jenmovdob Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 I love to decorate for Christmas. This year however I have a very curious kitten and I'm away at work a lot. I don't usually put up a tree, this year I'd like to get a little potted tree. I love the smell of balsam. Are there any precautions I should know about? Are Christmas trees poisonous to cats? Will they chew on lights?
tinkrbel Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 Different opinions on the web. Here are some of the more comprehensive ones:CatChannel suggests trees are toxicAbsolutely Cats mentions toxicity but points out other options etc too.
jenmovdob Posted September 21, 2011 Author Posted September 21, 2011 Thank you so much! Lots of great information.
AndreaInNC Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 No tinsel!!! That is pretty deadly to all animals.
rockpzazz Posted September 22, 2011 Posted September 22, 2011 Cats love lights and will chew on them. I honestly thought this was a joke thread when I saw the title since people post the "shopping with kids" threads. Great title! :)
Scanner420 Posted September 23, 2011 Posted September 23, 2011 I had a curious cat a few years back. His first Christmas, he avoided the artificial tree for the first day, second day, we found him poking his head through the tree, from the center bracket. I took the tree apart and put a small piece of plywood in the center and he didn't go through the inside of the tree anymore, but he started jumping on the outside! He tied himself up in the lights multiple times. We ended up taking the tree down a week before Christmas, because we were afraid he would start a fire when we were out, and getting a smaller decorative tree that we kept on top of the TV Stand. (My mom still uses this today)
Turtle Mommy Posted September 24, 2011 Posted September 24, 2011 If you do a tree I would tie it to the wall with a hook...btdt!! LOL!
happysunshine28 Posted September 26, 2011 Posted September 26, 2011 After first year having a cat that was the last time I put up a tree or decorated, cat destroyed tree, not worth hassle. Now I have 4 cats so I doubt tree would last 30 minutes. Good luck, maybe you can train your cat to stay away, I know people whos cats leave it alone, my cats are just rotten.
aeraen Posted September 26, 2011 Posted September 26, 2011 My sister used to put her tree on the inside of a baby's play pen. Good only for the smallest of kittens, however. :)
mgmckny Posted September 26, 2011 Posted September 26, 2011 Get a tree that hangs on the wall? Hang the tree from the ceiling?
peppysfireball Posted September 27, 2011 Posted September 27, 2011 I have always had cats. I now have 3 inside and 5 dogs. My trees do fine, except the cats like to climb it for the first few days. The dog however, my sons great dane, ate a 5 foot section of garland off the tree last year. Luckily she threw it up the next day. We always tie it to the wall because they like to play under it.
tinkrbel Posted September 27, 2011 Posted September 27, 2011 We always tie it to the wall because they like to play under it.Excuse my stupidity? Tie how? Like a ribbon around trunk and to a hook on wall? I may need to try this if we put up the tree this year. I'm not too afraid Bella will eat stuff but she'll probably love to sleep under it or something.
leefamily23 Posted October 2, 2011 Posted October 2, 2011 We have 2 very curious new kittens this year as well, and this hadn't crossed my mind. Our previous cat never touched the tree year or bothered it any year. However, he was already almost 5 when we got him and already to a somewhat lazy point in life. We have an fake tree, and don't use tinsel, but I am going to have to talk to dh about anchoring the tree. Along w/ going minimal on the ornaments this year I'm thinking.
peppysfireball Posted October 3, 2011 Posted October 3, 2011 My husband put a hook in the wall about 4 fee up . We put a neutral colored string around the trunk about 4 feet up . If it's too low it can still fall over. We did this after it fell the first time 20 years ago. We continute to do it even now because of grandkids and pets playing even though they are not kittens adn puppies any longer. My sons great dane ate 5 foot of metallic garland off the tree last year and the cats knocked most of the ornaments off the lower branches. We hve to put a whole box of candycanes real low, because our lab takes them off and eats them no matter how high they are. Excuse my stupidity? Tie how? Like a ribbon around trunk and to a hook on wall? I may need to try this if we put up the tree this year. I'm not too afraid Bella will eat stuff but she'll probably love to sleep under it or something.
PerkynPunctual Posted October 3, 2011 Posted October 3, 2011 My cats have never done more that sleep under an artificial tree, but love to chew on live plants. When we had a real tree a few times, they would chew on a few of the bottom branches and then throw up around the house. That would be my concern if you got a potted tree and it wasn't dangerous for them -- that the kitten would end up throwing up all over the house.
tinkrbel Posted October 3, 2011 Posted October 3, 2011 My sons great dane ate 5 foot of metallic garland off the tree last year and the cats knocked most of the ornaments off the lower branches.And the great dane lived? I've always heard such horrible stuff about that and tinsel. We now have wooden circle garland but the tree was only up one year with a dog, maybe this year we'll do it again. That year the dog howled along with the musical lights when we first turned them on, it was so cute. I almost brought home a kitten last night, but it had a flea collar (and I put Bella first) so I left her on my brother's front porch much to SIL's annoyance. I hope she found her way home.
Princess7915 Posted October 3, 2011 Posted October 3, 2011 We've had a fairly new cat for Christmas the past two years - and a new kitten joined our family a month ago! So again this year we'll take some extra precautions though I've been really lucky with my two hooligans so far! But I figure better safe than sorry because I do know people who have cats that have taken down a tree and eaten things etc. Though we did not actually tie our tree up we did go to the Home Depot and get the stuff to do it just in case we had a climber. We got those eyelet screws and some nylon cording. We figured we would put the eyelet screws into the baseboard and anchor the tree by wrapping the cord at the trunk running one end of the cord through each screw. Our tree goes in a corner so that's what was easiest for us. We are very careful with lights! I string them very carefully around our tree branches so none really dangle and loop but they stay tight to the branches - almost like an artificial tree look. My cats will nibble the lights! I hide the extra cord under the tree skirt and behind our sofa or something to the plug. I keep a check to make sure it hasn't been pulled loose and if we are not around the tree is not on. Our outlet is connected to a switch so we tun it off at the switch for safety in case of a nibble. I also have plastic (nicer ones) decorations on the lower part of my tree as my cats do take them off routinely and those glass globe break into tiny slivers that would cut them to pieces if they broke one. I don't put some of my most precious ornaments on the tree - just in case. The glass things go high up and you can't even tell as I bought plastic ones that look very similar to my glass ones and put a few plastic ones up high too. I use beaded garland that makes no difference when they pull it off - that metallic stuff is dangerous and they WILL eat it. My cats worst offense is the packages!! I can't have any package under my tree! They go nuts and unwrap and generally beat them up :) So my beautiful tree is naked underneath. Christmas morning we pull packages out of the closets LOL.
peppysfireball Posted October 3, 2011 Posted October 3, 2011 She eats everything, she once pooped a lime green bath poof for days. I found the red metallic tinsel in teh yard all summer when I mowed. I thought the cats were tearing it up because I kept finding it on the floor. Xmas ever the tinsel was gone from teh tree . Next day, it was vomited all over the kitchen floor. It was at least 5 foot long. The entire bottom section. My son was in Iraq and I was babysitting. And the great dane lived? I've always heard such horrible stuff about that and tinsel. We now have wooden circle garland but the tree was only up one year with a dog, maybe this year we'll do it again. That year the dog howled along with the musical lights when we first turned them on, it was so cute. I almost brought home a kitten last night, but it had a flea collar (and I put Bella first) so I left her on my brother's front porch much to SIL's annoyance. I hope she found her way home.
peppysfireball Posted October 3, 2011 Posted October 3, 2011 If you tie it low, it can still fall, We tie it about 4 foot up. My husband pulls on it from teh top to test it Even 2 feet is too low, it can flip over. Our lab once ate all the candy from the stockings. I have 5 dogs and 3 cats in the house. We've had a fairly new cat for Christmas the past two years - and a new kitten joined our family a month ago! So again this year we'll take some extra precautions though I've been really lucky with my two hooligans so far! But I figure better safe than sorry because I do know people who have cats that have taken down a tree and eaten things etc. Though we did not actually tie our trIee up we did go to the Home Depot and get the stuff to do it just in case we had a climber. We got those eyelet screws and some nylon cording. We figured we would put the eyelet screws into the baseboard and anchor the tree by wrapping the cord at the trunk running one end of the cord through each screw. Our tree goes in a corner so that's what was easiest for us. We are very careful with lights! I string them very carefully around our tree branches so none really dangle and loop but they stay tight to the branches - almost like an artificial tree look. My cats will nibble the lights! I hide the extra cord under the tree skirt and behind our sofa or something to the plug. I keep a check to make sure it hasn't been pulled loose and if we are not around the tree is not on. Our outlet is connected to a switch so we tun it off at the switch for safety in case of a nibble. I also have plastic (nicer ones) decorations on the lower part of my tree as my cats do take them off routinely and those glass globe break into tiny slivers that would cut them to pieces if they broke one. I don't put some of my most precious ornaments on the tree - just in case. The glass things go high up and you can't even tell as I bought plastic ones that look very similar to my glass ones and put a few plastic ones up high too. I use beaded garland that makes no difference when they pull it off - that metallic stuff is dangerous and they WILL eat it. My cats worst offense is the packages!! I can't have any package under my tree! They go nuts and unwrap and generally beat them up :) So my beautiful tree is naked underneath. Christmas morning we pull packages out of the closets LOL.
Reinholt1 Posted October 6, 2011 Posted October 6, 2011 Every cat/kitten is different. Some ignore the whole thing. Many do like to sleep under the tree. I would tie the tree to the wall though...never know when you need that extra protection! I have had 2s cat that like to bat at the bulbs/ornaments. I just made sure there were plastic ones at the bottom of the tree. I had one that wanted to use the fresh tree as a scratching post. (That's when I learned to tie the tree off. Then I bought an artifical tree the next year. ) Never had one that chewed the lights. But I have had several over the years that like to attack the ribbons on the gifts. So no ribbon on those years. My kitten last year was fascinated with my wrapping everything. Had to help. I am hoping that this year she has outgrown that fascination. Unfortuantely, you may not know what your kitten will be like until you put the tree up. If you haven't had kitty fixed yet, you may want to co-incide that with the putting up of your tree. Kitty may not feel like playing much for a day or two after his/her 'operation.' After that kitty may not care about the tree except to sleep under.
stacyk9 Posted October 6, 2011 Posted October 6, 2011 Luckily all our cats have ever done was sleep under it. However, I have a friend who's cat would knock all the ornaments and garland off from climbing up in it. They would fix the tree every night and the next day when they returned from work it would be a mess again. They lived in a tri-level and their tree was downstairs, but there wasn't a door to close while they were gone, so they built their own screendoor that just fit in the opening. This way they could still enjoy seeing the tree from the main floor, but it also kept the cat out.
Stowasser Posted October 6, 2011 Posted October 6, 2011 Squirt bottle! Works everytime, I just keep a bottle handy and when they would start, they would get a squirt, now all I have to do is take the bottle out.....
jendeere Posted October 8, 2011 Posted October 8, 2011 Squirt bottle! Works everytime, I just keep a bottle handy and when they would start, they would get a squirt, now all I have to do is take the bottle out.....Unfortunately, spray bottles have never worked on my cats 2 weeks ago we added 2 kittens to our family and I'm dreading the decorating part of Christmas. We are in the process of renovating the family room/library/office/scrapbook room into just a scrapbook room and I think we might have to put the tree in there this year, since the door can be closed and keep the little monsters out. When my twin cousins were babies my aunt hung the tree from the ceiling.
leefamily23 Posted October 13, 2011 Posted October 13, 2011 Ever since reading this thread, I have been thinking more and more about this!!!! Spray bottles wouldn't work here either. I have one kitten who has no problem with getting wet (on several occasions he has snuck into the bathroom while someone has been showering and jumped in the tub and played around in the water).
dd50 Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 I am so dreading decorating for Christmas. I have tried with fall & Halloween decorations but the kitten loves to bat everything around and then the dog likes to finish destroying it. When I use to have cats they never really were interested in the tree except to bat at the lower branches so I always kept unbreakables down there and it was a real tree. I now have a 4 month old kittie that loves to get into every thing. I think I will only put unbreakables and see how it goes. Hopefully I have enough as most of my ornaments are breakable.
racerfan Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 We have been tying our real tree every year since out kids were little. We have permanent eyelets on the molding above our windows, DH runs fishing line from around the tree to the eyelets. We have always had dogs and got a cat back in 2006. Cat and dogs all like to drink the water so that is where we concentrate on. We have to make sure the tree skirt always is covering the water. The cat likes to bat at ornaments so we put unbreakable ones in one section and that is where she goes "to bat" This year we have 2 new puppies who are little devils and love to get into everything. I think this year we will be putting up a wrap around gate in front of the tree at the beginning to see how they are with the tree. If ok will take it down if not it stays up. I am more worried on what they will do when they see the firewood we bring in for our wood stove. Our woodstove is in our fireplace but I can see them trying "to help us" load the stove. Will have to see. lol
Princess7915 Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 The last few years have been much better than expected with the kittens that have joined the family. Grace, Lexie and Simon have all pretty well left things alone and played with stuff somewhat when it was first put out so I did it in stages as not to overwhelm them. After a few days they would sometimes get into something but pretty much stuff was left alone. I did not put up everything I had and I did leave a lot of the "table top" stuff in the box because it just wasn't worth having to pick up all the time. Anything that couldn't be put on a wall, set up high, or put on the tree just got left. This year is going to be harder. I have not put ANYTHING for fall out My new kitten is an eater! He has eaten two cat toys and we've had to go the vet - I don't dare put up decorations that he may chew up and swallow that have beads and glitter on them. We really may not have a tree at all this year if he doesn't outgrow this habit in the next month. He's only 5 months old - still a baby - but it's just too dangerous. I'll forgo a tree one year if I have to over a very sick cat and live threatening bowel impaction and possible surgery Hopefully I don't have to choose and he quits eating naughty things!!
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