- Not an alternative to skilled veterinary assist.
It’s a basic Christmas cliché—proprietor brings dwelling tree, proprietor decorates tree, proprietor steps again to admire stated tree solely to see the household cat knock it over, swiftly displace the shiny ball ornaments, and/or get helplessly caught in string lights. This yr, don’t set your self (or kitty) up for catastrophe—be taught the next 11 hacks and methods to cat-proof your Christmas tree.
Potential Christmas tree hazards for cats
Whilst you needn’t drive your self loopy with worrying concerning the risks posed by Christmas timber, there are a couple of vacation hazards which have the potential to hurt your favourite feline. Be aware of the next risks:
- Tinsel and ornaments introduce a choking danger and intestinal misery to ordinary chewers.
- Electrical lights pose a danger of electrocution or burns.
- Damaged ornaments, glass, and sharp steel hangers can injure your cat.
- Energetic climbers can knock a tree over, hurting themselves (and your tree!) within the course of.
- Some cats might mistake a tree base for a litter field.
How are you going to shield your cat and your tree from a vacation “cat-astrophe?” (Sorry, I simply needed to!) Learn on to find intelligent ideas that may assist cat-proof your Christmas tree this yr.
1. Proceed slowly
Most cats are reluctant to embrace modifications made to their routine or setting. And when a towering pine tree strewn with shiny baubles exhibits up unexpectedly in your house, effectively—that’s a BIG change in your cat to regulate to.
Earlier than slapping that tote filled with ornaments onto your tree, PETA suggests leaving it naked for the primary few days. Let your cat turn out to be accustomed to this new object at her personal tempo. Hopefully, she’ll get used to the tree and can simply ignore it totally.
2. Be certain issues are safe
Skip the sharp steel hangers historically used to hold ornaments—they’ll injure curious kitties! As a substitute, fasten ornaments to branches as tightly as you’ll be able to with wire or twine to maintain your cat from swatting them off.
Be certain your tree base is sturdy sufficient to carry your tree in place. You could even need to contemplate tethering your tree to the wall or ceiling with a fishing line to attenuate its danger of falling.
3. Hold decorations up excessive
Shield heirloom ornaments by inserting them out of your cat’s attain. Forgo low-hanging ornaments which may show too tempting in your inquisitive feline. As a substitute, attempt hanging some bells across the decrease branches to function a warning system. If you happen to hear the bells jingling, it’s possible you’ll have to intervene.
And whereas we’re with regards to tree decor, a phrase of recommendation: skip the tinsel. If swallowed, it may trigger tragic intestinal damage. Not price it!
4. Be cautious with lights
Discourage your feline from chewing on wires by winding strings of sunshine near the middle of your tree. You too can use a cord protector to maintain your cat from gnawing on a wire.
All the time unplug the lights whenever you’re not round.
5. Harness the facility of distraction
Preserve your cat occupied with playful (and fewer damaging) options. Arrange an space in the home with some new toys to maintain your cat considering one thing aside from the shiny ornaments in your tree.
6. Limit entry
If you happen to can, hold your cat out of the room with the tree anytime you’re out of the home. (Additionally: take a look at a few of these ingenious Christmas tree pet-proofing hacks.)
7. Catnip-free zone
It’s nice that you just wrapped some cute catnip toys for Christmas morning. However leaving them below the tree for a number of days? Not so nice. Take away tempting packages and save them till you’re able to open them (together with your cat, in fact!)
8. Go synthetic
Positive, actual timber have their appeal. They’re additionally extremely messy. Fallen pine needles can puncture paws and pose a severe danger to curious chewers. A synthetic tree will override this hazard.
A second consideration: Get a small tree. If—regardless of all of your efforts—an unlucky crash does happen, a smaller tree will inflict much less harm than a big one.
9. Cowl the bottom
If you happen to do use an actual tree, cowl the water-filled base with a tree skirt or blanket so your cat doesn’t drink it. This water can harbor dangerous micro organism, which may make your cat sick.
10. Place your tree in a nook
Preserve your tree away from any furnishings your cat might use to leap into the branches. As a substitute, select a nook to make climbing harder.
11. Use deterrents
Do you know that cats hate the smell of citrus? Use this aversion to your benefit and place a couple of orange peels across the base of the tree. You too can spray a number of pine cones with apple cider vinegar to repel a mischievous cat.
Wrapping your tree’s trunk in tin foil can serve the identical objective: cats hate the texture of foil, so that they’re prone to depart a foil-covered tree alone.
There’s no cause for cat lovers to overlook out on the joy of adorning a Christmas tree. Some minor tweaks made to your adorning routine can imply the distinction between a disastrous vacation and an unforgettable one. When you learn to cat-proof your Christmas tree, it’s simple to get into the vacation spirit.
Extra vacation concepts
