted to turn atheist!

Her second Christmas wasn't as bad, she clawed at the branches, but that was it.

As for the third, she was purfectly fine.

She is now seven years old, and I'm not at all worried about this Christmas.

It gets better with age, so you'll just have to get through this one, and it will get better!


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## wondercat (Oct 11, 2011)

I been debating a christmas tree also. real trees are out of the question, Cleo likes eating the pine and then getting sick. I have not had one in 2 years. I think I may go with an artificial one and see how it goes. But with two kittens maybe not such a good idea sigh...


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## BotanyBlack (Apr 6, 2011)

LOl .. funny My first time dealing with this was when Sherbert was a kitten.. Alot of the cat repellants had not been thought of yet.. so with Sherbert 8 months old, Paws and Squeek at 5 months old.. We put up a tree, yes a REAL tree. they were intrigued of course... You guessed it they climbed it... After a bit of trial and error I ended up hanging brass bells around the base. When one tried to climb the tree the bells rang.. eventually they learned not to climb the tree..

We have had brass bells on our tree now for 18 years, 19 this year.. And NO tensel for any of that time.. Unfortunately this is also my first year without Sherbert.. but I will still put up his stocking.

And yes for 18 years he slept on the tree skirt, nestled in between the gifts.

Now the question is how is Gypsy going to react to her first christmas tree?

All my cats have had a small stocking, each stocking is now hung on the tree with the ornaments. This year Sherbert's gets added to the tree, and Archie and Gypsy will each get their first one added to Jack and Pepper's for a gift.


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## WhisperingWind56 (Oct 12, 2011)

I've never used it around the Christmas tree, but I have used the compressed air devices to keep the cats off the cabinets, and they certainly work for that! No issues at all with cats on the cabinets now, LOL. With new kitten Sophie, I need to order another can, because I know she'll be giving it a try.

Another item to consider might be the Dazer. I have this device to shut my neighbor's barking dogs, but it also works on cats. Just press the button, and they will instantly stop whatever it is they're doing!

Amazon.com: DAZER II Ultrasonic Dog Deterrent: Pet Supplies


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## FancysMom (May 27, 2011)

Ha! i have no illusions where a tree and my cats are concerned. i have a small one way up high they cannot get to, right now anyway. good luck!


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## spotty cats (Sep 23, 2011)

My tree gets put up knowing the cats will slowly destroy it by xmas time, I don't think it's fair to expect them to keep away (short of shutting them out the room all the time)

Mine don't chew, even the kittens they just love to climb and pull off decorations.

How the tree ends up


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## WhisperingWind56 (Oct 12, 2011)

That last picture is adorable! 

We, too, have dealt with the kitties destroying the tree. One more serious note, though, my sister's rat terrier once swallowed a wire ornament hanger. It "passed", but got hung up on the way out, and it took a vet to safely remove it. No idea why she thought it was edible!


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## Julz (Feb 17, 2011)

My boys had their first christmas last year, about a month after I got them. I got a real tree, strung up to the ceiling, no tinsel and made sure all the breakable ornaments were at the top of the tree. I did use garland but they didn't bother it. They slowly undressed my tree ornament by ornament until the bottom two feet of the tree were completely naked. Shatterproof balls are nice but they look a lot like ping pong balls that they use as toys. I don't know if they just don't like decorations but they're working on doing the same to the front of my refrigerator and they just started doing that a couple of months ago. Other than a half naked tree and drinking the water out of the stand, I didn't have any problems with mine so I'm looking forward to getting another one this year.


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## cooncatbob (May 27, 2011)

They're cats, it's a tree and it's Christmas.
Lets be safe about it, but everyone deserves to enjoy the holidays.


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## Meezer_lover (Apr 19, 2011)

jmurray01 said:


> I think by the end of Christmas we wanted to turn atheist!
> 
> It gets better with age, so you'll just have to get through this one, and it will get better!


LMAO!!!

I hope you're right about it getting better with age. 

I will admit I am dreading putting up the tree, mostly because I know Yoshi will chew the wires and therefore we may end up having to throw the tree out (which wasn't cheap!). And the biggest stressor for me is that my boyfriend has NO patience, which means the holidays will be very tense in our house.

I'll probably try the compressed air and I'm also going to look into that Dazer thing.


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## Meezer_lover (Apr 19, 2011)

spotty cats....that second pic is hilarious.


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## kitbassgirl (Nov 20, 2011)

Ah all these horror stories about kitty's destroying christmas trees and ornaments has got me worried now! But I guess I won't find out what my kittens are like with christmas until I try decorating and see what happens!


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## Syrena (Nov 29, 2011)

It´s my kitty´s first Christmas. We bought artificial Christams tree and plastic ornaments. She likes to throw them down with her paw and play with them. So far she did not get the idea to climb on the tree! Hopefully, she will not even try. Fingers crossed!


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

I have a small 3' table tree as well as my regular 5' artificial. I think this year I'll forego the artificial and see how Book handles the little one. I think I can already guess what it'll be like... ornaments as wall pizza but we'll see what happens.


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## Mutzi (Jun 2, 2008)

Without any words: :mrgreen:



















This year it will be Ritas first Christmas. Poor tree! Occupied by Horst, Rita and iguana Norbert... :cool


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## Meezer_lover (Apr 19, 2011)

We got our tree up last night (fake, pre-lit). Also got the candles in the windows.

So far, so good....but today Yoshi is home alone with everything while we're at work, so we'll see what we come home to.

I didn't decorate the tree last night, we just put it up and turned the lights on. I wanted him to get used to the tree itself. I got the Ssscat thing and placed that under the tree, so if he goes under there (which would most likely be to chew the wires), he will get a blast. He did set it off 3 times, but he was just "testing" the waters so-to-speak, because he was really just interested in the Ssscat bottle. 

Before I had put the Ssscat bottle under there, Yoshi went under the tree and did start biting the metal tree stand. I swear he is a freakin dog....what cat bites metal and likes it???

We had put him in his room several times last night, because we were doing a few other projects in the house (and Yoshi has to cause trouble when we're doing stuff). But on a positive note, while he was in his room, he did NOT chew the candles in the windows. I gave him treats and praises for being much better than I expected.

Update to come once I get home from work today!


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## Syrena (Nov 29, 2011)

When I came home yesterday (I went to ski for few hours), my Christmas tree was on the floor  and all ornaments all around! Congratulations, Ginfis! I see you had some fun!


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## Meezer_lover (Apr 19, 2011)

Update: 
Got home and the tree was still standing, candles were intact, and it doesn't appear that he chewed any wires!! I'm so proud of my little man! Hopefully he keeps it up, cause I plan on actually decorating the tree tonight.


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## Mutzi (Jun 2, 2008)

Look at our tree with the special ornament. :mrgreen:

DAS ist mein Baum! - YouTube

After that we put some ornaments and lights on the tree.:xmasstree Now it is a real Christmas tree. And the cats? They sleep under the tree. So nice. :2kitties


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## Syrena (Nov 29, 2011)

that is cool, YayHappens! I wouldn't mind to have it around neither!


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## konstargirl (Feb 4, 2011)

Our xmas tree is really small and golden. >< Few weeks ago. Francis kept going by it.. Bad kitty. ><


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