How do you cat-proof your Christmas tree?

[sophie]

This thread cracks me up!

I must have the only cat who’s not interested in the Christmas tree. Granted, she is now 13, very timid and hates to get yelled at and she usually is pretty “obedient” (! well as much as a cat can be anyway!) Before this cat I only had dogs, so she got the dog training regimen, more or less.
I don’t remember having to yell at her about the tree, though, even when she was a kitten. She was just never interested. (phew)

Our tree stands by the stairs, and I’ve put a few ornaments where she could reach them and play, but she doesn’t, really. She’d rather play “attacking panther” with me.

[Texarkana]

@sophie

I must have the only cat who’s not interested in the Christmas tree.

I’ve had maybe half a dozen indoor cats throughout my life before these two boys and never had major Christmas tree problems… a few batted ornaments here and there, but that’s it.

Then I got the double trouble boys. This tree is doomed.

ETA: as I type this, one of them is tossing around a men’s size 10 croc. You’d think they were puppies how they carry around shoes. Nothing is safe around here.

[cardinale]

How to make a cat proof christmas tree

There are several examples on the internets.

[OverandOnward]

Nah, he’s gonna get that tree. Look at those ears and eyes.

[Zevida]

My juvenile delinquent her first Christmas in 2008. Surprisingly the tree did not fall down and she left it alone ever after. (I lost her to lymphoma earlier this year at 15 )

[ParadoxFarm]

Kittens will be kittens!!

The year of this photo we didn’t put any ornaments on the tree. He still ate a bunch of tinsel and chomped on lights. Silly kitty. Good thing he was cute!

[OverandOnward]

So re the title “How do you cat-proof your Christmas tree?” … OP, did you find an answer in this thread?

[Texarkana]

@OverandOnward

So re the title “How do you cat-proof your Christmas tree?” … OP, did you find an answer in this thread?

Well, the tree is up… undecorated, unsecured.

Apart from dragging it about 2ft out of the corner by chewing the fake branches, they are sort of leaving it alone after their initial excitement. They also got neutered yesterday, so they were feeling a bit under the weather.

I’ll get the lights and ornaments on sometime this week!

[Jenerationx]

So, with less balls on the cats, maybe there can be a few balls on the tree?

[beowulf]

I came to make the same joke but you beat me to the punchline.

I was thinking it’s a bit cruel to steal their balls only to deck the tree with a million of them. Talk about Kitty Injustice. I hope your boys are back to it asap.

[Jenerationx]

@beowulf

I was thinking it’s a bit cruel to steal their balls only to deck the tree with a million of them. Talk about Kitty Injustice. I hope your boys are back to it asap.

Taunting them with shiny balls is definitely cruel.

[chestnutmarebeware]

@Jenerationx

So, with less balls on the cats, maybe there can be a few balls on the tree?

That never worked with my kitties—the males were always much worse!

[Texarkana]

Spoke too soon

[thatmoody]

We do a couple of things. One, when the cats are young, tree stays up (anchored) for at least a couple of months before Christmas. We limit access to it when we’re not there to supervise, but typically about a month before they start getting bored with it (although we have one who will still climb it). Two, we have a set of plastic ornaments that we used while our cats were young (they are 11, 12, and 14 now). We’re using them again this year as the puppy is only a year old, and we’ve also had the tree up for a while so he’s totally bored with it at this point.

Other than anchoring it to the wall, that’s pretty much all we do. If the cat knocks an ornament off, we pick it up. One thing you might try is some strategic scat mats around the tree to create the association that tree equals something not as nice. I also make sure that they have a TON of other enriching things to do.

If I had smaller kids, this might not work as well.

[beowulf]

Which one is this? He is taking his day job of Tree Inspector very seriously. Maybe he’s looking for his purloined jewels…?

[Texarkana]

@beowulf

Which one is this? He is taking his day job of Tree Inspector very seriously. Maybe he’s looking for his purloined jewels…?

Simon is the one in the front. What you can’t see well is his partner in crime, Gus, chewing on the trunk and branches behind him.

They are the best kittens I’ve had in terms of friendliness and interaction, but holy moly are they trouble makers! They are usually zooming around too fast to record it.

[CanadianTrotter]

@Texarkana

They are usually zooming around too fast to record it.

When they’re feeling better and healed up, put a wiffle ball in the bath tub for them.

When my Kittens with Mittens were revved up, 10 minutes in the bath tub with a wiffle ball would tucker them out. It’s also very entertaining to watch, I have a video somewhere.

[LCDR]

[CanadianTrotter]

I still hadn’t unpacked all of the cat toys so tonight I found them and got a wiffle ball out. Bird grabbed it in his mouth and took it directly to the bath tub. Both he and Dizzy were playing with it but Bird jumped out to see what I was doing while taking the picture.

They run around the tub after the wiffle ball like race cars going around a banked track.

[shiloh]

I would love to see what is in their little cat heads. Why the bath tub you wonder? But I would pay to see both of them as big as they are in a bath tub playing with a little ball.