Christmas & Cats

[hmorton92]

Hey everyone,

So this is our first Christmas with our cats and today was the day I decided to put up the tree.
One of our cats wasn’t so bad, she wouldn’t really chew on the tree but our other was awful. He was trying to chew on the lights in the tree and he was chewing the tree itself.
Now the tree is fake but with him chewing the light bulbs, I gave in and put the tree in our bedroom with the door closed.
I am just wondering if anyone else has experienced similar issues and if there’s anything I can do to stop him? I can’t leave the tree out because if he breaks a bulb, that’s just not safe but I don’t want to let him win like that and I would really like our tree in our living room for Christmas!!

Any advise?

 

[Kflowers]

Take the lights off the tree. The lights attract the cat just like they attract us. And there is the added attraction of the delightful little cords that are just begging to be chewed on. Tiny as they are they are capable of burning your cat's mouth.

Our first tree with lights went over one minute after the lights went on. Once the lights were removed they weren't interested in the tree itself. I would suggest that you use plastic, paper, cloth, and wooden ornaments. Avoid pins, and use bits of string rather than the fishing hooks to hang the ornaments (those are expensive to remove from cats' throats.) In short find any guide for 'Toddler's first Christmas Tree' and you're good to go.

 

[hmorton92]

Take the lights off the tree. The lights attract the cat just like they attract us. And there is the added attraction of the delightful little cords that are just begging to be chewed on. Tiny as they are they are capable of burning your cat's mouth.

Our first tree with lights went over one minute after the lights went on. Once the lights were removed they weren't interested in the tree itself. I would suggest that you use plastic, paper, cloth, and wooden ornaments. Avoid pins, and use bits of string rather than the fishing hooks to hang the ornaments (those are expensive to remove from cats' throats.) In short find any guide for 'Toddler's first Christmas Tree' and you're good to go.

Unfortunately, the lights are built into the tree so we are kind of doomed there. The ornaments aren’t breakable and the hooks are large. They wouldn’t try to eat them, just play with them. I’m wondering if maybe just unplugging the lights and tucking the cords up in the tree somewhere? I love Christmas and just really want our tree out as opposed to our bedroom, even though it looks pretty festive in there!!

 

[Jem]

Does the cat only have access to chewing the tree/bulbs from the bottom/underneath? My cat used to try and chew on our tree and bulbs. But the only access point he had was when he would go under it. we didn't have any shelves or whatever that allowed a perch for higher up the tree. And he never had interest in jumping in the tree either. Anyway, what I did was make a tree skirt, that I put at the base of the tree so he could not access any of it. So essentially, if he was under the tree and looked up it was just a flat, unappealing surface he was looking at. Now, he was easy to "appease", if his first/second attempts were foiled he would stop trying. Not all cats are so easily stopped and can be quite determined, but I thought it could be worth a try for you.

 

[RajaNMizu]

When the cats are in the living room, I've found keeping the tree lights off does help with them paying attention to it. It's my first Christmas with the girls as well. For this month, they don't always have access to the living room, only when supervised. So far, everyone is ok with it.

 

[hmorton92]

Does the cat only have access to chewing the tree/bulbs from the bottom/underneath? My cat used to try and chew on our tree and bulbs. But the only access point he had was when he would go under it. we didn't have any shelves or whatever that allowed a perch for higher up the tree. And he never had interest in jumping in the tree either. Anyway, what I did was make a tree skirt, that I put at the base of the tree so he could not access any of it. So essentially, if he was under the tree and looked up it was just a flat, unappealing surface he was looking at. Now, he was easy to "appease", if his first/second attempts were foiled he would stop trying. Not all cats are so easily stopped and can be quite determined, but I thought it could be worth a try for you.

He mostly only has access from underneath yes, he did try and go up the tree a little bit because the tag on the wire (which is totally harmless but still). I’ll have to give this a try, doubled with leaving the lights off the majority of the time might help!

 

[hmorton92]

When the cats are in the living room, I've found keeping the tree lights off does help with them paying attention to it. It's my first Christmas with the girls as well. For this month, they don't always have access to the living room, only when supervised. So far, everyone is ok with it.

I’m going to try with the lights off. I’ll try it tomorrow when we’re home from work so we can supervise them!
Cats are such a pain in the butt sometimes! Lol

 

[tabbytom]

Her's a recent discussion on Christmas and Cats :-
christmas-trees.383417

And two articles on that too :-
cats-and-christmas-trees.30158

cats-and-christmas-tips-for-cat-owners.29650

 

[susanm9006]

If you must have lights in your tree buy some battery operated ones and keep them on the upper branches. These LED lights run on a couple of AA batteries and will last for weeks.

 

[Kflowers]

The lights are built into the tree? Technology rushes passed me again. Probably best to keep them turned off for now. You might remove the little paper tag that attracted him first, but save it in case you need it later.

Many cats, when they are mature, enjoy looking at the tree from a distance, particularly the lights. We never got more lights, but I have seen that on the Net.

 

[Totsy]

Well, I'm a mean old cat mama, I guess. I love my Christmas tree AND my kittens, so we put up our usual nine-foot pre-lit fake tree about a week before we decorated it. Then I put a Scat Mat next to the tree. I've gotten the shock, but I don't believe the cats have. They remember the Scat Mat from when we trained them to stay off the kitchen island so won't go near it. Just in case, I put only unbreakable ornaments on the lowest levels. The tree has been up and unmolested since the day after Thanksgiving. They do like the tree, so we move their bed or tree or basket around so they have varying views of it.

I don't dare hang any stockings though!

 

[Kflowers]

Scat Mat sounds like a dream. I'm surprised it's real, wish I'd had it years ago, for other things. Back in the before technology, we always took the knobs off the stove when we weren't using it. For the rest of the breakables, we just put them away in boxes in the basement then forgot to take them with us when we moved. Very Zen.

 

[Totsy]

Kflowers, you're a mover after my own heart! I saved the little broken-off piece of an antique desk for years waiting to have it repaired. We found just the right house, but we'd left the little broken off piece behind.

I've wondered how I can put the Scat Mat in the cookie jar.

 

[Totsy]

Kflowers, you're a mover after my own heart! I saved the little broken-off piece of an antique desk for years waiting to have it repaired. We found just the right house, but we'd left the little broken off piece behind.

I've wondered how I can put the Scat Mat in the cookie jar.