Christmas is around the corner....

[lorelei]

Hello Guys!
I don't know if this is the right place to post this.

Anyway... here's my issue. Last Christmas I only had Montgomery, who at that time was only 4 months old. I put an artificial tree up, every afternoon when I returned from work, the tree was in the floor. I decided to hang the tree from the ceiling upside down, so he could not reach it. I know it sounds weird, but people actually loved it and thought it was a clever idea.

This year I have Montgomery (1), Maximo (1) and Matilde (will be 3 months for the holidays). I am planning to set up the tree like last year, but I'm not sure about ornaments. Last year the tree ended up ornament-less, but it was ok, as I left the lights. Help me with ideas for ornaments that are cat-friendly, please.....

Thank you so much!

 

[binks615]

Well it depends on the type of ornaments you want on your tree. if you want ornaments but dont want the hooks which can be dangerous to the cat buy thread gold or silver and take off the hooks. if your hanging round ball ornaments go for plastic ones that around here are sold at dollar stores and be sure to super glue the caps on so they dont come off. then hang them with the thread instead of using the hooks...instead of fluffy garland go for beads. they are easy to put back on the tree should the cat attack them. Avoid ornaments that make bell noises, as it will attract the cat to the tree. Hope this helps....best of luck for the holidays

 

[zoggy]

They actually sell upside down trees. Its like this year's new Christmas tree trend.

Link: http://www.hammacher.com/publish/72376.asp#

 

[musicteacher]

My cats will not be allowed near my Christmas tree unsupervised. They have their own room to stay in when we're not at home or when we're sleeping anyway. So I can have a tree and not worry about it coming home to a knocked over tree. Either put the tree in a room that has a door that can be closed or keep the cats in one room when you can't supervise them. I have particularly mischievous babies so they stay in our bedroom with us at night as well as during the day when we're at work.

 

[hbrady]

My Josie isn't a tree climber, so I just don't put many ornaments on the bottom 2-3 feet of the tree. The ones I do put down there are ones that won't hurt her if she gets them off.

 

[carolpetunia]

How 'bout a bunch of kitty toys as ornaments? Those Mylar balls they sell for cats, little gathery things with silver on one side of the material and a color on the other... why, those already look just LIKE Christmas ornaments!

I would hang them with satin or grosgrain fabric ribbon, though, rather than metallic thread. Thread is so fine that it's hard for the kitty to spit back out if he starts to swallow it (because of the little barbs on their tongue), and it's more likely to cause internal damage as it passes.

I'm glad you asked the question -- I think I'll try those Mylar balls myself! :-)

 

[lorelei]

All, thanks for the great ideas. I think I'll go with the plastic balls and definitely the ribbon. Matilde, the baby is always watching Montgomery and taking notes of all the crazy things he does. Montgomery happens to be an extremely curious cat. I will start my ornament shopping and will keep you posted. Thanks!!!!!!

 

[semiferal]

We always put soft and/or plastic ornaments on the lower branches so the cat would have a safe distraction and leave the breakable ornaments alone.

 

[sibohan2005]

I have lived in a house with 2 cats and a Dog for several years and never really had a problem except the cats hideing under the tree and rippy'tearing out from under it. Our tree has a wide base and we normall tie it to the stair railing with 200 lb test fishing line that keeps it secure even if the cats get brave and try to climb. We do not use tinsle or tinsle rope on out tree. We have small white lights and a rope of beads we always secure the end of the beads so that snoopy little cats can't get hold of the end and run away. We always put large soft (handmade knitted) items at the bottom of the tree in case the cats get hold of them there are no parts that could be broken off or swallowed, also they are less appealing than the cat toys that actually have cat nip in them. Also the Cats love presents with ribbons and bows on them... Christmas morning it's somtimes a guessing game on who what present goes to because the tag has mysteriously become stuck to the cats hiney. The Fun never ends!

 

[yosemite]

So far we've also been fortunate in that our cats loved to lay under the tree but not climb it. We didn't have a tree last year (due to the move and all) but we shall see what happens with Bijou and Mika this year as it will be the first time they'll have seen a tree.

Fortunately all my decorations are hand crocheted and starched items, and I use beads for garland so they can't do any real damage even if they did climb the tree. It will be fun to see what happens.

 

[stampit3d]

Lorelei,
Yesterday I wrote in some one elses post what I had put on my tree .
If you go to the "SEARCH" and type in "I put up my Christmas tree...I know it`s early!" and scroll down to the #11 reply you will find what I wrote. (I`m Stampit3d)
Have fun...and enjoy your Christmas with your 3 fur babies!
Linda

 

[sylorna]

There are some great ideas in this thread. I'd also like to add that we make cookie ornaments here. They tend to have lots of salt in them and aren't "eadible", but we paint them up all pretty and tie them with ribbon (we have also found some plastic hooks that work well) They're non toxic and wont break your heart if they do fall and crack because you get to make more next year. Also, you can get recipies with spices in them to let off a nice aroma.
I'm looking forward to making mine this year!

 

[yasmine]

Thats a pretty cool idea! Did you take any pictures last year?? if so, i wanna see it hanging from the ceiling!

This will my first year to actually put up a tree because i have a house so now i have the room...but i'm wondering how yasmine is gonna handle the temptation

 

[lorelei]

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures. But I will this year and I will be showing them in www.myspace.com. Just PM me and I wll give you the link.