Christmas trees and pets

[Disneylover79]

SO DBF and I have been trying to figure out if we are going to put the tree up this year or not.... we have 3 cats 1 older and 2 kittens, and we are afraid that they kittens will "take the tree down" while we are not home... but I really want to put it up...... so what do you do in order to "pet proof" your tree....

 

[ecamc]

I would love to have some ideas too. We have a cat that is 4 1/2 years old and she loves to climb the tree causing the ornaments to go flying and the tree to wobble. I am constantly after her to get out of the tree!

 

[KimmyDisneyNerd]

Lots of Luck! I have four and they are making me INSANE over the tree this year. Last year two of mine were kittens and they were quite good, obviously they are in the terrible two's this year!! We have NO breakable ornaments on the tree and just try not to worry about it. So far we have gone five straight days of it still standing.

 

[JR6ooo4]

Get a dog instead! Hehehehee

but Q used to scratch her back on the bottom branches of our tree. Causing it to spin in the base. Hehehehee SHe only knocked it over once, and has not been doing it lately.

Mikeeee

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

SO DBF and I have been trying to figure out if we are going to put the tree up this year or not.... we have 3 cats 1 older and 2 kittens, and we are afraid that they kittens will "take the tree down" while we are not home... but I really want to put it up...... so what do you do in order to "pet proof" your tree....

I don't think there is a way to cat proof a tree - we even tried bubble wrap half way up the tree once when we got desperate. It didn't work. The kitten loved the noise the bubble wrap made.

We just put up non-breakable ornaments on our fake tree, leave off all the decorative stuff like ribbons and bows and garland and look forward to the kitten growing up enough to leave the tree alone.

We haven't had a kitten in the house in 18 years and now that we do, I'm preparing for at least 4 tree knockovers in 25 days. That was the record that one of our cats set when he was a kitten.

 

[OrlandoMike]

I'll never forget years ago, I was doing a check of the house before bed, doing a kitty head count, and I was missing one. I went to turn off the tree, and noticed eyes, 3/4 the way up the tree, just sitting there on a branch, looking back at me!

He never did any damage, but he loved to crawl up and take a nap inside the tree!

 

[TLSnell1981]

My Tonkinese never bothered to climb my tree. They've always been indoor cats and didn't know what a tree was..... Well, I'm out of luck. We have a new addition...another Tonk. Diva is obsessed with the Christmas Trees. I have the live tree in my living room. I put up french doors to protect it. The new kitty stalks us. She pretty quick. The door opens.....and she's in like lightening. Weird thing...she doesn't climb it. She just sits there and looks at it....

 

[AmericangirlinFrance]

If it makes you feel better, my kitty is 13 years old, and she hasn't climbed the tree in, oh, 4 or 5 years? So in several years you don't have to worry

She does still play with the ornaments on the bottom branches, causing the tree to "wobble"... but it's still standing!

Her brother, on the other hand (no longer living), only climbed the tree in kittenhood. By 2 or 3 years old, he became quite the chubster and the branches would not really support his weight, so he gave it up!

 

[pppiglet]

When we had 3 cats, we'd just put them in another part of the house when we were not home so the tree would be fine. When we had 7 cats last year we decided not to get a tree. Now we have 9 and doesn't look like we will get one this year either. 5 of them are just a year old and they run all over. That tree wouldn't last a day around here.