Cat in the Christmas Tree

Hello all,

I'm pretty new here, but have a situation I'm hoping someone can help with. My SU and I got Abby from our Humane Society about a year and a half ago...last Christmas we put up our artificial tree and found that she really enjoys scaling the tree and hiding amongst the branches. I'm worried that she's going to hurt herself. Has anyone else had this happen? What did you do to keep your cat out of the tree?

Thanks for your help!!!

I've never had a Christmas Tree related injury in a cat, though I've only seen one or two that *won't* try to scale the tree.

Perhaps you could try something like putting a small model-train set going around the bottom of the tree. She'll either think it's her new toy or she might be discouraged by the unusual noises that it makes.

Also, be wary with ornaments. Make sure that you don't put anything on the tree that is likely to break, for your own sanity and for Abby's well being.

Last year my sister put duct tape in the lowest branches of the tree in such a way as to block the cats out of it, and she said it worked. For my cat, to discourage her from clawing the shower curtain and rugs, I spray febreze on them while she's watching, and I tell her "no"--she's pretty bright because she refrains from tearing it up. I'm pretty sure cats don't like the smell of unnatural fragrances, even if they might smell pleasant to us.

Stay tuned in the Fur Pictures Forum closer to Christmas! There are some pretty sad looking trees because of kitty tree climbers,

I got my cat to stop digging and sitting in my plant pots by putting orange peels in and around the pots. Now she won't even go near them. I think there's something about citric acid that really bothers cats and deters them. I hear some citrus-smelling cleaning agents work too.

Cats climb trees. You put a tree in the room. What is the cat going to think?

We have a small table top tree the older cats have avoided because we don't mind them looking at it and it's too small to climb. However, I'm not even going to do that this year because we have a kitten who will be nine months old then, and I'm not even going there.

When I had a full size tree we nailed it to the floor. Older or non-active cats are capable of leaving a tree alone, but with everyone else, you have basically taken a real tree and added toys.

What cat is going to resist that?