Question:
I put up my Christmas decorations yesterday, lovely tree covered in lights and ornaments and tinsel and bows, and then garland around the archways and pointsettas on the tables. Willow sat right next to me and sniffed everything but didn't appear to show much interest and actually seemed frightened off from the tree, because we have flashing lights on it, and a Santa Ornament that has a motion sensor and sings LOUDLY when set off.
So I threw some extra toys out this morning and assumed all would be well and good. When I came home from work, the tree was toppled over and half of the bows/ornaments/tinsel were missing, the garland around the doorways was pulled down, and the pointsettas were destroyed as well.
Anything I can do to deter her? Sprays, noise, etc? Or is my only hope to keep her locked in the decorationless bedroom til Jan 2nd?
Answer:
Be careful! Tinsel and pointsettas are very dangerous to kitty!
Another piece of artwork by ForJazz!
Dusty - July 2000 - Medium Hair, Gray. Momma's Boy
Bella - March 2004 - Short Hair, Tuxedo. Tubby & Rubby
Answer:
This is a dilemma for me too. Haven't put the tree up yet, its my first Xmas tree since moving out and buying my own place. I'm going to try to buy wooden decorations and not use any tinsel. I know the tree will be on the floor every night I get home.
Answer:
That's why I use those fiber optic trees with the decoration already attached to the tree. I wouldn't use tinsel around cats b/c my cats eat them and sometimes they can get tangled up in their intestines. I know I looked in the litterbox a few times and saw tinsel in there too
~Km~
Answer:
We have been dealing with this issue by not getting a tree. This will be the 3rd Christmas that we have gone treeless. It sure is a whole lot less work, and I know that they would have it down constantly. They are going after the ficus tree that we just "inherited".
I miss having a tree, but not all the work of having one.
- Bryon
If you are good, you will be assigned all the work. If you are really good, you will get out of it. -- from Dilbert

Answer:
1 - don't use tinsel, as stated, it's dangerous to kitties.
2 - use piano wire or fishing line to tie the tree off to the wall (small nails on the top of door frames, or little cup hooks work well). Because if you can't keep kitty out of the room, you won't keep kitty away from the tree if he or she wants at it.
Answer:
Heehee, I started a similar thread about this time last year. Here it is:
Owned by Pepper and Pumpkin RIP Snickers 8/22/00 -- 11/28/06
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/

Answer:
I caught my cat in the tree yesterday..he was about halfway up when i nailed him with he spray bottle...he hasnt touched since as far as I know.
we have no ornaments up yet as this is his first xmas with us! we got him in january...we will see...he seems to learn good...when we first got him, he tried jumping on the counter. Well, something fell on him when he failed and never had an issue since!!!
Answer:
the cats have so far avoided our tree...just slept under it looking out onto the deck (its by our sliding door) but yesterday i causght sophie climbing it and i gave her a bop on the head and she got down....she avoided the tree for the rest of the evening. so i figured i was safe and went out, well i get home and...DUH DUH DUH...broken ornaments....ones mom gave me for our first married christmas....i was so mad. so now they get stuck in "their" room for the night and when we go out. its a big 10x12 with free feeding food, water, cat trees galore and lots of boxes to play in etc.....
lesson to be learned....keep the cats in their little winter jackets...makes em too lazy to stir excrement up
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Cait
Thank you ForJazz!!!!!
Answer:
I guess I'll have to just keep her locked in the bedroom. I share a house with my sister and her roommate, neither will relent on the decorations being up, nor on the decorations being up the way they want them, despite me being the ones to actually put them up. We have all the family get togethers here, so they want the house decked out with everything. And the kitty has already gone nuts over the tinsel, knocked the tree over, and chewed up some of the poinsettias. You'd think they would mind, but they just put whatever is broken back together. It sounds a bit mean, but I was actually counting on them being frustrated with her destroying things, as then its more likely they'd relent and agree to a few less decorations, but no such luck.
Answer:
I let my cats help me put up the tree, so they could smell everything and not have to climb the tree to see something they didn't know about. I sprayed them with a water bottle everytime they started chewing on the christmas tree (just a fake one) from the beginning. They haven't touched it really since the day I put it up (over a week ago). I am surprised too since I work 8 to 6 ever day, you would think they would get bored and do it. They were worse when I had a shorter tree then the tall one I have now! So that's my story
Answer:
Are all you guys taking about live trees? I'm asking because at one time I had 11 cats and never once did any of them try to climb my artificial tree. What they DID do though, was to bat at my glass bulbs, knock them down & shatter them against the woodwork. I ended up replacing most of the lower bulbs with plastic ones (couldn't tell the difference from the glass ones).
judy
Answer:
I have 9 cats and they climb our christmas tree. What I did was get a water spray bottle and squirt them when they get around it. So far it is working great. Usually I can just say"NO!!!!" and they will run off. I have heard that putting the presents under the tree like a blockaid helps too. They also sell a mat that has a tacky feel to it and as you all know cats dont like sticky paws.
Answer:
All these stories are really scaring me!
We are planning on getting a live tree this weekend. I have no idea how the cats are going to react. Has anyone had a good experience with this. It is my dream to have a real tree. We'll see how it goes.
=^..^= Micah, Levi & Jake =^..^=
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/
Answer:
We put one up this year, first time since Boo's first christmas, so 3 years ago. She was only 4-5 months her first XMas and attacked the tree like mad. So we never did it again. Now though, we tried and it worked well. She bit the branches a few times, we told her "ah-ah! no-no!" and she stopped. She sat under the thing for 6 hours, and has since lost all interest. Drizzle has/had none to begin with.
MEOW! - What else do I need to say?