Kitten and Christmas tree

[MadeForThis]

We have just adopted a kitten and I’ve no idea what to do about a Christmas tree this year. We have young DC who love everything about Christmas including decorating the tree. We have an artificial tree but I assume the kitten will just try to climb it. Lights and decoration seem dangerous too. What does everyone do about a Christmas tree? Unfortunately we wouldn’t be able to set up a tree in a room the kitten couldn’t access.

My childhood cat (who we got as a kitten) never attempted to climb the tree.
Cats my folks adopted in recent years - one likes to sit under it and watch the lights. The other one seemed to be oblivious that there was even a tree there 😂
I think a lot of people put the tree in a playpen or attach it to the wall.

They don't like oranges apparently, put satsumas on the lower branches?

We didn't have a tree when we had a kitten but he's been fine since he grew up!

BoyCat climbed everything (including us).
We cracked on, usual decorations apart from a few glass/delicate ones. No mains lights, battery powered only (but already had these as GirlCat finds the wires irresistable to chew, even though she is far older & should know better). It all survived.

You just have to keep pulling them out of the tree. You may even find they pull it completely over at some points. Mine has fallen asleep in the tree one year as well.

Mine were still climbing the tree last year age 2 and 3! They love it. We just keep a close eye and don’t ruin their fun. Thankfully the tree was big enough to sustain their weight but I’m not sure it will be this year!

We did skip breakable glass baubles the last few years so I would definitely advise you do the same.

They won't necessarily climb the tree. Over the years I've had cats and kittens who have ranged from complete ignorance the tree even exists to living in the tree for the entirely of December.

Lots of old wives tales of keeping them off but we have always just persevered as usual but only used unbreakable baubles until we discovered how tree obsessed the current cat house mates were.

I do remember last year letting them all climb it pre decoration to get it out of their system. Here’s one of our cheeky kitties enjoying tree time!

Our cats over the years have never climbed our free and our rescue we got last December didn't either. Our last 2 cats before rescue cat loved to sit under the tree though 💕

All mine have. One weighed a stone and a half, so there were predicable consequences.

Let them climb it? As long as it’s safe snd secure and there’s nothing to get tangled in. Here’s my two having a blast last year!

When Leia was a kitten, 4 months at Christmas, we had to put the tree in the hall where she couldn't get to it. Next year, she didn't bother and admired it from the comfort of the winfow ledge.

I’ve got a new kitten as well so am tempted not to put a tree up this year as she’s into everything. DS is grown up though so won’t be too bothered.

I remember having a rescue cat as a teenager who would run up to the top of the tree and wait for it to fall over. We’d stand it back up again only for her to repeat the exercise straight away. In the end, the tree went up on Christmas Eve and came back down on Boxing Day as we were all fed up with it by then.

Have never had a Christmas tree climber. Kittens have batted at baubles, tried to chew a light or slept under the tree/among presents for the hiding factor though.

It depend on the cat. I’ve had kittens who climbed but my current two never tried. Avoid ornaments on the bottom branches and if you can put a barrier underneath the tree so access to the truck is restricted.

A cute Christmas tree decoration!

My kitten never climbed the tree. She did thoroughly enjoy ripping to shreds two felt Christmas tree decorations whilst my back was turned but didn't go for any once they were up

I think we might chance it. At least we will get some cute photos!

I don't bother with a tree any more. There's only me & cats at home, and the first year I had cats poor departed Boycat refused to go into the living room - he was terrified of it. And seeing as the only place I could really put it was between the feeding station & litter tray, that wasn't feasible really. To be fair, he was terrified of most things.

I know people screw a hook or similar into the wall and tether the tree to it, so the cats can't pull it over. Also, be careful of thinks like tinsel and anything with fine strands as they can eat & swallow it leading to big issues. I usually do a public service post around the start of November with the usual Christmas warnings of things to be careful about with cats that time of year e.g. Poinsettias are toxic, don't let them get at dried fruit or chocolate etc.

My cat trashed my tree :-( I think he was in a fight with another cat that came in the house.

Now I have a heavy duty iron stand attached by cable ties to a 60x80cm piece of heavy MDF that acts as a base. It is untippable.

Soddingkitten is now 5. He climbed the tree for the first 2 Christmasses. Now he sits under it and bats at the low hanging baubles. We have blind cord fixings on the wall so we tie the tree to them with string to anchor it before we decorate it. We only hang breakable ornaments on the top 1/3 of the tree. Anything really precious stayed boxed for a couple of years. He’s never climbed that high.

Current cat spends a significant amount of the festive period climbing the Christmas tree. He enjoys knocking baubles off the branches so the tree is now festooned with shatter-proof decorations. Our previous cats showed little or no interest in climbing the Christmas tree.

I’m not risking it this year! Got my two rehomes in Feb (11 months and 4 months at the the time).

Older one is now well over a stone in weight, younger one is intently training to be a parkour champion 😻. I can’t be dealing with the worry of it all going to shit the moment my back is turned!

I thought I’d feel sad (I love my tree), but I’m ok with it, love them both to bits. Given they’re both Maine Coons, they won’t reach adult age for few years, but am hoping that I’ll reintroduce the tree maybe 2028. All of my decorations are non-breakable (bought years ago when I got my previous 2 cats of a different breed). I just don’t trust the current buggers to not tip the tree over and have fun batting decorations all over the place!

We have 5 cats, on the whole they don’t bother with it too much. There was one year it got progressively more sad looking as they gradually whacked all the ornaments off and we gave up putting them back, and one year the youngest one decided it was his mission to reach the top - we tie it to a hook so they can’t pull it over, but generally they leave it alone. We do find putting some tin foil round the bottom for the first few days helps discourage them, though eldest Dcat has recently decided tin foil is no deterrant and likes to walk across it (we use tinfoil to keep them off many things!)

I have three cats, two just use the water so their drinking bowl in December, the other likes to step inside it and sleep between the branches!
we’ve had loads of cats and they have played with the baubles, but my worst climbing cat used to just climb up the inside of one of those old fashioned wooden clothes horses , the ones that pull up into a 6 foot frame, and lounge over the rails … he was hilarious!

Our previous girl cat was fascinated by the tree, and would pull down and "kill" decorations. In the Covid era we had a fake tree (so it could go up early in that miserable period) and she had it over a couple of times because it was lightweight. She never tried to get in it though. We sadly lost her aged ten last year to cancer, and now have a young boy cat who is a delightful wee menace. I fully expected Christmas carnage, to the extent that the first few days of having the tree I shut him out of the living room if there wasn't going to be anyone home. He couldn't have been less interested, to my amazement, despite being a cat who really loves to be up high.

My beautiful white girl plotting which decoration to destroy, and our handsome orange lad waiting with the tree's glow behind him.