Christmas trees and cats ...

I know its early but I have been thinking about what to do this Christmas, I have a cat the is 14 months old right now, he has PICA and will eat EVERYTHING if I would allow him. Last Christmas he was a tiny kitten and couldnt reach the tree and never bothered it. But this year I am concerned about him eating the tree. I have been reading a lot online but nothing seems like it would work to keep him from it. Does anyone have any ideas on what to do, and if I did get a tree which would be the safest for him a real one or an artificial. Id rather him not eat either and of course getting a tree would mean I would have to put him another room while I am out of the house for his safety, I just dont know what to do, my family wants a tree but not at the cost of  Milo's health. 

I've been thinking the same thing the past few weeks - ever since I saw Christmas trees on display at Walmart!  My two boys were 8 months old last Christmas and... all I can say is, Ho! Ho! Hoooooooo!  What to do? What to do?

I had a small, 2 foot tree sitting on a table because I now live alone and moved to a much smaller place and a 7 foot tree just wasn't in my plans. After picking the tree up off the floor 2 or 3 times a day for almost a week, I decided to just let it on the floor!

Ironically, I bought a new sofa a couple months ago and when I pulled the old one out, I found 2 ornaments under it! Fortunately, they were the non-breakable plastic kind and they still play with them because I wasn't going to go through the hassle of digging through the closet to find the right box to put them away, LOL.  (Not to mention a treasure of other 'goodies' I had forgotten about. I guess I need to move my sofa out more often?).

As far as a live tree, there are a few things to consider -

If you put any preservatives or fertilizers in the water (chemicals, asprin, etc.), they are most likely toxic to your cat. Also, the water will grow bacteria which could make your cat sick. Pine needles are not only a chocking issue, they could get into his digestive tract and cause damage - and, pine is highly toxic to cats.

Then there are the issues of 'new' electrical cords, ornament hooks and tinsel/garland to chew on. Not good!

Neither is fake snow, mistle toe, holly or poinsettias - all toxic to cats!

With a fake tree, you don't have as many things to worry about, but there are still those new elctrical cords and garland and ornament hooks. 

Also, with a fake tree you would have to make sure the base is wide enough to keep it from toppling over should they decide to climb it. Or somehow figure a way to secure it in an upright position.

Also, keep in mind that if the tree is sitting near furniture, your cat will most likely make that inevitable 'leap of faith' from the back of a chair or table and land right in the middle of the tree. And, if the tree goes over, anything nearby is likely to get crashed when it goes down (table lamps, knick-knacks on side tables, curtains and blinds etc.).

So, what are the options? 

You could try repellent smells under and around the tree such as baskets of orange peels or citrus potpourri, spritzing the tree skirt with citronella or apple bitter, or laying things under the tree that cats ordinarily will avoid stepping on like double-sided tape (my cats love to play with that stuff, so it doesn't work here), aluminum foil (that never worked for me/us either) or those hideous plastic 'rug runners' with the pointing bumps on the underside with the bumps facing upward.(I don't even know where to buy those ugly things anymore?).

If you use a spray bottle of water for other diciplinary measures, you could try that to make them aware the tree is off limits. Also, be sure the tree is always unplugged when you are not close by to supervise - water and electicity don't go well together! (or that you don't spray water on the cat while he is under or in the tree or chewing electrical cords when you spray water on him!).

Christmas presents could also become an issue because of the paper, ribbons, bows and other decorations that cats love to chew, eat, play with and otherwise destroy!

If you are still sure you want to put a tree up, I suggest putting it up and not decorating it for a day or two to give your cat time to adjust to it being there. Also, there are less 'hazzards' with an undecorated tree.

When you get ready to decorate, put your cat in another room. All the boxes, ornaments, cords, and garland are going to be... well... like Christmas to your cat! "Look at all this cool stuff, Mom!". Your cat would only see it as an invitation to play! 

Try to avoid 'cat attractive' ornaments - the ones that glitter and dangle and move, and place less decorations near the bottom of the tree. I would avoid using any heirloom or expensive ornaments on the tree.

If you use hooks, clamp each one with a pliers to make sure it won't come off the tree, or twist each ornament on with a twist-tie, but make it is secure and the ends are bent over because if your cats gets one loose, it can be swallowed. Give each one a tug to make sure it's on there real good!

Go to your local hardware store and buy some flexible tubing to keep the electrical cords in, then spray the tubing with apple bitter.

OK, so now you are really confused and wondering what to do, right?

Maybe you could ask family members for copies of pictures from past Christmases and make a collage to hang on the wall instead of having an actual tree. That could inspire some good memories and stories!

If all else fails, see the picture below (I am thinking this might be MY option!). 

View media item 303099

This article may help a bit -

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/cats-and-christmas-trees

           

I have 15 dogs and over 30 cats at my home in the Philippines. I've finally trained the dogs to leave the tree alone (though I do have a new rescue who is fond of eating electrical cords.........). The cats, on the other hand, biggest problem is not eating the tree but climbing it. And while I LOVE that idea, I'm afraid my mini mountain lions would simply scale the fence.

Try a  DIY Christmas "tree" sucha s these:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/diy-christmas-tree-alternatives-197702

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/creative-christmas-trees-for-the-space-challenged-180516

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/15-alternative-christmas-trees-181603

A Christmas tree doesn't have have to be an actual or fake tree  You can use your imagine to make a creative "tree".

LOL Thanks everyone. I have owned cats my whole life and have never had any trouble with Christmas trees before. but Milo is special, he has PICA and eats everything, Finn our other cat could care less about stuff. I love the pic with the cage lol. I may have to do an alternative tree from now on. When I say he eats everything I mean everything, from  paper, to plastic, metal anything he can get in his mouth, he will hunt things out to eat them. I do not work due to health issues so thankfully I can watch him almost all the time and keep my house spotless then  at night when my husband and I go to bed we have to lock him and Finn in our bedroom with us (they have a litter box, food & water in there also), we put a screen door up on our bedroom door so they can still look out in the hall and not feel so locked up when ever we are out of the house. He is a handfull but I love him

MiloFinn said:

I know its early but I have been thinking about what to do this Christmas, I have a cat the is 14 months old right now, he has PICA and will eat EVERYTHING if I would allow him. Last Christmas he was a tiny kitten and couldnt reach the tree and never bothered it. But this year I am concerned about him eating the tree. I have been reading a lot online but nothing seems like it would work to keep him from it. Does anyone have any ideas on what to do, and if I did get a tree which would be the safest for him a real one or an artificial. Id rather him not eat either and of course getting a tree would mean I would have to put him another room while I am out of the house for his safety, I just dont know what to do, my family wants a tree but not at the cost of  Milo's health. 

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Can't you put a large plastic, with holes to make it prettyish like a guard round it, too high for him with the presents behind the guard so he won't eat the paper etc.

juleska

Surely climbing a thing like that which, incidentally, I think is a marvellous idea but then I don't celebwouldn't brakes, wouldnt hurt the tree, if you get my drift.

All Christmas ornaments belong under the refrigerator. How do I know this you ask ? When the nice delivery men were taking away the old one they pulled it out and tipped it up. There were dozens of missing tree ornaments under it.

The best solution for us since we have no kids is a beautiful wall wreath. Anything else I buy with the idea the cats will have access and I don't care. I'm pretty sure it came with the cat owners handbook under

Surrender Dorothy

What about a nice, festive christmas cat tree? Decorated (of course) with cat safe toys that can be plucked off at will, and maybe a catnip plant for the greenery

This is the tree my husband is going to build in an 8 foot size (minus the cut out stars on it), its not all green and fluffy but it will keep Milo safe for many Christmases to come.


This is my rotten lil boy

Stewball said:

juleska

Surely climbing a thing like that which, incidentally, I think is a marvellous idea but then I don't celebwouldn't brakes, wouldnt hurt the tree, if you get my drift.

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celebrate Christmas!

MiloFinn said:

This is the tree my husband is going to build in an 8 foot size (minus the cut out stars on it), its not all green and fluffy but it will keep Milo safe for many Christmases to come.

f23d8ac065ab44bc050f327f04960de6.jpg

• milofinn
• Oct 6, 2015

This is my rotten lil boy

11792126_10206213388226344_2014037903935244399_o.j

• milofinn
• Oct 6, 2015

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Oh don't call him rotten. He's beautiful.

View media item 303661
Sorry! I couldn't resist! That facial expression just spoke volumes to me.  He is gorgeous!

LOL This is adorable and SOOOO true

Fyllis said:

Sorry! I couldn't resist! That facial expression just spoke volumes to me.  He is gorgeous!

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I thought of a fake tree,near wall,so I can put 2 hooks udjusted and secure it with strings(or other material)[emoji]127876[/emoji][emoji]127876[/emoji][emoji]127873[/emoji][emoji]127873[/emoji][emoji]10024[/emoji][emoji]10024[/emoji][emoji]128049[/emoji][emoji]128049[/emoji][emoji]128585[/emoji][emoji]128047[/emoji]