Cats IN the Christmas Tree....HELP!!

["Got Disney"]

Does yout tree look anything like THIS:

http://www.fluffytails.ca/christmas.asp

sure looks like my tree every Christmas... I gave up trying ways to keep all 3 kitties out of the tree. We have given in and We now just look at them as live ornaments very special live ornaments.

Good luck and hope you have better luck than I....although when the dogs are in the house that seems to work...GOT DOGS ?

 

[MichelleVW]

After having our tree tipped over twice 2 years back, we have switched to fake trees. They are more sturdy. Spraying my cat with water doesnt work, I just get an annoyed look from him as he continues behaving badly. Then he gets in the bed, wet for a nap.

We have to get real trees....this is what happened to our last fake tree.
They don't really bother the real trees much.

 

[lovetoscrap]

We just put ours up today. Tree and lights only. Our 1 year old kitties are just bundles of trouble! So far they are only nibbling but haven't started climbing yet. I think keeping them out of it would be a lesson in futility so we aren't even going to try. If it gets to be too much trouble we will just take it back down.

We are not going to be home for Christmas, so we aren't going to to do much decorating, thus we are going to forego the ornaments. If I get a chance to go by the dollar store or Wallyworld I may pick up some plastic ball ornaments and maybe some ribbon to put on it since I can't use silver tinsel.

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

We have to get real trees....this is what happened to our last fake tree.
They don't really bother the real trees much.

lol DH and i can't do the real trees because we both have allergies!

only one of our cats has managed to actually climb up the tree. the boy just likes to brush his head against the branches on the bottom and the one girl likes to sleep under it, but the other girl, the youngest one, she's tried climbing up it 3 times now. and she's usually the shy one who never comes around! lol

 

[Imzadi]

Now that is a Christmas card picture!

the youngest one, she's tried climbing up it 3 times now. and she's usually the shy one who never comes around! lol

I guess she figures if she can actually get up IN the tree, she can go hide in it.

 

[Simba's Mom]

however the one who just eats the tree, when he was a baby we'd spray him with a squirt gun with water and he didn't even care. he'd be standing there soaked just looking at us like "what's wrong??" lol. he also loves to be in the kitchen sink and tries to jump in the tub, so i think he's one of few cats who aren't afraid of water lol!

That's just like our cat-he loves being in the sink and getting water on his head. We just finally gave up on keeping him out of the tree and we apologize when people come over. We also buy only unbreakable ornaments. Since he weighs 20 pounds (Maine Coon, they grow large), we're waiting for the time the tree falls over from the weight.

 

[Poohgirl]

I can tell you what NOT to do!! Do not pretend to shoot the kitty with a pellet hand gun (which makes a loud POP). My Ex husband did this years ago when the cat kept climbing the tree.

One day several months later I noticed a lump under my cats skin...thinking it was something that needed to be looked at, I brought him to the vet ASAP. The Vet proceeded to cut the area and out popped a metal BB.

Yes my ex had accidently shot the cat with a pellet that must have been lodged in the gun... Of course I then was the one left at the vets office to try and explain that one...

 

[NotUrsula]

If you have a climber (whether human or feline), then you have to guy-wire the tree to keep it upright.

Buy some really heavy-test fishing line (100 lb +), and screw some small eyehooks into the wall at about 4-5 feet up from the floor and about 3 feet out on either side of the tree trunk. Wrap the line around the trunk a bit above the eyes' height, then tie it off on the eyes. Another line directly vertical from the top of the tree to the ceilling isn't a bad idea, either, and is probably your only choice if you put your tree in the middle of a foyer or similar.

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

That's just like our cat-he loves being in the sink and getting water on his head. We just finally gave up on keeping him out of the tree and we apologize when people come over. We also buy only unbreakable ornaments. Since he weighs 20 pounds (Maine Coon, they grow large), we're waiting for the time the tree falls over from the weight.

lol cats aren't supposed to like water, what's wrong with these cats!? the boy is also very vocal and he thinks he's a mountain lion i swear, he jumps up on everything, even my husband sometimes, he'll jump right ontop of his shoulders or climb right up him, he's insane! lol

I can tell you what NOT to do!! Do not pretend to shoot the kitty with a pellet hand gun (which makes a loud POP). My Ex husband did this years ago when the cat kept climbing the tree.

One day several months later I noticed a lump under my cats skin...thinking it was something that needed to be looked at, I brought him to the vet ASAP. The Vet proceeded to cut the area and out popped a metal BB.

Yes my ex had accidently shot the cat with a pellet that must have been lodged in the gun... Of course I then was the one left at the vets office to try and explain that one...

yeah i don't think i'd ever actually shoot something at an animal that could potentially hurt it, i'm too big of an animal lover for that. but a squirt gun i don't think i'd mind....but like i said.....even those don't work!

If you have a climber (whether human or feline), then you have to guy-wire the tree to keep it upright.

Buy some really heavy-test fishing line (100 lb +), and screw some small eyehooks into the wall at about 4-5 feet up from the floor and about 3 feet out on either side of the tree trunk. Wrap the line around the trunk a bit above the eyes' height, then tie it off on the eyes. Another line directly vertical from the top of the tree to the ceilling isn't a bad idea, either, and is probably your only choice if you put your tree in the middle of a foyer or similar.

yeah we've anchored the tree. that's not my worry. i'm worried that they're going to break things or possibly hurt themselves. the actual tree, itself, is the least of my worries lol

 

[maelstrom]

A lolcat from 1988.

ETA: we had a kitten named Kitty who liked to chill in the tree; this is her.

 

[FSUDisneyGirl]

I don't know if this would help anyone...but we set up our tree (real) and left it up for about a day with no decorations, lights, etc. I have a cat about 1 year old and I didn't have a tree for her first Christmas...she likes to climb screens (and everything), so we were being cautious. We then wrapped it with lights, and she liked chasing the lights on the ground as we wrapped, but no interest in the tree. Then we added bows...and now we've had it about a week, and the cats really aren't bothering it. I'm thinking it helped a bit that we didn't put fun dangly things on it right away...but otherwise, good luck to everyone else!

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

I don't know if this would help anyone...but we set up our tree (real) and left it up for about a day with no decorations, lights, etc. I have a cat about 1 year old and I didn't have a tree for her first Christmas...she likes to climb screens (and everything), so we were being cautious. We then wrapped it with lights, and she liked chasing the lights on the ground as we wrapped, but no interest in the tree. Then we added bows...and now we've had it about a week, and the cats really aren't bothering it. I'm thinking it helped a bit that we didn't put fun dangly things on it right away...but otherwise, good luck to everyone else!

they seem to be getting a little better with it. only one of them is giving us a problem now(and she's usually the quiet one who never gets introuble! lol) and even she's been bothering with it less and less.

for about a week we would wake up and find ornaments on the floor but recently we've been pretty good.

 

[DMRick]

This is wonderful, thanks for sharing. Our foster kittens this year are much smaller than we usually have them (usually we are holding on to already adopted fosters, for our Christmas Eve deliveries, playing Santa). My tree looked a lot like in this link the past two years..flattened. By Christmas, we had only a few ornaments (soft ones) on the bottom, and we had to unplug the lights before someone got hung or electocuted.

We haven't been without problems with these little kittens. We had to remove the straw in our manger, and our poor angel no longer sits on top, since they keep knocking her down. Jesus has a chewed foot and we can not light the manger up..they are wire chewers, even though it's liberally coated with deoderant. I hope they don't get too heavy before Christmas (they are only about 4 1/2 - 5 weeks).

Does yout tree look anything like THIS:

http://www.fluffytails.ca/christmas.asp