She won't stop climbing the tree!

Let it be known: Squee is the baddest cat I ever met. She won't stop climbing the Christmas tree!

We've tried everything that can be done - oranges, fencing off the tree, distracting her, putting her in "time out"... she's just not learning. She's spending most of her time downstairs, away from the tree. I feel bad about that, but I don't want her knocking a 7' tree through our huge windows. What can I do to stop her?! I've searched for advice everywhere and I'm at my wits end!

Try what I call the sound trick. If she even gets near the tree use a horn or even the vacuum cleaner to give her a scare. After a few tries, she should become wary of the tree. Good luck!

I let mine play in the tree, it's been up for over a month and they've pretty much grown tired of messing with it now. When it first went up they pulled off most of the baubles, I just put them back on later

They are cats, and a tree is irresisitable to them so I use ornaments that are non-breakable and don't put the tree near a window.

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Originally Posted by missymotus

They are cats, and a tree is irresisitable to them

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Very true. I used to let mine go up the Christmas tree all the time also. The reason I do not put up the tree now is because I am lazy righting it up twice a day throughout the holidays.

I would take it down. I didn't put my large tree up last year because i knew Jack would be into it. I bought a small 3' tree instead but he was still trying to get things off it, so i had to put it in the kitchen when i went to bed and work. This year he's never bothered with it really

Can you not move it from the windows?

I put up an artificial one as I hoped that would be less attractive, and then left it a few days before I decorated it to give them time to play with it and then ignore it. It worked well for 7 cats - but Milo still insists on sitting in it about two thirds of the way up. I have tied the tree to the curtain rail and to the sides of the alcove so he can't knock it over and I only have plastic and wooden ornaments, but he won't leave it alone.