Kitty and the Christmas Tree...

[csteen85]

This is my kitten's first Christmas as he is only about 6 months old.

The day we brought the tree home, we tried training him to stay out. We decorated it and when we came back from dinner, the lower Christmas balls (all plastic) were on the floor and he was sleeping in the bottom branch.

We got him out and were successful for a few days at keeping him away from the tree. My boyfriend was very stern with him (he uses some of the Dog Whisperer's techniques on our cat) and when my boyfriend is in the room, he doesn't go near the tree. However, when it's just me at home, he won't stay OUT of the tree.

Tonight, he's especially bad. I've been playing with him for hours, trying to tire him out and keep him occupied, but the second I put the toy down, he goes to the tree.

I even have sliced lemons under there to keep him out. He lays on top of them.

Right now, I have him in "his" room. The only reason I get so frustrated, is because he's starting to chew on the branches and I know these trees are toxic. The other reason I'm upset is I know it's possible to keep him out and train him, but it's only working for my boyfriend at the moment. Of course, he thinks he's the next Ceasar Milan, but whatever makes him happy.

Also, as you can see, I lost the battle for the fake tree vs. real tree.

Do you guys have any tips? It's only the branches and garland (ribbon) he's most interested in. Not the trunk.

Thanks!

 

[my4llma]

He's a kitten he just views the tree as a toy.

Lynxx

attacked our little tree when he was a baby, constantly knocked it down, almost broke it. We got a big tree later, but he was over a year old. He just layed under that tree and slept. Luna and Midnight are driving us nuts with the tree this year because their kittens, but we expected this. Luna will climb the tree, knock the branches down, and Midnight chews on the branches. They've gotten better about it, because it's been up for awhile. Now they both lay down underneath it, but still cause trouble. They'll be better next year when their over a year old. Maybe if your kitten see's it up for awhile it won't be so new, and he won't have the need to explore, and play in it so much. Luna and Midnight are still interested, but not as much.

 

[rad65]

I specifically bought a small, cheap tree this year because of my two cats. It's their first Christmas, and I know the excitement of a tree will be gtoo much. I've already had to stand the tree back up 5 or 6 times, but it's really easy since I only bought a 4' tree.