Christmas

**nodgeness** · 10-17-2003, 09:09 PM

OK fellow meomies!!!!!!

I need some advice w/ how to adjust 2 rambunctious fur kids to a christmas tree. I didn't have one last year so this will be my first year w/ a tree & two cats. My concern is mostly about the hooks used to put ornaments on the trees. Have any of you had any problems w/ your fur kids and the Christmas tree? Any other thoughts on what I should expect during the holidays?

**stacwase** · 10-17-2003, 09:14 PM

Put the breakable ornaments that you really don't like at the bottom of the tree - the kitties will get rid of them for you and then you can buy new ones at the after Christmas sale!

**Pam** · 10-17-2003, 09:17 PM

I am probably the last person to give you advice. The reason is that I have given up having a tree. Trevor has never bothered my Christmas trees but Andy can't leave them alone. I wind up putting the decorations up higher and higher and he keeps getting them and pulling/knocking them down. One year the entire bottom half of my tree had no ornaments by Christmas Day but he kept tugging on the lights strings.

I now just have a lit garland over the archway from the living room to the dining room. No one can jump that high so it stays put.

I did get a small fiber optic tree table top tree a couple of years ago and Andy has knocked it over many times but really can't hurt it. The only real problem with it is that I find some pieces of the tree in the litter box occasionally.

**nodgeness** · 10-17-2003, 09:23 PM

Ok, so am I worried about the hooks for no good reason? Also, with breakable ornaments you've never had a problem w/ one of your kitties stepping on the glass or trying to eat it?
I'm just so worried that they'll get hurt!

**catcrazylady** · 10-17-2003, 11:08 PM

I have a couple of furballs that will not stay out of the tree. I don't know if this will help but here is what I do. All non-breakable ornaments go on the bottom half of the tree. The metal ornament hooks are real easy to bend so I bend and kind of wrap the hooks tightly around the branch and make sure that they are really secure at the bottom against the ornament. String hanging ornaments get the string wrapped around the branch until it is tight. I also make sure that none of the ornements are at the tip of a branch. Its harder for them to get them off if they are tight and a little further back on the branch. I always make sure the lights are unplugged until I am home and can keep an eye on the little monkeys just in case they decide to chew a cord. Even with all this precaution the weasels will inevitably get a few off! Well that is how I do it and it has worked fairly well for me. Good luck to you and if you come up any new ideas please share!!!
Oh, one more thing! You should not use tinsel on the tree! They will eat it and a friend of mine almost lost her cat because they bound in his intestines. After surgery and a long recovery he has recouped, but I keep it out of my house. Not worth the risk. They are just to pretty for Kitty to resist.
Have your camera ready so you can get plenty of cute pictures of your kitties hanging out in the tree!!

**Miss Meow** · 10-17-2003, 11:49 PM

We only have a small spruce tree in a pot that comes inside at Christmas, but the cats manage to distribute an impressive amount of debris around the house from one little tree!

Jasmine says it's so much fun digging in the soil and then trotting through the house with dirty paws.

If you have a large tree, make sure it's securely anchored or fastened so it can't fall over. I'd keep glass ornaments near the top of the tree, or off completely - it's not so much if the cats step on them, it's more likely that the ornaments will fall off and smash on the floor when the cats are rustling in the branches.

Our cats love the string of red balls you can just see in the picture - it's like a big, rattly snake toy that sounds wonderful being dragged across the tiles at 3am

They also love tinsel: swinging from it while it's on the tree, trying to pull the tree over by yanking on the tinsel, playing tug of war with the tinsel so it drops tiny tinsel bits all over the house and it takes until March to clean it up ... I love Christmas!

**K & L** · 10-18-2003, 07:44 AM

We bought the kind of tree that hangs on the wall (I'll post pictures when we put it up). It works great! We've had it for 2 years now and never once has it been bothered. They also have those scat mats that go around the christmas tree.

**catmandu** · 10-18-2003, 10:01 AM

Plastic , unbreakable oranaments, and put the holly up high! Andabove all secure the Tree! Or you will hear TIMBER!

**nodgeness** · 10-18-2003, 07:01 PM

Ok, I don't want to hear TIMBER. LOL

K & L I would love to see the pics once you put it up. I've never heard of a tree that hangs from the wall.
Also what are the scat mats you are talking about? I've never heard of those?
I love Christmas & can't wait to have a tree up!!!! Last year we weren't in town for Christmas which is why I didn't have a tree.
Thanks for all the great suggestions guys! I always know I can count on you!

**cubby31682** · 10-19-2003, 09:51 AM

Well I gave up on getting one this year. Last year Cubby broke my tree. I only use plastic ornaments, my father in law got us 2 glass ornaments they have are names on them so they go on the very top. And some how Cubby did knock those ones down as well. But they never broke they got stuck in the tree. I want to make the attached picture into a christmas card this year. Not sure how Cubby would feel about everyone getting a pic of him when he is trying to be cute but yet he knows he wasn't suppose to be in the tree.

Katie

**kuhio98** · 10-19-2003, 01:26 PM

Definitely secure the tree. We screwed a little eyebolt into the wall and after the tree is up, wrap fishing line around it and tie it off. That way if it goes "timber", it won't fall all the way over. Most of our ornaments aren't glass so that's not a problem and we don't use tinsel. But, might want to check the tree if your cat is missing. We once came home and found Cudsey Marie hanging upside down in it. She had somehow gotten the lights wrapped around a hind leg. Kitties have never eaten the hooks but I liked the posted idea of tightening them around the branches just in case. I'd suggest string or ribbon instead of hooks -- but that would just be more of an attraction to the kitties. Also, I'd stay away from blinking lights. Kuhio never attacked the tree unless we put blinking lights on it.

Also, we usually have a "real" tree. Our kitties never liked the smell of the sap so they tended to stay away.

**iloverat** · 10-19-2003, 02:59 PM

Scat mats plug in(?- or are they battery operated?) and exert a light electrical charge when stepped on. I don't have one but my neighbor has them all over her house at times. You'll just start to sit down on her sofa and you may hear "AAAAHHHHH!!! Don't sit there! Ling-Ling's been spraying the couch again and I've got a scat mat set up!"

I can't imagine that the charge is enough to hurt anyone and that includes the kitties. It's more a warning for them, I guess?

I HAVE found a stray ornament hook that Briggs dragged off the tree along with a decoration. That scared me but she was more interested in the ornament, thank goodness. We haven't had a big tree since and I haven't decided about this year as of yet.

Good luck!!! ---- Bobbi