Christmas trees!!

[imogen]

Oh, my. We've had cats and trees before. Usually a couple of squirts from the spray bottle and firm "Get down!" is enough. But...we have FOUR kittens this year. We can't guard the tree 24/7. And, they think it's the best cat tree EVER. Right now we have no ornaments on it. We did have lights, but they played with the cord when they were plugged in.

Suggestions for managing all these precious kittens...and a tree? (I'm hanging our favorite ornaments on come garland in the doorway!)

 

[KittyFriday]

Could you put a baby gate around it? That's what my parents did for their puppy, lol.

Luckily Friday doesn't try to climb the tree, but he does steal ornaments. So I just put soft/unbreakable ones on the bottom part of the tree so when he steals them and shoots them across the room it's not a big deal.

I'm working on phasing out all of my glass ornaments as well, as best I can. He managed to get a glass ball off the tree (I must not have hung it high enough) and he didn't break it, but my dog picked it up thinking it was a ball and split it in two.

 

[rubysmama]

4 kittens and a Christmas tree does not sound like a good mix. Honestly, unless you can put the tree in a room where you can close the door and keep them out of the room, I think it will just be an endless headache and worry for you, especially at night, or whenever there's no humans around to supervise.

Here's a TCS article you might find helpful / interesting:

Cats And Christmas [9 Safety Tips, Pictures, Videos, and Quiz!] - TheCatSite

 

[eevans3373]

Could you put a baby gate around it? That's what my parents did for their puppy, lol.

Kittens are very good jumpers and climbers.

 

[IndyJones]

Upside down tree maybe? I honestly have no idea other than relocating the tree to a basement rec room or upstairs or something. Maybe forgo the tree and get a ceramic one if its going to be an issue.

 

[ArtNJ]

My tree stand skills are a little off, my tree always leans one way or the other a bit. So I'd make it lean towards the wall. The stabler the better! Might help. Maybe. Also, don't use expensive ornaments that you'll be pissed about breaking. Oh, and be advised that YES CATS MIGHT EAT HOOKS -- I know because I found a metal hook in a hairball. At least I think it was a hairball and not a poop. I suppressed my inner scientist so I'm not sure. I do wish I could check how many of the 9 lives were left. Next year we got a fake tree. Some of them are very nice! Still very capable of falling though so I'm not sure why I mentioned it!

Its wonderful when you have cats that are disinterested. Everything is fine! Until, maybe, one day . . . well its just a tree, and the tree itself might be fine. The ornaments, well you might lose 2/3 on that side if they are the cheap plastic balls, a bit less if they are sturdier. And if there was water in the base, yuck. And possibly misplace metal hooks they might eat.

All in all, I'd say we've had about 5-6 kitty lumberjack events in 25 years. With some cats your pretty safe! With 4 kittens . . . well, don't put any heirloom ornaments on the tree.

 

[eevans3373]

Maybe forgo the tree and get a ceramic one if its going to be an issue.

A ceramic tree and cats. What could possibly go wrong?

Get a Christmas cactus instead.

 

[IndyJones]

Mmm yummy! Cactus

https://media.tenor.com/mQDJR6idfuwAAAAd/cat-cactus.gif

 

[amethyst]

When 5 of my cats were kittens (all from the same litter and were about 4 months at the time) I just went without lights that year, it was too much of a risk in my opinion. Aside from that every year I chain the tree to the wall so if/when they climb it it wont fall completely over. I've never had a real tree since I got cats so no worry about the water, and the branches are wire so you can bend them to help hold the decorations better. Also I just go with non breakable things, or at least ones that can double as cat toys if they do knock them off or things I don't care if they get wreaked like paper snowflakes.

Oh and those 5 are now 4 years old and they still climb the tree.

 

[Kris107]

I'm in the midst of planning for cat+tree now too. Last year we had 2 kittens and one especially was way too wild, so we went without a tree. Now, said wild one is over a year old and much more calm, but we have a new kitten who is only a bit over 3 months. We are planning to put up a tree (eek!) and just try to establish the rules/boundaries. We have a spare room so if she gets too crazy she can be in there when we aren't around to monitor. No nice ornaments as you and others have mentioned. I foster, and if I had 4 wild kittens that weren't mine, then I'd just keep them or the tree in a separate room.

 

[IndyJones]

Hmm what if we put up a cat tree and just said its a christmas tree?

 

[imogen]

Could you put a baby gate around it? That's what my parents did for their puppy, lol.

Luckily Friday doesn't try to climb the tree, but he does steal ornaments. So I just put soft/unbreakable ones on the bottom part of the tree so when he steals them and shoots them across the room it's not a big deal.

I'm working on phasing out all of my glass ornaments as well, as best I can. He managed to get a glass ball off the tree (I must not have hung it high enough) and he didn't break it, but my dog picked it up thinking it was a ball and split it in two.

They'd jump right over it.

 

[imogen]

Where did you see this? It might be the answer for my girls...and the kittens!

Hmm what if we put up a cat tree and just said its a christmas tree?

 

[imogen]

IndyJones I hope you found it somewhere for a LOT less than the one I found, because aside from price I really think we could make this work, lol!

Anyone have an idea of how to make this (with FIVE layers, perhaps?) inexpensively? I sew and craft..but building skills and tools are VERY limited.

 

[imogen]

Hmmm.... Is it possible to get MDF circles cut and drilled at Home Depot or Lowe's?

If I had four of those in ascending sizes...maybe I could turn this into a Christmas tree.

 

[Hellenww]

You could do this

 

[Hellenww]

Some cute ideas and several that wouldn't work

40 Genius People Who Found A Way To Protect Their Christmas Trees From Asshole Cats And Dogs

 

[Hellenww]

On the smaller side and you could add more "safe" ornaments

Amazon.com

 

[Hellenww]

Now I'm obsessed.

DIY Climbable Christmas Tree For Cats • hauspanther

 

[KittyFriday]

Ah. My parents have an extra tall set of baby gate panels (their puppy is a large Golden, he'd just step right over a regular baby gate too, lol) and it seems to work for the dogs and cats but I suppose the cats they have are just less dedicated to jumping over something like that.

I do really like the Christmas cat tree, that's really cute.