Cat Proofing your home for Christmas

All of my cats have a wierd thing for christmas. I've had cats who climb the tree, some who play with the ornaments, and one who pulls off each ornament and puts them in a pile in the corner of my living room. Some of my cats knock decorations off the table, eat flowers (not poinsettias, they're poisonous!!), and not only does it stink for us, but these things can be potentially hazardous to the cats.

Here's what I do:

I put breakable ornaments on top, and hang red and green cat toys on the bottom.

If I currently have a cat that climbs the tree, I fence the tree off with presents.

If my cat likes to hide in the presents, I encourage this. Great surprise for the guests.

On Christmas day, my cats jump up in people's lap trying to figure out whats going on. I give them their own stocking and presents (even if it's just wet food). This keeps them occupied.

Keep all hazardous decor out of the way of the cats.

Merry Christmas!!

I don't decorate...thats my secret to catproofing

Good Ideas!! I don't decorate so I don't have an issue...

I just put a wreath up on the mantle and she REALLY wants to get up there. I am worrying about what effect a tree will have.

Great ideas I don't have enough room to decorate this year but next year I will and I can't wait.

We're taking a wait and see approach with Ginger. The only thing that Trent and Ophelia have shown any interest in was garland that I tried once (and only once, and not even for the full year!) on the tree. What Ginger will do remains to be seen, but as hyper and curious as she is....this could be an interesting Christmas!

I don't put up decorations until Christmas Eve, learned the hard way that an artificial tree is less attractive than a real one, and only use wooden or cloth ornaments. No tinsel or garlands. The tree usually comes down January 2nd, after being redecorated on a daily basis.

Amazingly I haven't had much of a problem with my current cat or my previous cat with Christmas decorations...

Oh also Poinsettias are actually NOT that bad! Most people think they're really toxic but the truth is all they might do is cause an upset stomach if your cat eats a bunch.


As for what I do for Xmas...

1) No hanging tinsel, but we do use shiny garland (Sneakers-kitty LOVES eating ribbon and tinsel. The garland is ignored, though.)

2) Ornaments near the bottom of the tree (about 1/4 of the tree) are unbreakable/soft types-- this started because my family's dog when I was younger would walk underneath the tree and take a nap there, so she'd brush the ornaments at the bottom off. Now it's mostly because my Golden Retriever likes to push past the tree to look out the window, and also her tail's a deadly weapon! Also keep kitties who might want to bat the ornaments safe, although truthfully my current and previous cats have never tried to play with them.

3) I used to put sliced oranges underneath the tree- we caught our previous cat looking up into the tree as if decided whether to climb it, so we started doing this. A lot of cats HATE the smell of citrus and this was a good repellant, she stayed away from the tree after that. My current cat does not mind the smell of citrus but luckily she's too lazy to be interested in climbing.

4) I wrap the mesh that the tree comes in around the base and water reservoir to keep the animals from drinking the tree water, which can be harmful.

I am really lucky. Tigger just seems to leave everything alone. She likes the tree, but she really likes it just to hide under, so she has a better hiding spot from which to jump out at us as we're walking by. She doesn't really bother anything. I am blessed.