Turkeys, Xmas Trees and Cat! :o

[danyele128]

:number1:I am officially turning to you, Intercot friends, for a little humorous help. We recently (yesterday of course) enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving day Across the street at a family members house. Upon my return I found my cat sitting in the kitchen window watching us. She was a bit miffed to say the least! So she refused to associate herself with us for a few hours. I think she could sense that WE ate the bird, and didn't share.

Later that night our daughters decided it was time to put up the xmas tree. "Oh Joy" I thought, it is always so much fun. HMPH!!

After wrestling the disgruntled cat away from the tinsel and out of the hooks for the decorations, we managed to get it up in true fashion. Gorgeous!

At this point I am beginning to realize that my wonderful cat so fittingly named "Spazz" is not really a cat but almost human like with her vindictiveness, if that's what you call it.

I awoke this morning to find my cat sleeping very pleasantly under the tree. Kinda like a sweet gift from Santa.

NOT!!

This cat loves the tree, turns out she was just resting in between rounds of up and down the tree. In and out of the branches, and of course her favorite, how far can she smack the ornaments across the living room! Argh!!

Since she is almost human like I figured I would give her the benefit of the doubt and speak to her clearly and calmly and tell her no! She just purred and clung to the middle trunk of this fake tree.

I then decided to remove her and reward/bribe her with her favorite food to try and teach her not to do it. Failed!

Then, oh then I got the spray bottle out because you all know they say to train a cat with one. I unplugged the lights first of course. It was like a game to her, how far in this dumb tree can a cat hide?

Help!

If you didn't know any better you'd think the tree was coming to get you. It moves, spins, rocks and shakes constantly. What so I do?

If you have been through this and survived, please give me a hint. This is only day 1 and I ready to choke something (not really)!

:cat: + :tree: = :gangster: :cat:

:santa3:We leave for a week at Disney the 15th and I am already battling the "should I take it down or leave it up so the cat doesn't kill herself " issue.

Any help is greatly appreciated. I really do love this cat. Never imagined we would even have a cat but we do and we love her dearly and do not want her hurt!

[PirateLover]

I've never owned a cat and I don't know what to tell you but I wanted to let you know I read your post, I feel for you, and I hope you figure out a way to keep that darn cat out of your tree this holiday season!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Here we go again...]

Now I know why I do not own a cat! ;)
I have nothing to offer but did enjoy the laugh.
Good luck!

[TheDuckRocks]

Been there done that in the past with 2 different cats. I found out the more we would react to the cat in tree behavior the worse it would get. I know this sounds hard but it really is best to ignore this as best you can and the cat will adjust and just sort of quitely "nap" there. The removing the ornaments I have stopped by twisting the softer hooks you can get around the tree branches, be sure to not touch the light wires though. Take pictures as down the road you will look back on this and laugh.

[Caroleh]

Been there done that in the past with 2 different cats. I found out the more we would react to the cat in tree behavior the worse it would get. I know this sounds hard but it really is best to ignore this as best you can and the cat will adjust and just sort of quitely "nap" there. The removing the ornaments I have stopped by twisting the softer hooks you can get around the tree branches, be sure to not touch the light wires though. Take pictures as down the road you will look back on this and laugh.


I've done the same thing, ignore it. Right now it's something new for it. Do you want another cat with human tendencies?

[RenDuran]

I miss the old days of my cats in the tree! Now one is gone and my other cat is too old to do much damage.

We stopped putting up big trees years ago.....strangely enough not because of the cats, but because of my little boy! I use a table-top tree now and it's been very liberating! No more huge trees to lug around!

My only suggestion is to make sure those ornaments are securely fastened! And to keep them up out of her reach! Our tree was pretty barren on the bottom half when the kitties were little. Enjoy the holidays with your kitty....you'll miss the "fun" one day.

[caryrae]

These are some tips I have heard of but don't know if they work.

Keep a small spray bottle full of water near the tree. If your cats still go after the tree, a light spritz of water on their back and a stern "NO!" will get the point across.

Cats naturally hate the scent of oranges, so keep orange peels under the tree to repel your cat.

If its a plastic tree, a small amount of Citronella oil shaken into a bottle of water and misted on to the tree makes is smell unpleasant to the cat but fresh and citrus-like to you.

Consider getting a Scotch Pine. They have extremely sharp needles. Also works for curious small children.

For small kittens wrap tinfoil around the trunk. They don't like putting their nails into it and it will keep them from climbing the tree.

Spray some pine cones with citronella and pile them around the base of the tree. Cats do not walk on pine cones!

Spray the bottom limbs with tobasco sauce to keep them from chewing the bottom branches. They wince and run away!

Also this is what I read about tinsel and cats: Don't use tinsel around cats! Ever! They will pull it down and spread it over the house and possibly chew on it and choke. Tinsel will cause the cat serious injury if injested - contact your vet right away if you think your cat has chewed, eaten or swallowed any tinsel.

[pink]

Funny story- I don't really know what to tell you, it is really just a judgement call whether or not you take down the tree when you go away. However, we did used to have a finch (type of small bird) that used to escape and fly into our christmas tree every year and we would just have to wait a few days until he decided to fly out. :mickey:

[MsMin]

I've had a cat that used to play with the bottom ornaments so I kept the unbreakables at the bottom and the glass wired to the top. Mine used to open presents. She grew tired of the game after a while. Hope yours does too.:tree:

[Dsnygirl]

:tree: Hmmm.... now you've got me wondering what's going to happen to us!! We have a kitten, 5 months old, and an old, tired, fat boy who's almost 14. So, it's been YEARS since we had to worry about a Christmas tree -- and honestly, I hadn't even thought about it until I saw your post!! And here's the true sign of denial -- even after I'd read your post, I thought - "How funny... I can't imagine... what would you do??" It actually took reading a couple of the responses for it to dawn on me that a week from now, I may be wrestling my own beast out of the branches!! :crazy: Good luck -- at least you've retained your sense of humor, which is more than I can say will happen w/ my DH if Quincy decides to find a new sleeping spot!! :cat:

[Auntie]

We have a new kitten this year..."Ojo"(sounds like "O..ho"..which is Spanish for eye. He actually only has one eye since he was attacked and likely dragged(probably a racoon) from the rest of his litter mates.. which wound up being located under my neighbors shed. He was all of maybe four weeks old when he happened to be spotted under my daughters car back in June, which was parked in front of the house. We thought he just had an infection in his eye and when we took him to the vet, she confirmed that the eye was badly damaged, and needed to removed.(surgery bills..another post!:ack:) At that point my daughter who has taken Spanish all through high school and now college said something like "oh his poor little "ojo" has a boo boo."(she's 20..but you know how we get when we have puppies and kittens..talk to them as if they are infants and we adults become dribbling idiots!). Anyway, name stuck...and so has he. He has become quite the little wise guy, and I'm sure we're are going to have some problems with him and the tree. We also have a dog that is a year old(Sheltie). The dog and cat are BEST friends. The cat actually thinks of the dog as his "mom" since he didn't have one. They are like peas in a pod those two. I'm thinking it's going to be fun with these two this Christmas season.
One think I did learn years ago, when we had our previous cat(Charlotte..for some 17 years) was to use some fishing wire to secure the tree to either a spot on the wall, or in our case, the stairway railing. Our tree is usually in the 7 to 8 foot range and we have it in a corner near the stairway in the livingroom. We put a piece of fishing wire around the trunk and pull it over to the railing..there is also a very small white nail in the wall and we string one there also. This way when or if the cat decides to climb the tree, it still remains STANDING! I remember those years when it would topple down after Charlotte would have a climb up it. Oh..and we learned about not using tinsel with a cat in the house..let's just say Charlotte was decorated very nicely one year. :DIt was sort of "decorating" her rear end as she would walk through the house. Seems she ate it, and it needed to pass..albiet naturally. DON"T ever pull it should this happen. Just clip what has already passed out..and wait for the rest to ...well..slip on out! Ahhh...animals you gotta love em!:thumbsup: It's been a while since we've had to take these precautions but it does appear with the second generation of pets added to our household during this past year, they are sure to create some special Christmas memories of their own.:mickey:

[Dznygrl79]

Wow what an eventful turkey day!
My cat Mr Ling is a tree fanatic he will not climb but he did like to use it as a scratching post ( the thing is fake!) so I put a very warm and fuzzy tree skirt on and he stopped scratching ans uses it as a nap spot now.
You seem to be in good spirits which is always important! I would not take the tree down you still have two weeks to work on it, if by the end of those two weeks its not any better consider it..but work on it for now it may lose its appeal here in a few days.

[kakn7294]

My MIL had to keep our cat Gypsy either on a leash in the house or locked in the basement so he'd stay out of the tree at Christmas! After she passed away and FIL remarried 8 yrs ago, he came home from his honeymoon to find that Gypsy now lived at my house and I wouldn't let him come claim him. Gypsy does not like Debbie as he's a really smart cat - I don't like her either as many of you already know. Anyway, our first Christmas with Gypsy at our house, I put up the tree as he watched with great interest, awaiting the perfect moment to dive into the middle. As soon as I was done, I sat on the couch with Gypsy in my lap and informed him that if he liked his home with us and wanted to remain living here, he would never attack and climb the Christmas tree ever again or he would have to go live with Debbie. He regarded me carefully and must have decided I was serious because he's never made even a single attempt to attack the tree.

[DisneyDudet]

Well, you make it sound so funny! You should write a book!

Anyway, my best friend all through high school had 4 cats. The way they kept the cats out of the tree was to have a small electric train set go all around the tree, making noises and moving constantly. And not having SHINY ornaments.

Their cats never bothered the tree, even though they did watch and stare.

Maybe that can work?

[danyele128]

Thank you all very much. My kids are at a friends for the weekend and I have just let the cat have her way with the tree. There are things everywhere under it! When they get back they are going to have a fit. I think I will try the orangey smell. It won't be that bad for us since they smell fresh and clean. Thank you for all the great suggestions.
21 days to unti lwe leave!:mickey: