i dont know why, but my cats have been ignoring our tree. last year we would wake up with 4-5 ornaments in our bed every morning. kinda sweet i guess...like they were giving us presents...

We have a three-foot plastic tree (painted gold!) on our mantel in the living room. It's short enough to fit up there, and the cats haven't figured out how to climb to the mantel, luckily. I also left the back part of the tree flat and made the front of the tree even more full.

Don't use tinsel unless you like little silvery piles of puke. Also, avoid glass ball ornaments within batting range of the bottom! At least, these have been my experience...

The cat I grew up with absolutely adored our live Christmas trees. She wouldn't climb them but considered them her personal watering dish and napping spot. After one year of mangled elves we learned to hang some of the knitted and wooden ornaments higher lest she gnaw on them, and heaven help you if you somehow blocked her access to her preferred crash spot with presents. Some of the last photos I have of her are her sprawled under the boughs and twinkle lights.

This is my first Christmas with my current cat, so we'll see how he reacts to the living tree I'll be bringing in over the weekend. I anticipate that the main temptation will be the light wires, as he's fond of going after them when he feels he's not getting enough attention.

The bottom third of our tree is empty of all ornaments but that doesn't really stop our one cat for trying to bat at the higher ones. Every day when I come home from work, there is enough pine needles on the floor to make it look like we have a green tree skirt. So far they haven't tried to climb it but there is still time. I did also learn that we can't really leave gifts under the tree because the cats will eat the ribbons and the wrapping paper which don't look as nice with holes eaten in the packaging.

aafilipp, very cute about the ornaments as presents from the cats!

I second home body's non-use of tinsel! Our cat LOVES to eat the stuff (along with Easter grass, yarn, and twist ties).

Keep menorahs away from curious kittens, or they will be set aflame. Happened to us one year. The cat was fine, but we had the delightful scent of hibachi in the house.

Also, my cat can't stop drinking from the tree stand. He also calculates where he can climb into the tree so all you see is the tree and TWO BIG GLOWING EYES. "Lo, for I am Krangus, the Lord of the Tree!"

Tinsel is a big no-no. Cats love to eat it, and it, uh, doesn't always come out the other end so easily, so you could very well wind up at the vet with your cat. Seriously, it is dangerous for your cat.

As for keeping a kitten or a cat from climbing the Christmas tree, well, where's the fun in that. Growing up, my sister and I loved watching our cat Myrtle scale the Christmas tree. Then again, we weren't the ones who had to clean up the mess afterward. Back in the day, we had all of those beautiful glass ornaments that shattered quite easily.

So far only one of my cats has attempted the tree climb. I have a fake tree and instead of using fishing line I duct taped the stand to the floor then covered it with the skirt.
The uses of citronella seem to be endless, great tips.

My blog post sums up how my cats react to Christmas trees.
http://thedesignslice.blogspot.com/2009/12/what-goes-up-must-come-down.html

Don't let any animals drink from the water tray on the tree. Most trees you buy have preservatives in them that are VERY toxic to cats and dogs. The sap from the tree can also make animals sick.

This year, my boyfriend and I got a real tree and we put the tree skirt OVER (instead of around) the stand so the dog and cat wouldn't be able to get to the water, and, of course, no ornaments near the bottom. They've been really good so far, except that the cat loves to play with the pom-pom balls on the skirt and hide under it sometimes.

Yeah we usually have a xmas tree that is bare of all ornaments on the bottom half. It looks kind of silly but at least prevents us from stepping on glass shards every morning. I guess the temptation of dangling rolly balls is too much for her...

My cat used to chew through the Christmas lights, once even when they were plugged in. He was never quite the same after that but very lovable! I don't recall him doing it again after that.

One year one of the cats apparently ate a piece of tinsel. She walked by me, and I wondered why there was a flash of sparkle near her tail. Lo and behold, the tinsel was in the process of working it's way out, but there was still enough inside that it couldn't quite make it. She looked like she was flying a banner out of her bum! I pulled, and the offending piece of tinsel came out in one strip.

After that, no more tinsel.

one year i came home to find the tree lying on the floor and dragged halfway across the room. I imagine they climed it, it fell over, and they scrambled to get away dragging the tree along with them. They've been sort of scared ever since. This year when i took the tree out of the box, mr. rumplins actually hissed at it.

Mad_dialect, I had the EXACT same experience with my cat - it was kinda funny but freaked me out at the same time to see her walking around with silver tinsel hanging out her bottom - I called the vet and she said to leave it alone because trying to "remove it" may damage her internally - within a day it was in her box - but like you, after that experience NO MORE TINSEL.

Christmas decor = GIANT CAT TOYS.

Perhaps oranges and tangerines as ornaments might help. :)

I want to get a tree but am reluctant to do so because I have 4 naughty kitties and two ferrets who I'm sure would love to join the fun, so perhaps if I hang a little one from the ceiling I might be safe...along with the gifts...hmmmm

Today is the first year my husband and I will actually put up a tree -- so thanks for the reminder to be cautious of our kitties. When I was a kid, we had a cat who every year would manage to move the figures around in our large manger set so she could lay in the hay. Somewhere, I have a photo of her best holiday performance; she somehow batted the baby Jesus aside to make room for her, and we awoke Xmas morning to a cat laying surrounded by adoring manger figures, with Jesus hidden behind a tree.

This same cat liked to eat tree tinsel, which we quit using after the time I had to gently (and at great length) pull a strand to get it back -- I won't tell you from where.

also please do not put miracle grow or other toxic things in the water to keep the tree fresh when you have pets around, even if you don't see them drinking from the stand & they're appearing to ignore it. our dear friends had a horrible christmas one year when their cat evidently drank the water when no one was around.

My cat could care less about our Xmas tree. After reading everyone's comments, I guess I should count my blessings!

My cat eats the plastic tree needles and ribbon. I have to spray the tree so that she'll stay away and ribbon is banned from the apartment.

Luckily, we've never had a problem with our cats and Christmas trees. We almost always have had a fake tree, so maybe that's why. Our cat just likes to lie under the tree and nap. He doesn't bother the ornaments or wires at all.

Mad_dialect, oh ewwww, that's both disgusting and hilarious! I will definitely remember no tinsel ever!

My kittens like foil. The also like to tear up stuff.

And now they've convinced my 12 year old cat that tearing through the single room we live in is an awesome idea at 4am.

Yeah, no tree this year. I don't have the time to keep picking it up.

Interesting tip about the orange scent!

We make sure there is at least 6 inches of space between floor and first layer of branches. Our feisty Leo then uses that space for a hide and attack ground base, instead of a hide and leap sky base.

I think the positive reinforcement Leo receives when his ankle attacks make my hubby jump also encourages the behavior pattern. (i give him catnip)

Tinsel is awful for cats...one Christmas many years ago I found some protruding from my cats butt and had to pull it out...it was not pleasant. Thankfully the cat I have now has no interest in the tree at all...except perhaps to lie underneath it.

Our cats loved to hide & nap under the tree.
Last year our 11 month old Samoyed would take ornaments off the tree. She went for the soft knitted ones the most. The tree isn't trimmed yet so we don't know if she has outgrown that. She does like to get attention by bringing us things like socks or even bras from our bedroom that haven't been put away so we should probably expect her to be interested in the tree decorations again.

Also remember that ribbon has the same effects of tinsel on a cat's digestive system. It doesn't dissolve and can get wrapped around inside their intestines and if it's not surgically removed by a vet can be fatal. There are so many pretty alternatives out there so why not be safe for your pets?

Also don't forget that pointsettas are extremely toxic to pets!

When my Ragdoll was little she would destroy my fake tree daily, walking up the rows of branches knocking them off as she went. I finally gave up on the 5-foot fake tree in favor of a tabletop tree that wasn't as big a deal if she knocked it over.

When my husband and I got together and we started bringing home real trees she lost interest in climbing them, opting instead to lay under it and stare up at the lights (much like I was obsessed with doing as a child). I suspect the fact that she is a ragdoll and thus far too large to maneuver easily has something to do with it.

My husband's 13-year-old cat drinks the water (we don't use additives and the tree is natural so there are no preservatives). The cat might climb the tree, but my husband peremptorily places her in the tree and lets go just enough so she realizes it won't hold her steadily. She never bothers it.

We also leave the tree undecorated for about a week so they can get used to its presence and they never touch the ornaments.

Ditto the tinsel stories. I never even knew my cat ate it until I saw it coming out the other end. Ew.

I also stopped putting glass ornaments on the tree since they do bat off an ornament every day or two. For some strange reason, my cats seem to bother my big tree less than they did the little one that sat on the entertainment center. Must not be enough of a challenge anymore or something.

I just really like the pictures--the cats are super cute even though what they're doing is really hazardous.

I use the straps used for earthquake securing water heaters, and put two in the tree to secure it to the wall (they go into a stud so are really secure - if it's not Christmas season there's a piece of furniture there anyway secured with quake braces), that way if the youngest climbs the tree it's not a goner. The finest ornaments go on the garland that's a 'little' more out of his reach or in bowls way up high... but the other day I found him balancing - 6' up - on under an inch of bookshelf ledge. Freaking insane!

My cats were babies last year (they were my Christmas present from my husband), so they weren't allowed downstairs unsupervised. This year, I put the tree together and an hour later found one of them at eye level peering at me through the branches. Since it's a fake tree, the branches are steady metal rods in an even pattern so they appear to be really easy to climb. They are Siamese so their urge to climb is unresistable. The tree is 8 feet high and sturdy, so I don't worry about it tipping, but I am worried about the lights and ornaments once I put them on. They already steal magnets off the fridge when they can reach them, so I know this will be a problem. Maybe I'll just put the plasic and fabric ones up. Thanks to everyone for the cat-repellant tips and the cute stories!

tinsel makes the litter box become the glitter box.

what can i do for my siamese male cat ( 8 months) he ate some of our plastic x-mas needles and now he's throwing up and he hasn't eaten or drank anything for about 12 hours I've spooned water down his throat and milk also it seems to make him throw up (that's how we know he ate plastic x-mas tree) saw some but he is still not eating or drinking he does pee in litter box and it seems to be normal Hope someone can help me I can't afford a vet he hasn't pooped cause he hasn't eaten but think it would help if he could but what can we do?