Cats love trees. In fact, it must be incredibly exciting for them to see you gussying one up with shiny hanging things on it for them to play with indoors. So its important to consider how to catproof your holiday evergreen before you end up with broken ornaments on the floor, with it toppling over, or worse. Click through the jump to read some tips for protecting your cat AND your tree after the jump.
We read a Wiki-How article written by cat owners about how to cat-proof your tree and here are a few steps they suggested:
1. Use a piece of high test fishing line to connect the top of the tree to the ceiling. This will prevent the tree from tipping.
2. Hang ornaments by using wire ornament hangers. Use a pair of pliers to clamp the hook part around the branch.
3. Use duct tape. If the tree is shorter than 6', use duct tape to tape the legs of the holder to a piece of wide ply-wood and put the whole thing on a short, sturdy table. This keeps the tree above their level and the cats won't be as interested.
4. Plug the tree lights into a short indoor extension cord and tape the plug into the socket with electrical tape. Simply unplug the lights from the extension cord to turn off.
5. Make sure that your cat or cats, are locked in a safe room large enough to hold it/them when everyone is either asleep or out of the house. This will keep your kitties from knocking the tree on the floor.
The article went on to give some more great tips, including these:
Oh, and one important tip from the article:
Don't use tinsel around cats! They'll pull it down, spread it over the house and possibly chew on it and choke. Tinsel will cause the cat serious injury if injested (contact your vet right away if you think your cat has chewed, eaten or swallowed any tinsel.)
We have a new kitten this year, so we'll be trying a few of these helpful tips. What about you, AT Readers? Can you weigh in with any other tips that have worked for you to keep your furry friends away from the tree?
pics: 1: collinj's flickr photostream, 2,3,4: justj0000lie's photostream, 5: iowa_spirit_walker's photostream, 6: jon_a_ross' photostream, 7: Zanastardust's photostream, 8: Our friend Zoe's cat Nero
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
I always put a layer of aluminum foil around the whole tree as far out as the outer branches. Add a few peels of orange right near the base. I leave it like that a couple of days, they'll investigate, but not like it. Then cover it with a tree skirt, and decorate. The noise & smell is still there for them, but looks pretty for us. Works for us!
view AZkathy's profile
Shatter proof ornaments near the bottom and keep the bird with feather tail ornaments towards the top, so my cat has helped me learn.
view Nephthys's profile
Best. Photos. EVER.
view Cassis's profile
Yes, yes. I, too, keep the feathery bird ornaments right at the top of the tree. My cats HAVE climbed the tree, completely destroying it, but they didn't quite get up to my birds.
view Cashew's profile
I got a SSScat multivet system. It's a can of compressed air with a motion detector on top. It scared the hell out of the cat the first time he walked by it, and it keeps the dog away from chewing on the wrapping paper too.
Find it cheaper on eBay, mine was $25ish.
view april1's profile
My tiny artificial tree is on top of a tall display cabinet where Mr. Cat can't reach it.
I tried putting it on top of a lower buffet cabinet, to no avail. He's a jumper.
view Stiletto's profile
I had my first tree the same year I acquired two cats (closely following Christmas). It was a small 3-footer I put on top of a chest of drawers. The favorite thing to do was bat my glass ornaments off to the floor and play with them until they broke. I haven't had any other problems with tinsel, or climbing, or chewing, so long as I kept the bottom few branches for the unbreakable ornaments. She's curious about the water.
I would advise against a tree with very sharp needles as a preventative measure because someone has to carry it out to the alley after Christmas, and it will still be sharp for whoever's job that is. Just something to think ahead on.
view K T G's profile
I learned this last year when my cat knocked down my 7 foot tree at 1am and shattered all of my ornaments. Now I just need to figure out how to keep my dog from peeing on it. He already ruined 2 presents!
view danielle223's profile
But those are some damn cute ornaments.
view oakland's profile
I love these photos!
view charlenemcbride's profile
Humans: "Oh, Christmas tree, oh Christmas treeee..."
Cats: "Your ornaments are historyyy!"
These pictures are adorable! And weirdly enough, we have five cats and they leave the tree alone - one likes to sleep under it, but that's about it. (The only time they'll tug on anything is if the lights or bead garlands slip below the bottom of the tree and dangle temptingly in front of them.) Maybe they don't like the smell of the Radiata Pine we use? (Monterey Pine, to Americans. There's a plantation near Sydney, Australia, where I live.)
view ryttu3k's profile
The best advice I ever found on Christmas trees and cats was in Cat Fancy magazine about 20 years ago. For those of us using artificial trees, set the tree up at least two weeks BEFORE you decorate it. A plain tree loses the cats' interest. Then decorate it. There's nothing cuter than walking by a Christmas tree and having a cat's head poke out of the branches. I put a string of dangling crystal beads draped on the lowest branches. My cats like the walk under the tree, catch the crystal on their tails and then drag it off. The garland is easy to put back on and they pretty much leave everything else alone.
view williamsweyr's profile
I hang brass bells all around the bottom of the tree. They work as an alarm of sorts, and I would know when they were touching it then could distract the dogs from the tree. Now they won't even go near it.
view dolly's profile
Scarlett is pretty good about not ruining my Christmas tree. She's almost four and she definately knows the word "no." I put down a felt "tree skirt" and she loves the feeling so she sleeps under it. And she uses the low branches to scratch her face with. But she's just like a dog, she takes commands very well.
view unseeneclipse's profile
After taking in 3 kittens this summer, bringing our household up to a total of 9(!) cats, my husband and I knew a normal Christmas was out of the question. So, we put our tree up in the basement, the only cat-free zone in our house. Now, we go downstairs for about an hour in the evening, sit by the tree and listen to Christmas music. It's very relaxing. As a plus, this is the first time in YEARS we've been able to put our breakable ornaments on the tree. :) Crazy Cat Lady
view Swedish Fish's profile
great pictures!
view Sassy in SF's profile
LOL, I guess you can use the same techiniques to Ferret Proof the tree too!
view Haunted_Studio's profile
I am a Scrooge and hate Christmas - but I am a C.C.L. - So I am buying a tree this week to watch my kitties climb.
view chusmabilly's profile
this brings back memories of when i was a wee tot and our cat George, all on his own, brought down our 9ft tall & completely decorated tree. he calmly walked out of the room while my parents went bonkers. cats rule.
view Kat1's profile