Cats & Artificial Christmas Trees...

[shad]

I've searched the forums about this and have found one very helpful topic... but I want to put this out there again to see if any new opinions/experiences are about.

From the other thread, I now know that the following can be a threat to one's cat:

-ingestion of tinsel
-gnawing on the wires of decorative lights
-shards from broken ornaments
-the tree toppling due to an unsecure base and the weight of the cat(s)

I plan to purchase and setup a ~5ft artificial tree later this week, and would like my kittens to be able to enjoy it (safely) too.

When I was in college a close friend had a kitten and an artificial tree and I swear that thing was playing in it for the entire month of December, dropping out of the branches only to eat and visit the litterbox. You'd walk into the house and see the tree in the foyer. You'd call the kitten's name and some branches would rustle and a cute little meow would issue forth - that little fuzzbutt was in heaven.

Anyhow, I plan to secure the base with several 10kilo bags of kitty litter. I will also only use sturdy plastic or wooden ornaments on the tree, and save the tinsel/garland for above the doorways.

Is there anything else I need to worry about? Bear in mind I want them to be able to enjoy (climb on and possible destroy) the tree. I'm fully prepared to rehang any dropped ornaments/branches as often as possible. The tree will be a gift for ALL of us

 

[raggiekitty]

I bet that was cute seeing the kitty playing in the tree

It sounds like you've got it all covered, I just hope you get some good pics of those little girls having a great time and share them with us!

 

[karebearcasey]

oh my, you are LETTING them in the tree, lol??? we are trying to figure out to keep ours out! we put rocks on the tree stand to secure it. as for now, we just have the tree up to get them used to it so maybe it will loose all it's glory for when we finally decide to hang the "toys" from the branches and string all those pretty colored light up strings around it.

 

[shad]

If we had a real tree, I likely wouldn't, as the sap + longhair fur would be a disaster.

But this is an artificial tree, and a sturdy one at that. These two are confined to a 2 room + balcony apartment for the foreseeable future, they deserve a kickbutt climbing gym

 

[jack31]

We have had our artificial tree up for two weeks I believe and things are going great. The first two days were rough (mainly with the lights) but Jack is over it now. The only thing he does is scratch on the trunk of tree--which we totally allow and praise him for (much much better than mommy and daddy's couch!)

Good luck with your two! (Jack is about 15 weeks old by the way)

Leslie

 

[momto3cats]

We have used an artificial tree for several years, and the cats don't seem to care about it. Ours isn't all that sturdy, and I think they know it wouldn't hold their weight. When we had real trees in the past, it was always difficult to keep them from climbing them and playing with the ornaments.

 

[jcat]

A colleague came up with the most ingenious idea after his s.o. and her three cats moved in with him. He put up sturdy wall brackets for a book shelf just a little bit lower than the top of their artificial tree, and got two boards to fit them. He cut a hole in one board, and that's used to stabilize the top of the tree during the holiday season. He uses packing tape underneath to make sure the board remains on the brackets. The rest of the year, they use the other board, and have a book shelf.

 

[lnbandcats]

I put up my artificial tree over the weekend. Sophie and Mollie are great with it - but Cosmo is totally fascinated with all of the ornaments. Although I went with plastic ornaments and handmade ornaments - please be careful of the hooks that are used to hang the ornaments. I found that I had to firmly squeeze both the little hook (that attaches to the ornament) and the big hook that hangs the ornament from the tree - Cosmo loves to bat the balls (

) and that keep the ornament on the tree and the ornament hook from falling off - and potentially causing a choking hazard! I also wire my tree to my wall at two different angles for stability! I enjoy the few minutes that I spend every morning "policing" the floor for fallen ornaments!

 

[pami]

Just keep an eye on them and make sure they dont try to eat it. I had to take mine down before Christmas after someone was eating it and vomited some of the fake tree.

I love your attitude about the the tree, though. I would so let mine in it, too, if they wouldnt eat it