How do you stop your cat from drinking from the Xmas tree stand but still be able to top up the water?

[DevilishlyEvil]

As this water is meant to be bad for cats.
I'm thinking of using tin foi
Any suggestions?

*tin foil

The only time I've heard it's bad for cats is if you put in chemicals to try and stop needle drop. If you just put in fresh water, what is the issue? DC prefers any manky old puddle to her clean, fresh bowl of water, and has always drunk tree water. Is there a bigger problem?

@InTheLabyrinth never heard of it being an issue for cats, but evergreens have toxins in them which is why we shouldn't eat mushrooms grown on evergreens, because they soak up some of the toxins and can make people very poorly.

I imagine it's a similar thing for water that the tree has been steeped in, but I don't know to what degree.

I read the same. I taped newspaper around it that I can lift up. Although I've been more organised this year and bought a tree skirt to use instead.

Can you not put a tree skirt around it?

Wet newspaper in the bottom of the pot and make sure there is no water sitting?

My cat likes tinfoil he carries it in his mouth and scares his brothers with it 😳

I read that you could add sliced lemons and oranges to the tree water to deter cats as they don't like citrus (didn't work, mine proceeded to try and eat the fruit, but maybe they are strange and it would work for you?)

One of our cats drank th tree water for years. He loves to be 16 so it didn't seem to bad for him.

he might still be here if it wasn't for the tree water :-(

Plastic lid from ice cream container or similar with a hole punched in it for the tree trunk. Tape it down,

The cats protection league just say don't put any chemicals or preservatives in the water as they are bad for the cats. No problem with a real tree and fresh water.

Our cat drinks the water - think it's OK? Not so sure he should eat as much tinsel as he does

@didireallysaythat

According to quite a few articles it's bad for cats to drink Xmas tree water
www.jupitervet.com/kitty-vs-the-christmas-tree-be-aware-of-the-holiday-dangers/

"Beyond added chemicals, it turns out all Christmas tree water is dangerous. Jordan explains that the water from Christmas trees is toxic to cats because of fire retardants that are sprayed onto most Christmas trees before they are sold, plus pine sap is toxic to kitties."

@HouseIsOnFire

I read that you could add sliced lemons and oranges to the tree water to deter cats as they don't like citrus (didn't work, mine proceeded to try and eat the fruit, but maybe they are strange and it would work for you?)

I tried sprinkling curry and chilli powder on mine to stop DCat chomping on the branches because I wasn't sure if the fake snow on it was toxic or not. Did it deter him did it Hellas like. He happily snaffled up the added extras. In the end I had to block off both ends of the settee and wedge boxes around so he couldn't get to it

@rainbowbabyforchristmasplease glad am not the only one! They've also recently developed a taste for anything morroccan/tagine, so daren't try curry powder, barricades it is (which will obviously be seen as a new climbing frame!!)

could you fill it with pebbles so that there is space for water at the bottom, but the pebbles stop them from reaching it?

I'll probably try and make something from cardboard.