Cat + Xmas Tree = Disaster

[amyray9]

Hi all.
I have two cats and one dog.
The youngest, Salem (male cat) I got as a kitten in 2003. That's the LAST YEAR I put up a xmas tree - because of him...

He liked to climb it, and therefore pull it down, shattering my grandmother's ornaments....

He did this many times. I sprayed him with water, to no avail. Not to mention it's difficult to reprimand him when I'm not home!

Soooo.... I'd FINALLY like to put up a tree again this year...

Any ideas on what to do???? It's a fake tree... should I spray some pet deterrent on it? If so - which one(s) work????

Any other ideas????

Thanks!!!!!
From,
Lover of Xmas, Resentful of Cat

[Tambrey]

I use only plastic ornaments...my good glass ones are put away for someday...

I tie the tree up...yep...it is at a window, and I have a piece of string that I tie around the window latch, around the trunk of the (fake) tree then back to the window latch....they have not been able to topple it since I did that...
they do still climb the tree, so for the past few years, I "decorate" it with vinegar soaked cotton balls strategically placed among the branches....I know...not exactly a Christmas-y scent...but it works...for my cats anyways!!
I just add fresh soaked cotton balls every evening

[kehorner]

Another way of securing trees that I've seen is to install a hook in your ceiling, and then tether the tree straight up, so it's almost hanging. That way you can put it anywhere you want and it can't fall in any direction.

[Tambrey]

I thought about that as well, but our ceilings are 12 foot high....

I also seriously thought about making a chicken wire and fencepost FENCE around my tree last year I thought it might look pretty neat...different....hahaha....

We ended up putting the tree in our entry hall (Big entry hall as well), since we have French Doors leading into the living room and we could shut the entry hall off from the cats and dogs....

Here is a picture....and normally, all of those videos would NOT have been stacked on the entry hall bench, but the evening we were putting up the tree, my son inadvertently knocked over the shelf in the living room that holds them, and the shelf broke...so they got stashed there until I could fix it...

[Traci]

It's been years since I had a christmas tree, and I really miss one. But, the year Cody came into my life, was the last year of the tree

I'd suggest using minimal ornaments, and those that cannot be taken off, broken (don't want glass in paw pads), absolutely NO tinsel, NO flocking unless the cat doesn't bother it, and no hooks that can be ingested.

You know, they make beautiful ornaments with other materials, soft, bows, wooden, etc...just hide the hooks well so they can't be gotten into.

Here's a post for tips and safety concerns with pets and trees, etc.

[momPaws]

This is not re cats but similar. When my little dau was old enough to walk we took the kid outta the playpen and put the tree in the playpen. Worked good for a few years, but would not work on cats, of course. But maybe on puppies.