How to keep the cat from the Christmas tree (time) - - Page 5 - City-Data Forum

askme · 12-18-2007, 07:21 PM

[quote=askme;2285760]Now that's funny, but cute. Cats are the beatin'est things! I just love them! Check these out:

TCK · 12-19-2007, 11:18 AM

I walked into l.r. The tree was quivering and shaking. Took me a moment to remember that I owned a cat (thinks it is a dog). Lucky was going up and down the trunk. (p.s. - lucky looks just like garfield but not as nice!!!)

I have metal bead garland on and he takes off with it and you hear this popping metal sound that scares you at first. Needless to say, all the garland is now upper 1/3 of tree. In fact most of decorations are at top of tree. Someone should make a cat ornament sign that says "cat lover tree" that you hang at the very top of tree with the rest of the ornaments and lower two-thirds of tree are completely bare.

LuAnn245 · 12-20-2007, 04:15 PM

lololol.... thats so funny, I had the same experience with my cats and the metal garland, and the ornaments being hung up higher...I think my cats are totally freaked out by the lights, they keep napping underneath it when theyre on... so much for the nocturnal issues, lol... guess cats love Christmas too, great thread btw...LuAnn

LuAnn245 · 12-20-2007, 04:20 PM

oh forgot to add about the solution, sometimes I tie a ribbon with a Christmas bell to my cats' tails, lol...it drives them crazy but distracts them for a lil while anyway, and I howl at watching them, lol...good luck!

BangBangShrimp · 12-20-2007, 06:28 PM

Thanks to my darling cat, this will be our first Christmas WITHOUT a Christmas tree! We put one up, but she immediately started climbing it and messing with the ornaments, and we were afraid that her collar would get caught up in the branches and she might accidentally hang herself. So we had to take it right back down. It's ok though. We love her more than the tree.

linni77 · 12-04-2008, 11:12 AM

[FONT=Times New Roman]I have tried to keep my cats out of the Christmas Tree for years and finally had success! If you don't mind giving your kitty a little scare, purchase a remote controlled switch you plug into an outlet near the tree. Plug a handheld vacuum into it. When kitty starts to investigate the tree, hit the remote from across the room for a short burst of noise. He/she will keep its distance for quite sometime before getting brave enough to investigate again. Then give it another burst. Works for me![/FONT]

Austinitegirl · 12-04-2008, 11:57 AM

Unfortunately, kitties and Christmas trees are rarely compatible. One year I woke up and walked into the living room to see my entire Christmas tree on it's side with every SINGLE ornament (I mean EVERY ornament) off of the tree, scattered around the house. The funniest part - we slept through the entire thing! We lived in a small place at that time and slept with the bedroom door open!! Devilish little thing....

Anyway - solutions - you've already gotten a lot of good suggestions on this board - I think you'll just have to try some trial and error to see what works. I too found that Christmas tree tinkering tends to diminish with age, but it can still be a problem.

A couple of things I've tried:

1. Shaking a jar of pennies if they get near the tree - problem: it punishes all the other cats too, even if they're not touching the tree.
2. Vick's Vapo Rub on the lower branches - worked a little, but the smell seems to wear off pretty quickly.
3. Spray bottles - worked until I left the house - then they just climbed right back up there - oh and I have ALWAYS had a fake tree, so I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes if the tree is fake.
4. For now, we seem to get by with just putting non-breakable ornaments on the tree and avoiding any sort of string or tinsel (kitties will eat it and need surgery - bad stuff!). I also don't put presents out until a day or two before Christmas - kitties love to chew bows off of presents. Little devils...

Interesting suggestions I've heard from others:

Hang the tree upside down from the ceiling. No, I'm not kidding - I never got to see it, but I knew the person who did it (she was a veterinarian). She swears by it. I'm not die hard about my holiday traditions, but I'm not sure I'm ready for an upside down tree.

Put the tree outside on your back porch - you still get to look at it, but the cats can't get to it. For me personally, that takes so much of the fun out of having a tree - I think I'd opt to just not have one at all, but it is an interesting suggestion.

Cecilia_Rose · 12-21-2008, 12:52 PM

I have good luck with an Aline tree. Those skinny fake ones with the real wood trunks. Even with the tall ones the branches are so short that theres not much to climb. I do have to wrap the trunk in tin foil till they loose interest in it as a scratching post tho.

Also I have so much stuff on it theres no room for a cat.

If you leave bare spots youre just inviting them to sit there. .

Candice1968 · 12-22-2008, 03:47 AM

We own a couple Cat Scram devices that are strategically placed around the tree. They have an infrared sensor and when the cat trips it, an ultrasonic sound is emitted which cats hate. Works like a charm.

Candice

molochai2580 · 12-22-2008, 12:35 PM

I have one of those Fiber Optic fake trees and the only thing my cats do is curl up next to the base, because it gets nice and warm for them. I don't put any ornaments on the bottom of the tree. This year no tree though, since I don't have a place to put it that I could manuever around it on the crutches.