Healthy Christmas Tree decorations for kitties...

Hello all! I was just curious what would be a healthy idea for decorations for a tree...and is a live tree okay for kitties? I am a little frightened to think about getting a Christmas tree this year, since both Zazu and Mojo are still kittens...I dread thinking about what I would come home to after a day of work! I know tinsle is out of the question...and most likely glass ornaments...(seeing as though Zazu is a chewer) but do you all have any suggestions of decorations that may be safe for our kitties? Hope all of your kitty buddies are well...hope to hear from you soon!
~Zazusmom,
& Mojo, too!

What about using cat toys? They come in all sorts of Christmas-y shapes and sizes. I was at the grocery store pet aisle and saw toys with Santa, reindeer, and fake mistletoe. Plus those crinkly mice could be great decorations.

I can't think of any "human" decorations that would be safe for a chewer. Anything with strings or hooks is a danger, and a kitty could be strangled with strings of lights, should the kitty climb around the tree.

Make sure that your kitties can't get to the water under a live tree. The vet mentioned that to me the other day. There is something that people usually put in the water for their trees to make it last longer that is harmful for kitties.

My mom made ornaments out of Christmasy fabric to hang at the bottom of the tree. We still have those & plan on using them. They are ugly, but they will work. We also bought some "unbreakable balls" to hang on the tree. They are supposedly cat safe. We had them up last year & Twitch never did any harm to them & they didn't do any harm to her. It is different with a kitten, though. They haven't been given the "Lily seal of approval", yet. With kittens being such monekys they are, I don't know of any other ornaments that would be safe.

Thanks for the post! I would have forgotten about Christmas ornaments. It is hard to remember all of the things a kitten can get into. This is only our 2nd time around with a kitten, so we are still learning.

Painted pine cones are OK, and many wooden toys and cutouts. What about strings of capers or Qumqat fruits?

The first year I had Max I had to decorate cautiously. I used the wide wired ribbon and strung it around the tree. I made bows with the same ribbon and tied them on th tree. All the ornaments were pine cones, wooden paint it yourself and natural things I could find. All was attached without hooks. However, my tree was artificial. I think a cat, especially kittens would be drawn to the scent of a real tree and want to climb it. So my suggestions is get an artificial table tree and decorate with all unbreakable, no hooks decorations.

We switched from a real to an artificial tree two Christmases ago, and it is really less attractive to cats. As far as decorations are concerned, I use all cloth or wooden ornaments, because Jamie likes to "undecorate" the tree and hide his "new cat toys". I try to buy sturdy ones that don't have little pieces that could break off and be swallowed.
I like the idea of using real cat toys, though.

What about using cat toys? They come in all sorts of Christmas-y shapes and sizes. I was at the grocery store pet aisle and saw toys with Santa, reindeer, and fake mistletoe. Plus those crinkly mice could be great decorations.

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Wouldn't that make them want to get into the tree more?

That is what I thought also...that is one of the last things I would want to do! I love the wooden ornament idea! Thanks for all your info...please keep it coming!

~Zazusmom,
and Mojo, too!

Originally Posted by crittermom

Wouldn't that make them want to get into the tree more?

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I used plastic oranments that look pretty much like glass, that I hot glued the tops into (They seemed stuck into the balls pretty good, but I put the glue around them just for extra safety measure)....and I used some big brass jingle bells too. In place of hooks I took 18" of ribbon and put it threw where a hook would go, pulled up the two ends to make them equal, then tied them to form a knot about 1" above the top of the ball or bell. (That will let the oramnet "dangle' and will also keep the cat from being able to get it off the bell or ball if the cat does gets the ornament untied from the tree...so it won`t be able to swallow the ribbon, since it will still be attached to it) Then I used the length of the 2 ribbon ends to tie the ornament onto a tree branch. You can just make a bow, which they probably will untie the ones near the bottom of the tree...and play with them....or if you don`t want them to ,then a knotted bow should make that less likely.
I also bought silk Poinsettas, hot glued the centers into them and laid them in the tree.
I had made some bows out of wider ribbon (not wired) and had laid them in the tree also, but then was afraid that they might get them down and untied...so I took them off and stitched through them in the centers on the sewing machine to secure them from being able to be pulled apart.
Have a great Christmas!
Linda

Another good thing to use is candy - especially the twisted canes as cats won't eat them and they look very pretty. Kits may pull them off to play with them though!