I'm looking for innovative ideas for keeping Annie out of the Christmas tree. Please refer to this thread for details. 
Yeah, she's cute and all (same reason God makes all babies - human, feline or otherwise - cute. So their parents don't kill 'em! 
). However, as I said in the picture thread, she destroyed our previous fake tree. This is brand new $250 tree that I would really like to see last more than 1 year - 2 tops.
I looked for citrus scented...anything air freshener. Car, air, anything citrus. This going on the idea that most cats do not like citrus scent and will avoid it. Apparently lemon scent is so 2 years ago or some other time because it sure isn't this year! Not one lemon/lime scent in the automotive or smelly stuff aisles. Even went to Pepboys - nothing there either. I did find a spray orange/vanilla scent at Pepboys and tried dousing the center of the tree, especially in "her" spot. We can still smell it so it didn't disappear, especially not since I re-applied today at lunch. DH came downstairs to find Miss Annie passed out in the tree not an hour after I sprayed it.
I did buy some vinegar and a spray bottle with the same idea in mind - that cats don't like that smell either. I'm going to try that tonight and see if that helps.
Other ideas that I haven't tried yet:
Re: SSCAT: If you aren't familiar with it, here's the page on Amazon and a short video
of how it works. Pros: Effective when we aren't there to catch her. Cons: Sensor is only in 1 direction & on 1 set of branches; Annie would likely knock over the tree getting out of it - but it might keep the stinker out of it for a while!
Has anyone used SSCAT? Any experiences?
Any other ideas? Either on how to keep her out or how to keep my tree from falling apart and looking like crud if we can't keep her out?
Yeah, she's cute and all (same reason God makes all babies - human, feline or otherwise - cute. So their parents don't kill 'em! ). However, as I said in the picture thread, she destroyed our previous fake tree. This is brand new $250 tree that I would really like to see last more than 1 year - 2 tops.I looked for citrus scented...anything air freshener. Car, air, anything citrus. This going on the idea that most cats do not like citrus scent and will avoid it. Apparently lemon scent is so 2 years ago or some other time because it sure isn't this year! Not one lemon/lime scent in the automotive or smelly stuff aisles. Even went to Pepboys - nothing there either. I did find a spray orange/vanilla scent at Pepboys and tried dousing the center of the tree, especially in "her" spot. We can still smell it so it didn't disappear, especially not since I re-applied today at lunch. DH came downstairs to find Miss Annie passed out in the tree not an hour after I sprayed it.
I did buy some vinegar and a spray bottle with the same idea in mind - that cats don't like that smell either. I'm going to try that tonight and see if that helps.
Other ideas that I haven't tried yet:
- Tin foil??? (I don't know how I would get it to stay since she sprawls across multiple branches)
- Sticky stuff (see above - it didn't work with Mojo to stop her from scratching my chair. Mojo likes chewing on sticky tape/StickyPaws These are my cats!)
- SSSCAT
Re: SSCAT: If you aren't familiar with it, here's the page on Amazon and a short video
of how it works. Pros: Effective when we aren't there to catch her. Cons: Sensor is only in 1 direction & on 1 set of branches; Annie would likely knock over the tree getting out of it - but it might keep the stinker out of it for a while!Has anyone used SSCAT? Any experiences?
Any other ideas? Either on how to keep her out or how to keep my tree from falling apart and looking like crud if we can't keep her out?
) She doesn't appear to be climbing up from the bottom. None of the branches below her preferred level are disturbed. Just to be sure, though, I did spritz multiple levels of the tree with vinegar.
