Caring For Your Cat

It is that time of year when many families will be preparing
to put up their Christmas trees. It all starts either by getting
your tree out of the attic or storage place, or going and picking
out the perfect tree from a tree farm or local store.  No matter
which way you start with, if you have a cat or two in the house
you need to consider a few potential dangers when preparing
this yearly ritual. 

The type of tree is important to consider, if you do not keep it
in a separate room away from your cat.  Live Christmas trees
can be deadly to a cat.  If they eat the pine needles they could
puncture the intestines.  Pine is also toxic to cats causing damage
to the liver or death.  An artificial Christmas tree is safer than a
live one, but it can also cause blockage if it is eaten. 

I put up an artificial Christmas tree, not just for the safety, but
also for the convenience of the clean up.  It still takes more
planning and preparation to keep the cats off and away from
the Christmas tree. 

Start by finding a good spot where you can place the tree that
will allow you to secure to something so that the cats cannot
knock or pull it down.  It is also a good idea to keep the tree away
from other items, such as tables, chairs, or anything else your
cat can climb on that will give it closer access to the tree.   

After you have found the perfect spot for your Christmas tree,
the next part of the yearly tradition is going to be the most fun.
Decorating the tree! Now this is the best part of getting the tree
up and ready, but it can also be the most mind boggling and nerve
wrecking task.  Especially when you have to consider the placement
of all of the decorations in proportion to your cat’s interest in any
and all of the decorations. 

Now, I have learned the hard way with placing my decorations on
the tree, that you must never put your glass bulbs near the bottom
where the cats can reach them.  The first year that we had our cats
and I decorated the tree not thinking that they would play with it, I
put the glass ornaments as well as other ornaments on the bottom
branches. Well, later that day I heard a bang, and smash of glass
breaking, only to look out and see that both cats were playing with the
dangling ornaments and knocking them on the floor.  A lot of our
ornaments were smashed and broken that year, but I learned to not
do that again.  I now put the ornaments on the upper branches, and
I no longer use glass bulbs or any other ornaments that they can break. 

Another thing to consider doing if you have cats is not to put tinsel on
your tree.  When I was growing up, we always put tinsel on our Christmas
tree. I never liked putting up the tinsel because it was so hard cleaning
up and getting it off of the tree.  I am glad that I do not put tinsel on my
Christmas tree, especially since I have cats and it can harm them if they
swallow it.  It is better to not put tinsel on your tree if you have cats.

 Also, take care in the placement of the lights.  You do not want your cat
to chew on the cord and get a nasty shock.  I did have two cats that liked
to chew on cords and I took extra care on making sure that they were
placed where they would not be tempted to chew.  A wonderful tip to keep
your cat from chewing on the cord is to place it in a plastic strip and tape it
to the floor.  Another thing to do is to tape down or remove the tag that is
attached to the lights; this is often a tempting object for cats to chew on also. 

Once you have your tree up and decorated it is now the time to become
creative in keeping your kitty away from the tree to keep your decorations
safe from its curiosity.  There are a few things that you can try to keep your
cat away from the tree.  You can place foil or two sided tape around the tree,
they do not like the feel of it and will often times stay away. Another tactic to
try is to place citrus rinds or fresheners around the tree; cats do not like the
smell of citrus and will stay away.  You can also spray your cat with water each
time it attempts to get close to the tree and it will soon stay away.  I have found
that using the water bottle to be the most effective and easiest for me to do.
Try each one and find one that will work for you and your cat.  

Make this Christmas a memorable one and do not forget to keep your cat in
mind when making preparations for your Christmas traditions, especially
those involving a tree.