Kitten and Christmas tree

[Razor Roman]

HELP!

My kitten is going crazy with the Christmas tree. Every time he climbs up on it, I spritz him with water from a spray bottle, and he runs away, but he come right back.

What can I do to keep him from ruining all my ornaments and knocking the tree over. It's already been tipped once.

I guess when I go to work this morning, I have to put him in the laundry room...

 

[Simba's Mom]

No advice-just empathy. DH had this "great" idea to put up the Christmas tree and just leave it undecorated for a few days for Tigger to get used to it. That was almost 2 weeks ago, and it's been knocked over, spun around, eaten (those needles are sooo yummy!) several times. His favorite thing is to climb into the tree and sleep in the branches. The biggest (literally) problem with that is that he's well over 15 pounds, and the branches are getting bent and broken. Good luck! Maybe this isn't our year to have a christmas tree.

 

[Kitty 34]

Good luck!! As you know I'm having the same problem!!

 

[Fizban257]

It sounds like it's time for you to invest in a toy Christmas train. Buy it, set it up to circle your tree, and let 'er rip. The constantly circling train should scare him/her away from the tree--especially if it's a noisier train.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

We brought a kitten home last Friday, and the most she has done with the tree is "spar" the bottom ornaments. It is so cute. I keep waiting for her to try to climbing the tree, but so far, she is just trying to figure out what those things are hanging off the tree.

 

[mommytotwo]

You could get a Christmas type activiated sensor so that when you cat tries to go near it, it will make a noise or play a song and it will get scared away.

 

[Fizban257]

Oh! Another thing that works (and it's a lot cheaper) is cheap perfume. Buy some cheap perfume and spritz the tree a few time a day--before work, when you get home, before bed, etc. Cats have more sensitive noses and will not like the perfume--this worked for us the first two years with our cats. Now we have our 6-foot artificial tree up on an old t.v. stand with a white sheet draped over it. Elevating the tree keeps them from getting too interested in it. Hope this helps--our three cats haven't knocked over our tree once in 5 years (knock wood).

 

[Tina]

I feel your pain. Our 12 and 14 year old 'kittens' never leave the tree alone. If they're not in it bending the branches and batting at ornaments, then they're eating it (its plastic!!) and throwing it up on the carpet. What can you do?? Just live with it. That's what we do.

 

[pooh6890]

I am printing out every post that has to do with animals and Christmas trees. I posted one earlier questioning a tree and new pups. I have 2 dogs both about a year old. My daughters have been driving me crazy about getting a tree. I know my dogs and I know that I will be coming home to a big mess every day from work. I am not giving in....I am not giving in.......I am not giving in.

 

[CourtasanSatine]

My sister's kitten thinks the tree is just a big toy too

 

[Tasha+Scott]

I feel for you! We've been there too since we currently have 4 cats inside. The only thing that we have been able to do is lock the cats in our bedroom while we are not at home. We let them out and just keep an eye on them when we are home. They don't seem to mind much b/c we make sure they have plenty of food and water, their litter boxes, and cat toys while we are gone. This year has been the easiest year for us b/c it is the only Christmas since I was 16 that I have not had a job. So, they aren't locked up much this year since I am home more. Good luck! And remember, your cats own your house, not you! LOL!

 

[GeorgeG]

I don't know if there's any sure way to keep the cats away from the tree. Some years back our old cat managed to knock ours over and broke a few balls. It was after Christmas so I just packed it all up until the following year.

What I did the next year was to cut a 2' x 2' piece of 3/4" plywood that I bolted the tree stand to. The cats can now play with the tree all they want (even though we don't want them to) but they will never knock it over. The two cats we have now are better, though, and just play with a couple of lower ornaments. We make a point not to put anything important that low.

 

[HisEllyNelly]

How about tying the tree up? I had to do it, but not for a kitten, dog or kids...I am just hopeless when it comes to putting the tree up by myself.I took two hooks, attached them to the window trim behind the tree and wrapped some green twine around the top of the trunk and then tied it off.

 

[Tinkerbelle739]

We also have 2 kittens in our house and I was concerned about them climbing the tree. I have had experience with fallen trees and broken ornaments in the past and I cried everytime!! I like the train idea.

BTW, I dont think we will have a problem this time around because we just picked up Tigger and Pooh from the Kitty Hospital where they were neutered and declawed!! Poor kitties!! I certainly DO NOT suggest that as a way of stopping your kitty from climbing the tree!!

Good Luck!

 

[Simba's Mom]

I may have found a solution! We just put up a second tree. One has cheap, but attractive (importantly, to Tigger) ornaments. So far he hasn't gone near the other tree. So now we have 2 trees-one for Tigger, one for the rest of us. We had to yell and smack the newspaper loudly on the floor a few times as Tigger went after the new tree, but when he discovered he could "get away with" going after the other tree without a major yelling match, he quickly gave up and went back to HIS tree. DH says it will only take a few days to realize he's not getting any attention unless he goes after the tree that's not his, and then the problems will begin again-we'll see.

 

[Robinrs]

....sigh... welcome to MY world....