I only plan on having the Christmas tree up until the day of Christmas, and then it can happily be packed back up ( I Know I am a grinch!) We are short on space or trust me I would leave it up longer. My question is...are there any tried and true methods of keeping the cats from climbing the tree? Our tree is very large, and it is artificial, it is one that all of the branches are individually placed in and I am really sick of having to put the tree back together. Also I am a nervous wreck that they are going to break an ornament and end up getting cut on that sharp glass somehow ( trust me I have removed almost all of the breakable ornaments now) I Do Not want to have to lock my babies up. They sleep most of the day and are active at night. On the rare occassion that I have had to lock them up, say they had to not have water before surgery or I needed to know whose stool sample I was taking in, it was not a restful night. One of them is very capable of getting doors open as well, I am not sure which one of them it is, who knows maybe it is a joint effort.
Any suggestions ( short of locking the cats up or taking down the tree ) are appreciated! Thanks in advance
B.
Thank you for all the great responses! I can't wait to try some of them!
I am glad to know my cats aren't the only curious critters amazed to have a tree in the house!
Thank you! = )
I have no pets and no experience with this, but someone I knew who owned cats said he put balloons around the base of the tree so they couldn't get to it. Merry Catmus!
You could try a smaller tree and putting it inside a playpen? OR what we do is use a water spray bottle and any time the cats are "in the tree" we hose them with water. They usually learn pretty quick NOT to do what it is they are doing...good luck :) We also leave the bottom branches empty, looks kind of silly I suppose, but it keeps them away from the tree and playing with their toys instead.
When we had our cat, we used to put bubble wrap under the tree shirt and when she would step on it, she would just back because she didn't like the feel of the bubble wrap under her paws. It's worth a try!
Sorry this response is late...I'm sure you have probably already gotten some great advice!
I am lucky that none of my three cats do this, yet only one has all his claws to climb with. I have a friend, though, that has the same problem. I don't know what she does to keep them out, but I thought of maybe getting some "scat" spray, I think that is what it is called. It is supposed to have a deterent in it, and I dont know what it smells like, or if you would want it in your home or not. Also I have heard the cats don't like the smell of citrus, so maybe you could find a citrus smelling thing to hang throughout the tree. Or try spraying the cats with a water bottle everytime they try to climb it. I know that sounds mean, but sometimes it helps to keep them from doing something bad. But also, I believe, even as a cat lover, you can't train them!! So, I hope you can find something to save your sanity this season!! Merry Christmas and good luck.
SO sorry this is so late but i just saw your post - walmart has a spray that works like a charm, they call it a pet training spray. it keeps them away from a given area. my cats didn't touch our tree one time this year, for the first time EVER. i swear by it!
Our vet suggested sprinkling pepper around the bottom and to make pepper ornaments and it worked. Our cat sneezes every time he gets near it and walks away.
Good luck,
D.
Bitter apple or orange peels.
My mom has always used pepper, it keeps dogs away too. Just sprinkle it around the perimeter of the tree and they won't get close enough to climb in.
Merry Christmas!
I had problems w/ this last year w/ my cat who is now 2.5 yr old. I decided to not even put up a tree this year--didn't want to keep standing the tree back up. (At least I didn't have to keep putting the tree back together!) Like you, I didn't want Midnight to break ornaments when he knocked over the tree. He (the cat) also chewed through a light cord--at least he didn't hurt himself.
I'm 37. Married w/ 2 step-children who live w/ their mother, and have 2 cats.
B.: Two thoughts: I always wire the tree to the cieling so our cats can't knock it over. We also place some golf ball sized metal bells on the lower branches for the cats.
If you can catch them in the tree a squirt with a water pistol will train them to stay away. Good luck.
Good question. I thought I was the only one with this problem; however, we put the cats in the laundry room when we aren't home, or unable to supervise them (e.g. sleeping), and we usually wait to put the tree up until closer to Christmas so that they are not "locked" up (as you put it)any longer than needed. The first year was a nightmare as we have a 16+ lb. cat that tried to climb to the top of the tree, not to mention knocking off and breaking ornments. Good luck!
When we first got my youngest cat, she was only 4mo old at the time? And of course climbed our tree, she loved to just lay in the branches for some reason! We squirted her with water, and told her no etc.... After that first curious kitten year, no more tree thankfully! She LOVES to lay under it all day and all night though! It's my 2.5y/o son we have to keep out of the tree!
We did several things for our cat when he was still around. We had a squirt bottle with a water and vinegar. Cats hate vinegar. We'd squirt him whenever he did something or got on something we didn't want him on. Then we sprayed the three on the bottom tier, before ornaments went on and lights, to keep him off. It seemed to work. Every now and then he'd play wih an ornament on the bottom, but we made sure the breakable ones were up higher so he nor our girls could hurt them. Good luck and God Bless.
Hi B.,
Depending on how old your human babies are, haha, we had the same problem with our cats. My cat was the instigator and my brothers cat was the follower. They would climb up our tree too (ours is just like yours). Anyway, we ended up using fishing wire and hooks. Not fishing hooks, but the kinds that you can screw into your wall and hang things on. We staggered 3 rows, i.e-one towards the top, one towards the middle, and one towards the bottom. Trust me, it won't knock over. Then we'd have a squirt bottle and good aim. We even put mice traps under the skirt. That's why i ask how old your human babies are. Of course don't want them gettin stuck in one. They hadn't done it since. It worked out really well. Good luck!
We put up a play yard system around the tree. Our cats love to knock the ornaments off, which means the hooks go everywhere. We have an 18 month old and I was very afraid that she was going to get ahold of the hooks. The tree has been up for two weeks now and so far so good.
This prob wont help you...but we put a mini tree up and put it up high so our child and cat cant touch it. Good luck.
I never could keep my kitty out of our tree, even when she grew to be 13 pounds of kitty !! LOL !!
So .... my husband put some small hooks in the woodwork of the wall, and tied fishing line to the tree and then anchored the tree to the hooks. Worked wonderfully to keep the tree up, and no one noticed the lines because fishing line is clear. (Of course we put the tree in the same corner every year after that so we didn't have to remove the hooks and leave holes in the woodworking.)
Kitty still tried to climb it, but at least I didn't have to pick up the tree several times a day any more, and no more broken ornaments.
We lost "Baby's First Christmas", "Our First Christmas Together", (they shattered) and several others that can never be replaced every time that tree crashed to the ground.
Beyond that, she seemed to stop trying to climb it once we had several packages under it. That sort of blocked her access to the easiest branches to start her climb.
We had this same problem several years ago as well. We took a spray bottle and filled it with water. Anytime the cat started messing with the tree, we would squirt him. It worked! We have an almost 1 year old kitten now and it's still as effective. Good luck.
