Cats and the Christmas tree?

[gharrissc]

We had one up last year and my oldest and at the time only cat just liked to look at the lights,but she never bothered it. Now that we have a 9 month old, it should be interesting to see if he can restrain himself. He may surprise us and leave it alone.

[Pushkabounce]

Originally Posted by Ragdoll_Joy

First Christmas with our little feline....We are getting a real tree and have plastic ornaments. We plan on usuing wall anchors but are still a little worried!

I don't know if it's already been said but I think I read somewhere once that real trees are toxic or poisonous to cats? I could be wrong though

[Pushkabounce]

We have 1 4 year old cat and 2 8 week old kittens. We haven't had a Christmas with cats yet as Tinker is a rescue and came to us this January. We got just a cheap artificial tree and I made my own ornaments out of felt so no breakages when the tree is climbed! Can't speak for the tree though.. it might not survive!

[tigre86]

Just put up our new tree today and the cats stalked each other around it all afternoon, lol. This tree is flimsier and "balder" than the tree we had last year so Tigerlilly has been using it to play peek-a-boo with Tucker. She stands up on her hind legs and peeks through the empty spots to see where he's at. I foresee her knocking the tree over before the month is over, lol. She didn't really bother it last year but now that she has a play mate, the stakes have changed.

[Penny135]

Four years ago this Christmas I bought a brand new 6 1/2 foot artificial Christmas tree. Within a week all the bows were pointing toward the floor as the cats had broken them because they kept climbing it. I have a 2 foot tall one now (my kids are on their own now). I guess I'll see how it and the lights around the windows fair this year.

[koneko_otaku]

My cat used to like climbing tree but a firm no and rolled up newspaper usually get them to stop. One of my cat Marshmellow (before he passed away) used to love Christmas tree and would always nap under it. He never tried to climb the tree once.

[LaurulFeatherCat]

When I was breeding cats bac in the 1980s and 1990s, we did not do a tree. We did a large wreath hung on the wall and decorated like a tree. We had twenty-four cats then and every year despite nailing it to the floor and wall anchoring it, the cats would have the tree stripped and on the floor after as few as four days. The wreath was a compromise. And the cats still tried to jump up on the wreath and strip it bare!

[rdswan14]

We stopped putting up a tree after the kids moved out. I hesitate to put one up. Maybe a tabletop one.

[Nan]

My only problem is with the tree skirt. I have an aritifical tree. A couple of the lower-hanging oraments get played with, but what they really love to do is sleep and play on the tree skirt & it gets messed up.

[hoofmaiden]

Originally Posted by Pushkabounce

I don't know if it's already been said but I think I read somewhere once that real trees are toxic or poisonous to cats? I could be wrong though

Of course not! What would outdoor cats do LOL?

It's not a good idea if they drink the water--the water thingy should be covered for that reason. Otherwise they're fine.