Hey All You Cat Owners

[laterbloomer]

How do you decorate your Christmas tree?

There is a 6 month old cat in the house now. I put the tree up yesterday but and she doesn't seem too interested in it. But now I'm scared to decorate it. What do you do?

[Tennesseer]

[myrrh]

I've been lucky enough that my cats don't climb the artificial tree, they just bat at the lower ornaments. So I put the glass ornaments high up on the tree and the non-breakable ones (or the ones I don't care about) at the bottom, and am resigned that I may lose a few each year. I have more than enough ornaments so the loss of a few doesn't really bother me. I think that cats might be more likely to climb a real tree and I don't know what I would do then, probably just not have any glass ornaments. Which would be sad but then you have an excuse to buy more nonbreakable ones, lol.

[countrygirl2]

I have unbreakable ornaments and they bat the bottom ones somewhat, but I gave them one or two and they play with them. I have found Smoke in the tree once or twice but not Tig, he is so big don't think he could get up there. We have had a tree ever since we have had the kitties and it has survived. Just say no and give them other things to play with, they will learn.

[raeoflyte]

Start off with non-breakable ornaments and see how the kitten does. We had a cat who broke all the lower branches on our tree the first couple years, but no one has really bothered a tree since.

But I just got pictures from a friend with a 6 month old kitten who has decided the tree is home.

[minnesotapaintlady]

My cats never bothered the tree even when they were young.  My most recent kitten Baxter ( ) would knock the bottom ornaments off, but if we left the bottom free of dangling things he ignored it for the most part. 

[notagain]

My cats never bothered the tree also. With that being said, do not put tinsel on the tree!!!

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

My cats have never been too interested in the Christmas tree. 
Like notagain said, don’t use tinsel as they do like chewing on it.  

[azucena]

And no ribbons on packages under the tree!

[Cookies Galore]

I don't put up a tree or do any sort of decorating, aside from a few of those Target birds I put on a shelf the boys can't get to. I tried to put string lights on the banister once, but my one cat immediately tried to chew on them, so off they went.

[Tennesseer]

Dec 4, 2023 13:11:22 GMT -5 notagain said:

My cats never bothered the tree also. With that being said, do not put tinsel on the tree!!!

My family's childhood dog used to eat the tinsel. Every now and then we would have to pull it out of her rear end.

[Tiny]

I found that giving my cat(s) a place to sleep under the tree was helpful. I couldn't have ribbons on presents (I had a "String Eater" cat) and The Queen of All She Surveys would take offense at random ornaments and slam them off the tree - so all the lower branch ornaments had to be non breakable. I did have to make sure all the light bulbs on the lower branches were "pointed up" or on t he top side of the branch - as the Cat with Very Little Brain liked to chew on the lights if they were pointed downward or on the bottom of the branch.



The "sleeping places" became boxes where I wrapped the outside with holiday paper (no ribbons) and put a bit of holiday colored fleece or a towel inside. One year I found holiday themed/colored cat beds in the style my cats LOVED and those went under the tree for them to sleep in.   The "box" was usually a cardboard  "paper box" lid I brought home from work,  a cut  down Amazon box, or some other box that was delivered to the house.   Basically a low sided  cat bed. 

For some reason my cats loved to sleep under the tree. They'd spend most of their napping time under the tree while it was up.

ADDED:  I meant to add/say (not just poorly imply) that as long as the cats had a comfy spot to sleep under the tree - they'd pretty much leave the tree and ornaments and bulbs alone.  Well, except when the ornaments insulted and disparaged The Queen of All She Surveys.  There wasn't much I could do about that other than NOT have ornaments on the lower branches.   The unbreakable ornaments did the trick - and the ones that got slammed off the tree didn't get put back on.   Once the 2 or 3 most offensive ornaments were removed (and NOT replaced) - the Iron Paw was content to sleep in a box under the tree. 

[Cheesy FL-Vol]

Like others, I put the unbreakables on the bottom of the tree. None of ours had very much interest in the trees. They do, however, love to nap on the tree skirt.

[Anne_in_VA]

Our cat doesn’t bother the tree but she does sleep under it.  Sh doesn’t bother the ornaments either.  If I put presents under the tree we have to leave her a place to nap.

[thyme4change]

We haven’t had as many problems with the cats since we got an artificial tree. But we have designated “cat toy ornaments” that decorate the bottom of the tree. As my cats age, they are less interested in them. But they do love sleeping under the tree.

[laterbloomer]

Thanks everyone, I'm off to the dollar store for unbreakable decorations.

[soupandstew]

Once upon a time we had the cat from hell and got a live tree.  It stayed upright less than 3 hours.  After that, it was wired upright to a nearby wall.  

Another long-gone but beloved feline would eat the tinsel - it goes in shiny but comes out clear and the cat achieved a new volume and speed when I pulled it out of his butt hole.

[Tennesseer]

A well behaved cat for sure under the Christmas tree.  Maybe paper bags are the trick.

[anciana]

Dec 4, 2023 12:02:41 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Someone tried that and here’s how it went for them link

[laterbloomer]

I went with glittery red and white bows and candy canes and a glittery Santa's hat as a topper. So far she's not showing extra interest in the tree, fingers crossed.

[Tennesseer]

Dec 4, 2023 20:44:55 GMT -5 anciana said:

Dec 4, 2023 12:02:41 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Someone tried that and here’s how it went for them link

[resolution]

I have ongoing problems with the tree skirt leaving the tree and wandering around the house. 



I have an artificial tree that has the lights pre-strung, so there are less hanging cords. I also spray the cord with Bitter Yuck so it doesn't get chewed. I haven't put up our tree yet this year, but I did buy some plastic ornaments, so I am hopeful. Previously I had been using wooden ornaments, but I wasn't happy with the overall look.

[Opti]

Dec 4, 2023 13:52:49 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Dec 4, 2023 13:11:22 GMT -5 notagain said:

My cats never bothered the tree also. With that being said, do not put tinsel on the tree!!!

My family's childhood dog used to eat the tinsel. Every now and then we would have to pull it out of her rear end.

I have had to pull things like strands of my own long hair out of bearded dragon asses. I think hair reminds them of cricket and insect exoskeleton. I was only able to cut down AJ's hair eating habit, not stop it. 

[countrygirl2]

I forgot about the tree skirt, yep, they did have it scooting around the floor. Also no bows or ribbons on gifts either.
Won't have that problem in Washington this year.

When I come back the pain management doc is going to give me shots in my right hip and hip socket area. They are going to put me under anesthesia like for a colonoscopy to do it and also lidocaine. He said it will take about 3 days to start helping. I keep forgetting about the last steroid shot, I know that is why I have been eating too much, going to have to really watch it. I will lose weight up there because we eat tons of seafood and lighter meals when on our own. Hope to lose 3 or 4 pounds while there to get back to where I was before starting this.

He also recommended just have the nails removed on the 2 toes that hurt me so bad.  I pulled up the exrays of my feet for orthotics and my right foot looks like it was broke in the middle and bent to the right, no wonder I have so much trouble with it.

[Tennesseer]

A bell ornament, maybe?

[laterbloomer]

Dec 7, 2023 12:07:21 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

A bell ornament, maybe?

😅 she has that figured out with stuff on the kitchen counter.

[moon/Laura]

No Christmas spirit = no tree = no problem. But, even if I did have any, I have 5 cats so that's a no for me. At least 2 of them would definitely be messing with it.

[TheOtherMe]

I had Christmas flowers delivered today and it is up high enough that the cats can't reach it.

For whatever reason, they do not bother the ceramic trees.  I did threaten them with their lives.  

[thyme4change]

Dec 4, 2023 15:09:56 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

Thanks everyone, I'm off to the dollar store for unbreakable decorations.

My Target had bins and bins full of $3 ornaments - all of which were felt. There were tons of different kinds.

[Spellbound454]

my cat, "chequers" used to launch himself into the tree and pull the whole thing over..... when he was on a mad charge around the living room.

I got plastic baubles, battery lights .... and just kept picking it up.