Kitty Versus the Christmas Tree
December 2, 2008 by Peggy Rowland
Filed under Pets
Wow! A whole big tree with bright lights and dangling things too. It’s almost too much for even the very best cat to ignore.
Please play it safe and win the game with these Kitty Versus the Christmas Tree Safety Tips:
• Use a cord protector as a precaution in case kitty decides to starting chewing.
• For live trees, make sure your cat is unable to drink from the water reservoir. The water could contain pesticides, various chemicals, flame retardants and toxic sap.
• Clean up any dead pine needles lying around. They are sharp and may cause harm if swallowed. (As you can see, fake trees are safer for cats.)
• Keep all breakable ornaments near the top of the tree.
• Don’t use metal hooks. (My cat would try to eat them.) Tying ornaments to the tree with string will make them more secure and lessen the chance your cat will find a loose hook.
• Avoid tinsel.
• Make sure the tree is well anchored. Despite your best efforts, kitty could dive in!
• Watch out for ribbons. They can really mess with your cat’s intestines if swallowed. Don’t add these to gifts under the tree until the last minute. Also avoid using bows on the lower branches.
• If you’re not around, keep the cat in a separate room from the tree. While you’re at work, consider closing off the tree area to make sure your felines don’t get into trouble.
• If you’re going out of town for the holidays, take down your tree before you leave so the pet sitter doesn’t have to worry with it.
Do you have any other tree safety tips to add?
Ornament image via stock.xchng. Cat in tree image via flickr. Cat looking at lights via flickr.
Peggy,
Great tips. I put my tree in a pet free room because the kittens mess with everything.
Remember the days when tinsel was real metal? That stuff was a magnet for my cat…she couldn’t help herself from eating it. Yuck!
My family always anchors our Christmas tree to the wall using fishing line. It’s practically invisible and keeps the tree stable if a curious cat decides to investigate
Thanks for dropping by.
Katelyn, I want to do that one day too! All of my places so far have been too open, unless I put the tree in a bedroom.
Cyndi, I don’t remember that because we didn’t usually get tinsel growing up. Yikes!
Chloe, That’s a good use for fishing line : )
We don’t have any cats, but we have to worry about many of the same things for our dogs. Our little one takes up residence under the tree as soon as it’s put up, and the big one sometimes thinks she can fit too. So we definitely have to anchor it to the wall (we use fish line too). Definitely no tinsel:)
Hey Linette. I guess all pets like to get into the holiday spirit ; )