Completely opted out of any type of Christmas tree this year. My older two kids' cats never gave us any issues for 2 years. We adopted a pregnant stray this year, found homes for all of them except 2. I caught the kittens and now 1 older cat, chewing and eating the plastic needles off the fake tree. I drew the line when I caught the cap off one of the ball ornaments in their mouth. Totally not worth it. They are a joy to us and my kiddos completely understand. They are also learning responsibility that comes with owning a pet they asked for. We decorated with garland up high where none of the cats can access and fairy lights. Simple and beautiful. Plus, it's the memories with all those we love that count. That includes our fur baby additions.
The same here! For my two 1y9m old cats any decoration could risk their lives. They tend to eat toys that are wrapped in cloth or plastic. Toys with fake feathers are also out of question! They get instantly swallowed! It's very important to know our cats and realize what could put their health and life at risk. Even toys and things that are made for cats might not be suitable to some. I speak from experience.
@@rebeccasmuk9099 I will have to try that lemon trick, thank you. We inadvertently became cat owners 2 years ago, so this is a whole new world to me. I appreciate and enjoy reading tips that have worked for others.
We ditched getting a replica or real tree for decorating...and instead we got a ceramic indoor tree with lights. It's still quite pretty and brings the feel of Christmas to our main room without the worry of hurting the cats, the cats hurting your property, or hurting yourself from broken bits and baubles. My kiddo was who asked us to not worry about decorating a tree and he's loved seeing how we used the budget we'd normally spend on a tree for other more pet safe decorations instead.
@@flapi7172 I couldn't agree more. I tried making my kids' cats homemade toys, for safety reasons. I would sit and supervise them to watch for any potential hazards. So far I only have 1 toy they can safely play with that is not a choking hazard, that's a ball. Lol! So, I decided I will invest my money in cat wall furniture instead of toys so they can run and climb their little hearts out chasing each other.
Both our cats have always been great with our live trees ! One when he was a kitten would gingerly climb into the tree find and find an inner branch to just perch in without disturbing the ornaments!! Now he’s older and still love the tree , he no longer climbs in , he does rest under it the whole time it’s up though ! Our other kitty admires the tree but doesn’t bother with it , we got really lucky with both who both came from off our road !! They found us! ❤️
Yes i know my cats behave so well with Christmas tree and decor..but just know that my apartment is cat proof...no nothing on shelves..no plants ..mine is hanging from seeling..no poinsettia and cover your tree stand so your cat doesn't access to the tree water..very toxic
Love it!❤ I was also always very lucky with my cats regarding the Christmas tree and decorations. They were curious about it, as cats are, but never climbed or broke anything.😻
Another holiday hazard, especially for those of us who celebrate Chanukah, is candles. I found out that I was wrong to assume cats would know fire is dangerous. (Luckily the cat wasn't injured, though her fur was singed.)
I know this is a stupid suggestion but we got one of those fireplace guards and put that around the area on the floor (it was in a window) and putting up some cardboard/flat surface and hanging it diagonal from the top at like a 45° angle kept them out.
YES! my boy kitty has set his tail on fire walking by candles on the table. This happened twice during a blackout, so we did need candles to see at the table. He did singe just the fur on his tail, It is so scary. I would never leave an unattended candle around cats. Years later, I tried to light a scented candle right in front of me, again at the table, and in an instant, that kitty jumped up and plopped his butt down right in front of the candle, swiping his tail right through the flames! Singed tail fur. It happened so fast. So that was it, never again. When there is a blackout again, we will just have to be sure we have a lot of battery operated lights.
Indeed! Holiday candles can be very dangerous! My girl is kind of a firebug, who wants to bat at lit candles. She's never been harmed, but that fur of hers can go up in an instant. Especially longhair breeds. My suggestion is to use those little battery powered candles instead, if you want a nice ambient light. Cats and open flames are a bad mix.
Great information! As an emergency veterinarian, my most heart wrenching hazard is visitors who bring their dogs with them, that attack the cat who lives there. Please don’t ever assume that someone else’s dog will be safe around your own cat, regardless if that dog “gets along with cats” according to the owner. With family visitors increasing on the holidays, we see so many traumatized, critically injured cats because of this. (Also happens to dogs!) The hack is to tell visitors they cannot being their own animals. But if they do, make sure the household cats and any visiting dogs are always separated.
Back in the early ‘70s, not only did we not have Jackson’s videos or books, but the tinsel we had was made with lead. What stopped us from using tinsel was witnessing my older brother slowly pulling tinsel out of one of our cat’s butt while she vocalized how she felt about the procedure. After watching this video, I’m surprised she had no problems afterwards.
Yeah, that was very lucky. Tinsel/ribbon/string can actually get wrapped around cat's intestines, basically tying them together, making it so the cat can't have a bowel movement. It can require emergency surgery and can possibly kill them. One of my cats once swallowed ribbon - I was right there wrapping presents but she just did it so fast. I had to rush her to the emergency room at midnight the night before Christmas Eve so they could induce vomiting.
I remember clearly as a child finding poop wrapped with thinsels..i was ho! My Christmas gift!!.. i laughed 🤣 but i never used it in my adult life with my own trees
It's better not to pull it out, the intestines could get damaged. It's better to cut the dangling part so that it doesn't get caught in something and see if the cat expels the rest.
One time I came home from work and immediately noticed that my cat was very upset. I found that she had broken a Christmas ornament on the tree and had set the tree awry in its stand, it took a lot of loving reassurance for her to feel better. So long as she was ok (I checked her thoroughly for glass shards, etc.), I didn’t care about anything else, poor sweetie. She was, like all cats, super-sensitive, and although I had never yelled at her or anything, she seemed to fear that. What a life she must have had before we found each other, being yelled at for just being a cat! Cats find Christmas decorations hard to resist, make sure they’re cat-safe!
Hahahahahahaha oh my god…. Did you give your cat a message and have a yoga session after? Jesus Christ, smack the MF in the head, tell it NO and move on. “She was visibly upset” HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
My Abby liked to hide under the tree and ambush you as you walked by. I always made sure the bottom third of the tree had unbreakable or soft ornaments hanging on it. She was allowed to knock those around and didn't bother climbing the tree to get to the rest. It was a fake tree. Never put out presents till the kids were asleep on Christmas Eve and she didn't bother them either. Good planning goes a long way towards a happy cat and happy family!
A cat friendly tree idea, wrap boxes in pretty xmas paper of your choosing, and stack them in a tree shape, as you would with lego trees. You have your centerpiece xmas "tree" and the kitties have an interactive tree they can climb. I found this hack when ours were kittens, there's all kinds of google images. Also, if your cat is a tree climber, you can make an outline of a tree on the wall with xmas lights and garland. We did this one year, and we were so pleased with how it looked. This works if the kitties aren't the type to pull at garland or lights.
The citrus zest hack made me think about the times when we used to plant cloves into oranges, tie ribbons into them, and hang them into the Christmas tree. That make the tree smell like orangey pine. It could help to keep cats away.
Cats hate anything citrussy so lemons, grapefruits or oranges sliced, dried and hung on the tree as part of the decoration should be enough to put them off
Tried the air canisters. Only delayed the tree catastrophe by 90 seconds. Finally decided to relocate the tree to my front porch. Now he and my neighbors all get to enjoy the tree. Everyone wins and I have no anxiety attacks.
Great video, Jackson. Our solution was to not only get a fake tree but to put stuffed cloth ornaments on the lower branches as a "yes" for our adult cats. They used to love getting one and playing with it only to see it back on another branch the next day. Our boys are mature enough that climbing the tree is not nearly as nice as snuggling into the felt tree skirt and staring at lights, or just napping under the branches.
Don’t forget about menorahs! We have a kitten this year, so it looks like we’ll be investing in an electric one this year, & just displaying the others as decorations!
I find it funny, one of the most celebrated holiday in the world... Is the worst for cats. That said... I've used plenty of your hacks Jackson, I've had a fake tree for the past year. I went one step further and put orange zest ornaments around the base of the tree, and throughout it. I don't really have many decorations, so they're not really that much of an issue. My cats usually get the turkey can of cat food for their food, as well as new toys and whatnot. But at the beginning of december, I find a cat treat advent calendar. And everyday they get a treat, and I use those treats for training. 😊 Happy holidays Jackson!
My two mischief maker cats, who turned one yesterday, and I have a nice 😊 little Christmas 🎄tree on a bookcase. They can't get to it and we're all festive and safe.🐈🐈⬛❣
We use a faux tree, unbreakable decorations that don't have glitter or poisonous parts. We have two bungee cords anchored to the wall. No tinsel or metal hooks. I have learned that happiness comes when I'm sure my furbabies are safe and happy. I do plan on them climbing into the tree and prepare for it. No dangerous plants either. That's what faux plants are for.😹😺😸
Around 40+ years ago, I had a cat that climbed Christmas trees knocked them down, so much we did have to tie them to the wall. Another thing she did was to chew the mini lights. She chewed several of them but somehow avoided injury. She was a very adventurous cat. She would get out of the house onto the roof and jump to the ground. She would also get into the suspended ceiling and ride the tiles to the floor and repeat as often as she could! She was a CrAzY little kitty!!
We tried the citrus in baggies and my cat, Sebby, went completely nuts batting at it angrily. He also has stress issues and severe anxiety. I was afraid it was stressing him out 😔 I bought him a new tree for Christmas. He is distracted for the most part 🙏🏼❤️
Calico TC was an outdoor cat when she adopted my family. Having a real tree in the house intrigued her, so naturally she claimed it as hers. The tree smelled wild, like the great outdoors, which made Calico TC and Siamese Lucy act wild. They loved it. TC would climb the tree, and bat the ornaments with great force. Quickly we learned to put the old glass ornaments away, and to leave the newer cheap plastic ornaments for TC. Adult cats are more like teenagers than like toddlers, except during the holidays. There is something about that real tree that brings out their Inner Children.
I'm so lucky that my rescue is a well-behaved and smart lady. The only thing she'll do to the Christmas tree is play with the ornaments, but we just moved them out of immediate reach. She's never on the counter or the stove, she's only interested in the kitchen table if I'm there. She doesn't even knock my plants down anymore. I want to get her a friend soon but I'm worried that they won't be so well behaved lmao.
I stopped putting up a tree about 7 years ago because my cat liked to knock it over. I started decorating a fake wreath instead and it's worked well for me.
Thanks for the reminder. We have had cats for lots of years, and only had to tie the tree up for one of them. The others ignored it. We’ve never allowed ribbons or tinsel. Our 22 year old cat passed a couple years ago, now we have a new one with a very different purrsonality. We may have to rethink going out to get a live tree or even getting a fake tree since she gets a little crazy sometimes. She’s spending the week with my dad to comfort him in his time of loss of his 20+ years human partner, so we’ll see how our Nyx kitty does with his fake tree. So far, she’s ignored it and is snuggling with my dad and providing lots of needed companionship for him with the grief he’s experiencing since his partner passed. I’m grateful they are buds and can bond during his time of need.
I literally went through the stores to find new Christmas Decor, I only got one thing because everything else I looked at was "The child will eat that, she will break that, she will destroy that entirely." No Garland, no ribbons on my gifts this year, lights strung up high and away from her cat trees
Thanks for the tree hack! We had ours up (without ornaments) for 3 hours before I took it down out of frustration. 1 scratched at the bottom, another chewed the fake branches and the 3rd and new kitten started to chew on the lights.
My 8 month old kitten became curious when we first set up our Christmas tree. We were afraid that she’s going to eat the little leaves so we came up with a different plan. My fiancé thought of an idea to make a DIY small Christmas tree on the wall. It’s 3D with presents underneath. We also hung our ornaments and have a small tree topper. It’s very nice and cute 🥰
I opted to put my Christmas tree outside this year. I placed it in front of my big living room window. Especially at night, with the lights on, it's feels the same as having it inside. I never place presents under the tree until Christmas Eve anyway, so I'm not missing that aspect either. This year I'll just hand them out Christmas morning. I absolutely did not want to worry or stress about my cats getting into the decorations.
That’s exactly what we started doing last Christmas! I leave the lights on day & night, and it’s looks very pretty from inside our living room. Nice to know there’s someone else out there who’s thought of this👍
This is why my family prefers fake trees and we're careful about what we put on the tree. In addition, we're careful about not having things like real poinsettias and opted for fake ones for their safety. We prefer to use wooden, plastic, or small metal ornaments so my two stripey cat children don't end up with shattered glass and keep them above the bottom because one cat won't climb trees and the other is a lazy boy. This has the side effect of also deterring our dogs from messing with the decor as well.
My cat likes to go under the tree (it's a fake one). I like to say that she is sitting among the presents because she is also a gift to this world. We don't put ribbons on our presents, and she only rips up wrapping paper if it's loose. She doesn't usually swat the ornaments either, though that might be because we tend not to put the super tempting ones close to the ground. So I don't think she's in much danger. I suppose our somewhat laid back, "eh good enough" way of doing things (like not using ribbons, tinsel, or real plants because that's just more effort and more expensive) has its benefits.
Thanks! This is the first year we've decorated since getting cats 3 years ago. But, we have a 3 month old kitten now and he super curious. We bought a safe tree (fake) and of course he's been in it several times. We are expecting trouble, so no breakable ornaments, no tree water, no needles. He hasn't managed to knock it over, yet, and he is the cutest ornament ever.
I had no idea about the pine needles and tree-water. Luckily I don't think we've ever had a real tree around either of our cats, or maybe once or twice when I was very young. I do vividly remember waking up in the morning to find each of our cats casually hanging out in the tree every Christmas. The most beautiful ornaments around, haha.
No tree is better than a fake plastic PVC tree IMO. But our cats have always been fine with the tree. We make sure to vacuum at least once a day. Had no idea about the water of the tree honestly, but the citrus will work for our cat! 🍊 We have a special needs child so naturally that ends with a lot of cat proofing. The tips about Easter plants are good too. Unfortunately we found out how many plants we can't have when our kiddo tore up a toxic plant many years ago. Was bad for our kid and the cat. We lucked out and didn't need a visit to the hospital but easily could've ended up that way had they been unsupervised.
We have our tree stand attached to a wooden platform that stands about 15” high. We have done that since before we had a cat, it makes it easier to access for watering and it looks like we have a taller tree than we really do. We have one tree skirt that is big enough to cover the stand and the platform. We have a “bush dweller” cat, so he has no curiosity about climbing up our Christmas tree. He just slinks under the skirt and curls up beneath that platform. It’s so adorable. I don’t know how we got so lucky. I would love to get a second cat, but with how tiny our house is (I’ve seen apartments bigger than our house) and we have a senior husky shepherd mix, I just don’t think it’s a good decision. Especially considering there isn’t another room to put an additional litter box in. Jackson says not to keep them all in the same room, and not to put one in an inconvenient/loud room like the bathroom or laundry room. We have our bedroom and living room with Bandit’s litter boxes already. That just leaves the bathroom or kitchen our tiny excuse for a kitchen for the third litter box if we were to bring in a second cat. And I’m sorry but I do not want a litter box in my kitchen.
Quick storytime: We bought a new fake christmas tree one year and one of my girl kitties went around and CHEWED on all the lower lights she could get her little mouth around! WHY?! This is how I found out they were plastic lights, phew, so they just kind of squished, but she did short out the whole bottom light section of the tree. Tried bitter spray on the tree, suggested form the vet, didn't work. She would also climb it and bend the wired branches, so the tree is a mess. Now that the tree is ugly and she is older, she leaves it alone.
Back in the 80's I trained to become a Paramedic. I joined a voluntary Ambulance Service. I was the Paramedic for the Saturday Night crew. It became our job every December to pick up our donated Christmas Tree. One year, the Tree Lot Owner allowed us to choose 2 Trees, We got the traditional 6' tree for the Crew Room and a short fat (all of about 4') which we hung from the drop ceiling, decorated with Stars of David, Menorah's and other traditional Jewish Symbols and called it a Hanukah Bush. (our relief crew on Sunday Morning were all Jewish) Everyone enjoyed the joke.
Most of my cats didn't mess with The Tree. One year I had a rambunctious 8 month old siamese. Looked at ornaments, many hand made or specially chosen, looked at the kitten, and decided on no tree. I didn't want to make for an unhappy holiday by having the cat knock something off and break it. Just by chance there were a number of hooks in the ceiling, for chandelier, plants, etc. So I hung chains from hook to hook and hung all my ornaments up high. That became the tradition. Many many years ago, I had a cat who didn't like bells. I had to cut the bells off his toys before he'd even get near them. (I did finally get friends to stop bringing kitty toys with bells.) But it was very useful around The Tree. The final decorations were bells, about an inch in diameter, hung around the bottom branches. Cat never got near The Tree. If I knew then that those bells would create stress for the cat, I would have done it anyway but spent more time cuddling. Because that 18 pound Maine Coon could have knocked over the tree by waving his magnificent tail at it. He would have been upset. I would have been upset. He would have been upset because I was upset. So I chose the lesser of two stressors. (Rhyme not intentional.) (That was not the house with the ceiling hooks.)
I decorate the top half of my tree! I purchased a tree with a large pot that would be hard to knock over. My cat hates the feel of a tree skirt, so I have a large one! I can have Christmas, I just have to cat proof everything!
I did everything on this list. We have a fake tree with the built in lights, they have bent all the mid branches and they keep chewing up the lights until they crack. The LEDs keep lit when they're busted open apparently. Also sprayed the tree with citrus cat away, maybe I need to spray it every day.
I had one, Saleem, who would lay on the sideboard with the Christmas display, but the only time I had a cat touch an ornament was Opie and she wasn't totally impressed with the one she chose because it was flat and roll anywhere. She never touched another one, figuring they were all like that. All of my cats have been pretty well behaved about Christmas decor and food. They would rather have a special can of food than the ham or turkey. They have never really had an interest in the plants either other than noticing that they are put out each spring and brought in each autumn. I have always made sure they understand who the alpha is in this clowder, me! 💕
We got Anastasia about two weeks before Christmas. She came home with us the same day we put up the tree. As soon as I put the tree skirt under the tree, she decided that I put it there just for her to sleep under the tree. That was seven years ago. We had to move a while back and she seemed depressed for months. She finally came out of it when we put up the tree for Christmas. She gets happy every Christmas to have her tree bed back. She never tried to climb it, or touch the ornaments. I did learn to block off access to the water and the tinsel garland can’t be around anywhere!
I'm one of the lucky cat mums and my reeeeally curious ragdoll girl has never been interested in a christmas tree or lights or ornaments. She likes to hide under it on a blanket when there's too many humans. This year's christmas is gonna be the first christmas to my other young ragdoll boy but I'm feeling pretty confident, he's not much of a curious boy. Also, my parents always gets a live tree, so it's spiky and nasty so no wonder my cat is not interested in touching it (just like me lol). Another thing is that I make sure nobody puts any ornaments that can break on lower branches, same with lights and tinsels. When it comes to food, I have a strict 'no human food' for my cats since the very beginning.
Well because of your advice. I have finely gave into my husband's request for a synthetic tree😅. My priority will be to keep my 10 week old little Bynx safe over the holidays. This is our first holiday together 🐈 ❤️🎄🎁 ✝️.
My Daughter-in-Love (who has several cats/kittens) painted a Christmas tree on the wall > she's an artist & a genius❣️I'm not decorating for the "holiday".
My two currently are really good about the Xmas tree (though I took steps...all soft ornaments, no wire hangers, wide ribbon as garland, very inviting squishy tree skirt but pencil-shaped tree so not great for climbing). One of my former cats was a nightmare about it. I swear he almost had pica! He would try to eat the (fake) tree. I then got a table tree made of wire and glued on beads and...yep...he ripped the beads off and tried to swallow them. When he was in his teens, I decided to try a fake again and while I was still arranging it, he started trying to eat the tinsel garland. I learned a lot about cat holiday safety from him, the hard way.
My cats have often come out to make a social round at parties after everyone is seated and not moving around too much. They come out and visit every person, soaking up the oohs and aaws that are their due. One time we had a Christmas party, and the two friendly cats, Merwin and Trout (he looked just like one) from next door stopped by to visit! It was the highlight of my day. One of these cats came bringing interesting toys, etc., to woo my female cat, but she wouldn’t give him the time of day, poor Merwin. I always knew I had cat tendencies, I can’t stand the smell of citrus, either.
I’ve never been into the decorating part of Christmas. Haven’t had a tree my whole adult life. One time, my husband had the thought that “maybe we should get a tree this year” and I shot they down real fast. It’s a lot of cleanup anyway, and moreso with several animals possibly trying to eat pine needles.
I have had numerous cats through the years. I put bells on bottom and wire tree to ceiling....only once, 30 years ago, did I have a cat attempt to go inside a tree. I also spray tree with lemon juice. Now....I have a puppy that loves taking things off the tree.
We lucked out. It's our young cats' first Christmas and they haven't wanted to climb the fake tree. We only used our plastic ball ornaments on the tree this year to see how they do with them without risking the important ones, but aside from batting them gently a couple of times, the cats haven't been interested in those, either. Maybe we lucked out that the only place we have to put the tree is near their cat tree, which is taller, so if they want to be up high, the cat tree is the better bet. They love sleeping under the tree on the soft tree skirt, so our Christmas tree has turned into a fun and safe hiding place for them to sleep and ambush each other from. All in all, it's going WAY better than I expected! Fingers crossed and knock on wood it stays that way!
I brought live plants home all the time and never thought about them being poisonous, luckily I'm the grim reaper of plants, gave up when I couldn't keep the cactus alive so I've always had fake ones, including the tree!! I didn't know about the tinsel and spray snow!! I was going to buy it, I'm glad I saw this.. Autumn's 15, got her from the shelter at 6 weeks... She won't climb, it just lay under especially now she's older, but have seen her literally trying to chew even the fake plants...
The good thing about my cat all she does is find a spot within all the presents and sets there under the tree while watching things go on around her she's never once tried to get into the tree or mess up the presents and has never missed with the bulbs on the tree either
Growing up we had some cats that were tree climbers that had to be watched every second, and some that liked to bat ornaments at the bottom of the tree, and others that just like to lay next to the Rudolph plushie and nap....lol. My Dad's current cat is somewhat indifferent to the tree.
When I was 10 I finally got a kitten - from that day forward every Christmas tree was wired to the ceiling and stood in a weighted stand. Good thing too cause that rascal certainly climbed the tree her first few Christmases. Next, the lower first foot of the tree was non-breakable, but pretty, ornaments that would not be broken when they went hurling across the room thanks to a little paw! She loved to parade around the house with tinsel streaming from her tail, a banner of pride so to say.
We put the tree up with a couple of bells on the bottom branches. After a week or so, the cats are bored of it, then the rest of the ornaments get hung. Breakable ornaments get hung on a poinsettia wire ribbon across the top of the bay window (when cats are locked out of the room, so they aren’t as fascinated by them). Four cats and several Christmases later, it’s a proven tactic.
I have the cutest picture of my cat’s head sticking out of Christmas tree prior to lighting and ornaments…I told my family we have to take it back down and can’t decorate any tree. they thought I was crazy because we just erected it. Lol. I explained to them why we can’t have a normal tree at Christmas and they understood. So as long as my fur babies bless me with their presence this family will have no traditional tree. Everyone is safe. HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!
Our cat is mostly well-behaved around the Christmas tree in terms of not bothering the ornaments. She is a “bush” cat, and so rather than try to climb into it, she likes to hide under it. However, the problem that we have with her is that she wants to CHEW on it. I mean, she literally walks up to it and starts chewing on it. She did this when we had a real tree and ended up having an allergic reaction to the sap. So, we got a fake tree. AND SHE STILL CHEWS ON IT…😅
I got good luck I'm not a Christmas enjoyer! Totally fine giving gifts (kitties will get them and also my niece) No tree or other decor since I'm a Grinch!
I so appreciate all this information. So glad I found you this year. Last year we had a cat-tastrophy with the Christmas tree! Yeah…that tree (fake) had one side destroyed by our favorite feline. Luckily it was before it was decorated so no ornaments were hurt and he didn’t eat any! Going to play it smart this year, thanks to all of your Christmas hacks!
We went with the deterrent/barrier prevention for our tree, plus shatterproof ornaments, artifical tree, no tinsel or flocking, and just babysitting the tree. We never put the gifts out before Christmas morning anyways. We also don't have houseplants and never leave food out (theiving dog). For the kitty, we got him a PILE of new toys and he has been going nuts with them since. Having a human toddler means a lot is already cat proofed
Thank you for all this info. It will be my first Christmas with my furry friend and I didn't know about the dangers surrounding holiday decorations and foods. I'll keep this video in mind as I decorate and celebrate.
A couple of years ago I opted for a wooden tree with lights to be put onto a cabinet so I got a tree but the kittens couldn't get to it. Now they are older, I have still decided to lock them out of the lounge at night away from the fake tree that has fake snow on it. Not risking anyone's life this holiday! Love all 5 of my moggies too much and you too Jackson ♡♡♡ Happy Christmas
Our two current cats have been ignoring the tree for the week it's been up. Of course, it's not going to be decorated till tomorrow. We've had some sniffing and a little nibbling at the lower branches (this we correct). But nothing really major, thankfully. We do have a "hack" for our tree that has always worked for us. We have a "sacrificial ornament" on the bottom branches...it's a stuffed toy ornament that they know they can take off the tree freely, and we'll just put it back when we find it on the floor under the tree. The one thing we had a problem with was a large bell that was (yes, was) on the tree skirt. We took the bell off the skirt, and problem solved. Of course, our holiday hacks were developed due to the mentalities of our cats, and may not work for everycat.
A good idea for the fake trees with the stand on the bottom is to get 2 x new 6kg or more bags of cat litter and place on either side the bottom of the tree! Works for me. And it doesn’t seem to be toppling over. I just cover the base with a blanket
I got a fake tree, with no ornaments of glass and I put Lumis favorite box underneath the tree and a scratching post next to. So far so good. 🎄 We are going to my mom on christmas and Im planning to take some of her favorite toys and even though its a pain to travel with, the big carrier where she likes to sleep.
My cat just chills in a room with her toys. Her canine friends come to the room to visit. She doesn’t mess with trees or plugged in wires. I’m not congregating, it’s better that way. Too, who gets mad at their cat? If anything I’d be projecting unplugged wires upon anyone who inflicts anger towards my cat. Hence the not congregating part. Happy candy cane season everybody! Yay festive sweaters! ✨💜✨
We would tie the tree from the ceiling to make sure it wouldn't topple over. We also would only put plastic ornaments on the lower 1/3 of the tree and the same for the tensile. It worked for us. As far as plants we stopped having any real ones at Christmas, too risky. It can be fun to wrap a catnip gift up and watch it keep them away from the other gifts. Jackson, I've watched you for years. Thank you for these videos.
The air cans saved our sanity this year! We have two 4 mos old kittens and 2 cats who are 1.5 yrs. We put the spray can out in front of three tee, they got sprayed twice, and that was it. None of them come near it anymore and we don’t have to be on constant alert (which is what was driving me crazy).
Sadly learned this the hard way last year. The previous cats I had never tried anything with the decorations, but when they passed we adopted a new pair of brothers Snoopy and Spike. Unfortunately, Spike loved chewing on just about anything he could find, including light string bulbs. Some months later, he passed over the bridge from a respiratory issue that we initially thought was asthma. Now I believe it was the plastic from the tiny bulbs that may have perforated his windpipe. I had already decided we wouldn't have light strings anymore (we don't do ornaments at all for this reason), but we may just forgo a tree altogether this year. We got Snoopy a new little brother Spuds who is just as curious and ornery as Spike was (maybe more so) so your videos help a lot with managing his wild side.
Aside from Christmas when choosing plants for our balcony I made sure anything in reach is cat safe so they can actually eat it. Like cat grass and catnip and some cat friendly herbs. Whatever was not safe was planted out of reach. I don't have to worry and since there is enough choice within reach they don't even try to get to the other plants.
Thank you for everything you upload Jackson Galaxy all this stuff about tree and Christmas stuff can harm my beloved girl midnight have to keep her safe from harm for the holidays! 😊❤
Thank you Jackson 😊 our tree is a bolted, white, fake, no tinsel, pretty (no break) ornaments and cotton and burlap. And it is very pretty! We do have our newest rescue BB. She has bounced a couple ornaments, hey, it's her 1st Christmas 🤗😊🥰 and it's safe. Happy holidays
I've been so lucky that my cats really have had little interest in my tree. The year my 17 year old was a kitten at Christmas, she walked up to it, sniffed at it, it tickled her nose, she sneezed and walked away and never bothered it again. None of my 3 cats that I have had have really had much interest and I consider myself very lucky. They just like to lay under it like the gifts that they are. :)
We used to put our tree in a playpen to prevent human toddlers from pulling it down. Our kittens would probably consider it a challenge... I decorate the bottom of the tree with plastic stuff. Hand blown imported stuff at the top. A big hook in the ceiling.
New cat mom got two dogs now a cat and a kitten got a fake tree had to tie it up as they chase each other and play footy with baubles I bought a calming collar off Amazon it’s amazing Now when they chase they don’t bother the tree result 😊
That's that's why I don't have a Christmas tree to protect my cat. You have some great ideas always do Jackson. I even tell my friends on Facebook about this about be careful around the holidays. The foods around the holidays what's toxic and what's okay for them to eat.. especially if you have guest over put them in a private room where they feel comfortable.. put the litter box and water and food in there and just help them stay calm because some guests think it's funny to give your cats foods are not good for them and it could be very toxic..
My first rescue 100% believes the Christmas tree is for her. Wasnt too bad when she was a tiny kitten but shes pretty pudgy now & climbs the whole tree. She doesnt actually knock it over though.. its crazy! & its fake. Also great solution- hang your tree upside down from the ceiling.. it looks cool.. doesnt lose pineneedles, dont have to water it, no cat climbing.
I got a wooden Christmas tree. You can't hang anything on it but it still looks cool and is completely cat safe. They can scratch it and climb it all they want as it's completely sturdy
Your information is awesome Jackson. I've owned 4 cat's and never had problems around this special season. Great to know you created a spray for cats. 😁😁
Hello everyone, happy second Advent 💗 We still putting stuff on his scratching post for Xmas. My older cat still like to play with the silver balls and the long tinsel only LOL He doesn't eat them Jackson 😇 same with ribbons he plays with it, but he doesn't eat them, and there's no ribbons when he is alone. And he just loves it sleep under the tree 😃 but he doesn't go all mental, if any loud noise happening he is gone anyway, my flower cat LOL but he is a lovely cat and 15 years young. And he is still doing great. Playing, climbing his post run around that's jimis lives LOL 😃 and we love him dearly 🥰
I have to say I’m so incredibly proud of my girl! I was so nervous about putting up a Christmas tree because I thought she’d be all up in it. We got a tall skinny tree and some spray deterrent, and she has not gotten in the tree once! I think we’ll wait to put out the presents until Christmas Eve night though lol.
We put a cat bed and treat bowl next to the tree and our cat doesn't mess with the tree at all. She likes looking at the tree while she eats her treat and naps in her cat bed.
New cats last year. I put straw ornaments on the bottom branches of the artificial tree. The cats took 1-8 straw ornaments off every night. No other trouble at all.
I have an artificial tree with lights built in. We put the tree up with three sand bags tied on the bottom and have a tree skirt to cover them. Now when the 14lb cat climbs it, it doesn’t tip. The ornaments on the bottom are cat friendly that can take being messed with. No glass ornaments. We leave the tree undecorated for a week at least for the newness to wear off. No ribbons or bows on presents except the stick on ones that don’t bind or come apart. NO TINSEL. You have not experienced the true joy of Christmas until you see 2” of tinsel hanging out of your cats butt and when you gently but firmly remove it, all two feet of it comes out.
Completely opted out of any type of Christmas tree this year. My older two kids' cats never gave us any issues for 2 years. We adopted a pregnant stray this year, found homes for all of them except 2. I caught the kittens and now 1 older cat, chewing and eating the plastic needles off the fake tree. I drew the line when I caught the cap off one of the ball ornaments in their mouth. Totally not worth it. They are a joy to us and my kiddos completely understand. They are also learning responsibility that comes with owning a pet they asked for. We decorated with garland up high where none of the cats can access and fairy lights. Simple and beautiful. Plus, it's the memories with all those we love that count. That includes our fur baby additions.
The same here! For my two 1y9m old cats any decoration could risk their lives. They tend to eat toys that are wrapped in cloth or plastic. Toys with fake feathers are also out of question! They get instantly swallowed! It's very important to know our cats and realize what could put their health and life at risk. Even toys and things that are made for cats might not be suitable to some. I speak from experience.
Our kitten tries to chew on the plastic tree to we put lemon at the bottom
@@rebeccasmuk9099 I will have to try that lemon trick, thank you. We inadvertently became cat owners 2 years ago, so this is a whole new world to me. I appreciate and enjoy reading tips that have worked for others.
We ditched getting a replica or real tree for decorating...and instead we got a ceramic indoor tree with lights. It's still quite pretty and brings the feel of Christmas to our main room without the worry of hurting the cats, the cats hurting your property, or hurting yourself from broken bits and baubles. My kiddo was who asked us to not worry about decorating a tree and he's loved seeing how we used the budget we'd normally spend on a tree for other more pet safe decorations instead.
@@flapi7172 I couldn't agree more. I tried making my kids' cats homemade toys, for safety reasons. I would sit and supervise them to watch for any potential hazards. So far I only have 1 toy they can safely play with that is not a choking hazard, that's a ball. Lol! So, I decided I will invest my money in cat wall furniture instead of toys so they can run and climb their little hearts out chasing each other.
Both our cats have always been great with our live trees ! One when he was a kitten would gingerly climb into the tree find and find an inner branch to just perch in without disturbing the ornaments!! Now he’s older and still love the tree , he no longer climbs in , he does rest under it the whole time it’s up though ! Our other kitty admires the tree but doesn’t bother with it , we got really lucky with both who both came from off our road !! They found us! ❤️
Yes i know my cats behave so well with Christmas tree and decor..but just know that my apartment is cat proof...no nothing on shelves..no plants ..mine is hanging from seeling..no poinsettia and cover your tree stand so your cat doesn't access to the tree water..very toxic
Love it!❤ I was also always very lucky with my cats regarding the Christmas tree and decorations. They were curious about it, as cats are, but never climbed or broke anything.😻
Us as well. One that just looks at the tree from a distance, and the other one lays under it all the while the tree is up.
Our cats try climbing our fake tree with no success also sit on the bottom most of the day (they are almost 2 years old and very energetic)
Another holiday hazard, especially for those of us who celebrate Chanukah, is candles. I found out that I was wrong to assume cats would know fire is dangerous. (Luckily the cat wasn't injured, though her fur was singed.)
I know this is a stupid suggestion but we got one of those fireplace guards and put that around the area on the floor (it was in a window) and putting up some cardboard/flat surface and hanging it diagonal from the top at like a 45° angle kept them out.
YES! my boy kitty has set his tail on fire walking by candles on the table. This happened twice during a blackout, so we did need candles to see at the table. He did singe just the fur on his tail, It is so scary. I would never leave an unattended candle around cats. Years later, I tried to light a scented candle right in front of me, again at the table, and in an instant, that kitty jumped up and plopped his butt down right in front of the candle, swiping his tail right through the flames! Singed tail fur. It happened so fast. So that was it, never again. When there is a blackout again, we will just have to be sure we have a lot of battery operated lights.
Indeed! Holiday candles can be very dangerous! My girl is kind of a firebug, who wants to bat at lit candles. She's never been harmed, but that fur of hers can go up in an instant. Especially longhair breeds. My suggestion is to use those little battery powered candles instead, if you want a nice ambient light. Cats and open flames are a bad mix.
I use a battery operated Chanukiah, partly because scared of fire and partly because i don't trust my cat not to put his face in it.
@@eszterstockl9090 Yeah!! Awesome!
Great information! As an emergency veterinarian, my most heart wrenching hazard is visitors who bring their dogs with them, that attack the cat who lives there. Please don’t ever assume that someone else’s dog will be safe around your own cat, regardless if that dog “gets along with cats” according to the owner. With family visitors increasing on the holidays, we see so many traumatized, critically injured cats because of this. (Also happens to dogs!) The hack is to tell visitors they cannot being their own animals. But if they do, make sure the household cats and any visiting dogs are always separated.
Back in the early ‘70s, not only did we not have Jackson’s videos or books, but the tinsel we had was made with lead. What stopped us from using tinsel was witnessing my older brother slowly pulling tinsel out of one of our cat’s butt while she vocalized how she felt about the procedure. After watching this video, I’m surprised she had no problems afterwards.
Yeah, that was very lucky. Tinsel/ribbon/string can actually get wrapped around cat's intestines, basically tying them together, making it so the cat can't have a bowel movement. It can require emergency surgery and can possibly kill them. One of my cats once swallowed ribbon - I was right there wrapping presents but she just did it so fast. I had to rush her to the emergency room at midnight the night before Christmas Eve so they could induce vomiting.
I remember clearly as a child finding poop wrapped with thinsels..i was ho! My Christmas gift!!.. i laughed 🤣 but i never used it in my adult life with my own trees
It's better not to pull it out, the intestines could get damaged. It's better to cut the dangling part so that it doesn't get caught in something and see if the cat expels the rest.
Back in the day I called Christmas twinkle poop time.
One time I came home from work and immediately noticed that my cat was very upset. I found that she had broken a Christmas ornament on the tree and had set the tree awry in its stand, it took a lot of loving reassurance for her to feel better. So long as she was ok (I checked her thoroughly for glass shards, etc.), I didn’t care about anything else, poor sweetie. She was, like all cats, super-sensitive, and although I had never yelled at her or anything, she seemed to fear that. What a life she must have had before we found each other, being yelled at for just being a cat! Cats find Christmas decorations hard to resist, make sure they’re cat-safe!
Hahahahahahaha oh my god…. Did you give your cat a message and have a yoga session after? Jesus Christ, smack the MF in the head, tell it NO and move on. “She was visibly upset” HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
This should be mandatory viewing for cat moms and dads! Great video cat daddy!
My Abby liked to hide under the tree and ambush you as you walked by. I always made sure the bottom third of the tree had unbreakable or soft ornaments hanging on it. She was allowed to knock those around and didn't bother climbing the tree to get to the rest. It was a fake tree. Never put out presents till the kids were asleep on Christmas Eve and she didn't bother them either. Good planning goes a long way towards a happy cat and happy family!
Very nice. I comend your wisdom. :)
@@shep9231 - Double "M" in the word "commend"🙂
A cat friendly tree idea, wrap boxes in pretty xmas paper of your choosing, and stack them in a tree shape, as you would with lego trees. You have your centerpiece xmas "tree" and the kitties have an interactive tree they can climb. I found this hack when ours were kittens, there's all kinds of google images.
Also, if your cat is a tree climber, you can make an outline of a tree on the wall with xmas lights and garland. We did this one year, and we were so pleased with how it looked. This works if the kitties aren't the type to pull at garland or lights.
To. Mr. Cat man. 🐈 you. Have. A. Great. Show. I. Really. Injoyed. That. Very. Much. Your. Funny. And. Very. Knowledgeable. About. Cats. And. The. Show. Turned. Out. Really. Great. You. Wrote. Books. That's. Great. I. Look. Forward. To. Seeing. You. Again. On. Your. Next show. Take. Care. A. New. Fan. Carla. Wilaon
Nice. ill look into it for next Christmas!. thanks!
The citrus zest hack made me think about the times when we used to plant cloves into oranges, tie ribbons into them, and hang them into the Christmas tree. That make the tree smell like orangey pine. It could help to keep cats away.
Cloves are toxic to cats, please be careful
I wonder if ppl used them for the same reason.
Cats hate anything citrussy so lemons, grapefruits or oranges sliced, dried and hung on the tree as part of the decoration should be enough to put them off
I gotta say that a little Tabasco sauce on tips of the branches at the bottom of the tree works, too. Most cats do not like Tabasco sauce.
Tried the air canisters. Only delayed the tree catastrophe by 90 seconds. Finally decided to relocate the tree to my front porch. Now he and my neighbors all get to enjoy the tree. Everyone wins and I have no anxiety attacks.
Great video, Jackson. Our solution was to not only get a fake tree but to put stuffed cloth ornaments on the lower branches as a "yes" for our adult cats. They used to love getting one and playing with it only to see it back on another branch the next day. Our boys are mature enough that climbing the tree is not nearly as nice as snuggling into the felt tree skirt and staring at lights, or just napping under the branches.
That's a great solution!
Don’t forget about menorahs! We have a kitten this year, so it looks like we’ll be investing in an electric one this year, & just displaying the others as decorations!
I find it funny, one of the most celebrated holiday in the world... Is the worst for cats. That said... I've used plenty of your hacks Jackson, I've had a fake tree for the past year. I went one step further and put orange zest ornaments around the base of the tree, and throughout it. I don't really have many decorations, so they're not really that much of an issue. My cats usually get the turkey can of cat food for their food, as well as new toys and whatnot. But at the beginning of december, I find a cat treat advent calendar. And everyday they get a treat, and I use those treats for training. 😊 Happy holidays Jackson!
My two mischief maker cats, who turned one yesterday, and I have a nice 😊 little Christmas 🎄tree on a bookcase. They can't get to it and we're all festive and safe.🐈🐈⬛❣
That’s what they want you to think……..
@@dees3179 Well, so far so good. Christmas 🎄 trees been up a bit over a week and all is well. 😉😻😽
We use a faux tree, unbreakable decorations that don't have glitter or poisonous parts. We have two bungee cords anchored to the wall. No tinsel or metal hooks. I have learned that happiness comes when I'm sure my furbabies are safe and happy. I do plan on them climbing into the tree and prepare for it. No dangerous plants either. That's what faux plants are for.😹😺😸
Around 40+ years ago, I had a cat that climbed Christmas trees knocked them down, so much we did have to tie them to the wall. Another thing she did was to chew the mini lights. She chewed several of them but somehow avoided injury. She was a very adventurous cat. She would get out of the house onto the roof and jump to the ground. She would also get into the suspended ceiling and ride the tiles to the floor and repeat as often as she could! She was a CrAzY little kitty!!
We tried the citrus in baggies and my cat, Sebby, went completely nuts batting at it angrily. He also has stress issues and severe anxiety. I was afraid it was stressing him out 😔
I bought him a new tree for Christmas. He is distracted for the most part 🙏🏼❤️
Calico TC was an outdoor cat when she adopted my family. Having a real tree in the house intrigued her, so naturally she claimed it as hers.
The tree smelled wild, like the great outdoors, which made Calico TC and Siamese Lucy act wild. They loved it.
TC would climb the tree, and bat the ornaments with great force. Quickly we learned to put the old glass ornaments away, and to leave the newer cheap plastic ornaments for TC.
Adult cats are more like teenagers than like toddlers, except during the holidays. There is something about that real tree that brings out their Inner Children.
I'm so lucky that my rescue is a well-behaved and smart lady. The only thing she'll do to the Christmas tree is play with the ornaments, but we just moved them out of immediate reach. She's never on the counter or the stove, she's only interested in the kitchen table if I'm there. She doesn't even knock my plants down anymore. I want to get her a friend soon but I'm worried that they won't be so well behaved lmao.
Also there is anti-scratching or anti biting sprays which are great. Worth a try. It's how I got my cat to stop chewing cables.
I stopped putting up a tree about 7 years ago because my cat liked to knock it over. I started decorating a fake wreath instead and it's worked well for me.
Thanks for the reminder. We have had cats for lots of years, and only had to tie the tree up for one of them. The others ignored it. We’ve never allowed ribbons or tinsel. Our 22 year old cat passed a couple years ago, now we have a new one with a very different purrsonality. We may have to rethink going out to get a live tree or even getting a fake tree since she gets a little crazy sometimes. She’s spending the week with my dad to comfort him in his time of loss of his 20+ years human partner, so we’ll see how our Nyx kitty does with his fake tree. So far, she’s ignored it and is snuggling with my dad and providing lots of needed companionship for him with the grief he’s experiencing since his partner passed. I’m grateful they are buds and can bond during his time of need.
I literally went through the stores to find new Christmas Decor, I only got one thing because everything else I looked at was "The child will eat that, she will break that, she will destroy that entirely." No Garland, no ribbons on my gifts this year, lights strung up high and away from her cat trees
Thanks for the tree hack! We had ours up (without ornaments) for 3 hours before I took it down out of frustration. 1 scratched at the bottom, another chewed the fake branches and the 3rd and new kitten started to chew on the lights.
My 8 month old kitten became curious when we first set up our Christmas tree. We were afraid that she’s going to eat the little leaves so we came up with a different plan. My fiancé thought of an idea to make a DIY small Christmas tree on the wall. It’s 3D with presents underneath. We also hung our ornaments and have a small tree topper. It’s very nice and cute 🥰
I opted to put my Christmas tree outside this year. I placed it in front of my big living room window. Especially at night, with the lights on, it's feels the same as having it inside. I never place presents under the tree until Christmas Eve anyway, so I'm not missing that aspect either. This year I'll just hand them out Christmas morning.
I absolutely did not want to worry or stress about my cats getting into the decorations.
That’s exactly what we started doing last Christmas! I leave the lights on day & night, and it’s looks very pretty from inside our living room. Nice to know there’s someone else out there who’s thought of this👍
This is why my family prefers fake trees and we're careful about what we put on the tree. In addition, we're careful about not having things like real poinsettias and opted for fake ones for their safety. We prefer to use wooden, plastic, or small metal ornaments so my two stripey cat children don't end up with shattered glass and keep them above the bottom because one cat won't climb trees and the other is a lazy boy. This has the side effect of also deterring our dogs from messing with the decor as well.
My cat likes to go under the tree (it's a fake one). I like to say that she is sitting among the presents because she is also a gift to this world. We don't put ribbons on our presents, and she only rips up wrapping paper if it's loose. She doesn't usually swat the ornaments either, though that might be because we tend not to put the super tempting ones close to the ground. So I don't think she's in much danger. I suppose our somewhat laid back, "eh good enough" way of doing things (like not using ribbons, tinsel, or real plants because that's just more effort and more expensive) has its benefits.
Thanks! This is the first year we've decorated since getting cats 3 years ago. But, we have a 3 month old kitten now and he super curious. We bought a safe tree (fake) and of course he's been in it several times. We are expecting trouble, so no breakable ornaments, no tree water, no needles. He hasn't managed to knock it over, yet, and he is the cutest ornament ever.
The ceramic christmas trees are cat friendly and beautiful. That's what we have. I love that they are vintage looking too.
I had no idea about the pine needles and tree-water. Luckily I don't think we've ever had a real tree around either of our cats, or maybe once or twice when I was very young. I do vividly remember waking up in the morning to find each of our cats casually hanging out in the tree every Christmas. The most beautiful ornaments around, haha.
Niko. That. Was. Cute. About. Your. Cats. Being. Ornaments. In. Your. Tree have. A. Wonderful. Day. A. New friend. Carla. Wilson
No tree is better than a fake plastic PVC tree IMO. But our cats have always been fine with the tree. We make sure to vacuum at least once a day. Had no idea about the water of the tree honestly, but the citrus will work for our cat! 🍊
We have a special needs child so naturally that ends with a lot of cat proofing.
The tips about Easter plants are good too. Unfortunately we found out how many plants we can't have when our kiddo tore up a toxic plant many years ago. Was bad for our kid and the cat. We lucked out and didn't need a visit to the hospital but easily could've ended up that way had they been unsupervised.
We have our tree stand attached to a wooden platform that stands about 15” high. We have done that since before we had a cat, it makes it easier to access for watering and it looks like we have a taller tree than we really do. We have one tree skirt that is big enough to cover the stand and the platform. We have a “bush dweller” cat, so he has no curiosity about climbing up our Christmas tree. He just slinks under the skirt and curls up beneath that platform. It’s so adorable. I don’t know how we got so lucky. I would love to get a second cat, but with how tiny our house is (I’ve seen apartments bigger than our house) and we have a senior husky shepherd mix, I just don’t think it’s a good decision. Especially considering there isn’t another room to put an additional litter box in. Jackson says not to keep them all in the same room, and not to put one in an inconvenient/loud room like the bathroom or laundry room. We have our bedroom and living room with Bandit’s litter boxes already. That just leaves the bathroom or kitchen our tiny excuse for a kitchen for the third litter box if we were to bring in a second cat. And I’m sorry but I do not want a litter box in my kitchen.
Quick storytime: We bought a new fake christmas tree one year and one of my girl kitties went around and CHEWED on all the lower lights she could get her little mouth around! WHY?! This is how I found out they were plastic lights, phew, so they just kind of squished, but she did short out the whole bottom light section of the tree. Tried bitter spray on the tree, suggested form the vet, didn't work. She would also climb it and bend the wired branches, so the tree is a mess. Now that the tree is ugly and she is older, she leaves it alone.
Nancy. Your. Story. Was. Two. Cute. To. Pass. By. Just. Give. Your cat. Or. Kitten. A. Big. Hug. And. Just. Love. Her. Thank. You. For. Your. Story. I'm. Glad. Your. Kitten. Is. Ok. Love. A. New. Friend. Carla. Wilson.
Back in the 80's I trained to become a Paramedic. I joined a voluntary Ambulance Service. I was the Paramedic for the Saturday Night crew. It became our job every December to pick up our donated Christmas Tree. One year, the Tree Lot Owner allowed us to choose 2 Trees, We got the traditional 6' tree for the Crew Room and a short fat (all of about 4') which we hung from the drop ceiling, decorated with Stars of David, Menorah's and other traditional Jewish Symbols and called it a Hanukah Bush. (our relief crew on Sunday Morning were all Jewish) Everyone enjoyed the joke.
Most of my cats didn't mess with The Tree. One year I had a rambunctious 8 month old siamese. Looked at ornaments, many hand made or specially chosen, looked at the kitten, and decided on no tree. I didn't want to make for an unhappy holiday by having the cat knock something off and break it. Just by chance there were a number of hooks in the ceiling, for chandelier, plants, etc. So I hung chains from hook to hook and hung all my ornaments up high. That became the tradition.
Many many years ago, I had a cat who didn't like bells. I had to cut the bells off his toys before he'd even get near them. (I did finally get friends to stop bringing kitty toys with bells.) But it was very useful around The Tree. The final decorations were bells, about an inch in diameter, hung around the bottom branches. Cat never got near The Tree. If I knew then that those bells would create stress for the cat, I would have done it anyway but spent more time cuddling. Because that 18 pound Maine Coon could have knocked over the tree by waving his magnificent tail at it. He would have been upset. I would have been upset. He would have been upset because I was upset. So I chose the lesser of two stressors. (Rhyme not intentional.) (That was not the house with the ceiling hooks.)
I decorate the top half of my tree! I purchased a tree with a large pot that would be hard to knock over. My cat hates the feel of a tree skirt, so I have a large one! I can have Christmas, I just have to cat proof everything!
I did everything on this list. We have a fake tree with the built in lights, they have bent all the mid branches and they keep chewing up the lights until they crack. The LEDs keep lit when they're busted open apparently. Also sprayed the tree with citrus cat away, maybe I need to spray it every day.
I had one, Saleem, who would lay on the sideboard with the Christmas display, but the only time I had a cat touch an ornament was Opie and she wasn't totally impressed with the one she chose because it was flat and roll anywhere. She never touched another one, figuring they were all like that. All of my cats have been pretty well behaved about Christmas decor and food. They would rather have a special can of food than the ham or turkey. They have never really had an interest in the plants either other than noticing that they are put out each spring and brought in each autumn. I have always made sure they understand who the alpha is in this clowder, me! 💕
We got Anastasia about two weeks before Christmas. She came home with us the same day we put up the tree. As soon as I put the tree skirt under the tree, she decided that I put it there just for her to sleep under the tree. That was seven years ago. We had to move a while back and she seemed depressed for months. She finally came out of it when we put up the tree for Christmas. She gets happy every Christmas to have her tree bed back. She never tried to climb it, or touch the ornaments. I did learn to block off access to the water and the tinsel garland can’t be around anywhere!
I'm one of the lucky cat mums and my reeeeally curious ragdoll girl has never been interested in a christmas tree or lights or ornaments. She likes to hide under it on a blanket when there's too many humans. This year's christmas is gonna be the first christmas to my other young ragdoll boy but I'm feeling pretty confident, he's not much of a curious boy. Also, my parents always gets a live tree, so it's spiky and nasty so no wonder my cat is not interested in touching it (just like me lol). Another thing is that I make sure nobody puts any ornaments that can break on lower branches, same with lights and tinsels. When it comes to food, I have a strict 'no human food' for my cats since the very beginning.
Well because of your advice. I have finely gave into my husband's request for a synthetic tree😅. My priority will be to keep my 10 week old little Bynx safe over the holidays. This is our first holiday together 🐈 ❤️🎄🎁 ✝️.
My Daughter-in-Love (who has several cats/kittens) painted a Christmas tree on the wall > she's an artist & a genius❣️I'm not decorating for the "holiday".
My two currently are really good about the Xmas tree (though I took steps...all soft ornaments, no wire hangers, wide ribbon as garland, very inviting squishy tree skirt but pencil-shaped tree so not great for climbing). One of my former cats was a nightmare about it. I swear he almost had pica! He would try to eat the (fake) tree. I then got a table tree made of wire and glued on beads and...yep...he ripped the beads off and tried to swallow them. When he was in his teens, I decided to try a fake again and while I was still arranging it, he started trying to eat the tinsel garland. I learned a lot about cat holiday safety from him, the hard way.
My cats have often come out to make a social round at parties after everyone is seated and not moving around too much. They come out and visit every person, soaking up the oohs and aaws that are their due. One time we had a Christmas party, and the two friendly cats, Merwin and Trout (he looked just like one) from next door stopped by to visit! It was the highlight of my day. One of these cats came bringing interesting toys, etc., to woo my female cat, but she wouldn’t give him the time of day, poor Merwin. I always knew I had cat tendencies, I can’t stand the smell of citrus, either.
I’ve never been into the decorating part of Christmas. Haven’t had a tree my whole adult life. One time, my husband had the thought that “maybe we should get a tree this year” and I shot they down real fast. It’s a lot of cleanup anyway, and moreso with several animals possibly trying to eat pine needles.
I have had numerous cats through the years. I put bells on bottom and wire tree to ceiling....only once, 30 years ago, did I have a cat attempt to go inside a tree. I also spray tree with lemon juice. Now....I have a puppy that loves taking things off the tree.
We lucked out. It's our young cats' first Christmas and they haven't wanted to climb the fake tree. We only used our plastic ball ornaments on the tree this year to see how they do with them without risking the important ones, but aside from batting them gently a couple of times, the cats haven't been interested in those, either. Maybe we lucked out that the only place we have to put the tree is near their cat tree, which is taller, so if they want to be up high, the cat tree is the better bet. They love sleeping under the tree on the soft tree skirt, so our Christmas tree has turned into a fun and safe hiding place for them to sleep and ambush each other from. All in all, it's going WAY better than I expected! Fingers crossed and knock on wood it stays that way!
I brought live plants home all the time and never thought about them being poisonous, luckily I'm the grim reaper of plants, gave up when I couldn't keep the cactus alive so I've always had fake ones, including the tree!! I didn't know about the tinsel and spray snow!! I was going to buy it, I'm glad I saw this.. Autumn's 15, got her from the shelter at 6 weeks... She won't climb, it just lay under especially now she's older, but have seen her literally trying to chew even the fake plants...
Cacti are deceptively difficult to keep alive. Don't feel too bad.
The good thing about my cat all she does is find a spot within all the presents and sets there under the tree while watching things go on around her she's never once tried to get into the tree or mess up the presents and has never missed with the bulbs on the tree either
Growing up we had some cats that were tree climbers that had to be watched every second, and some that liked to bat ornaments at the bottom of the tree, and others that just like to lay next to the Rudolph plushie and nap....lol. My Dad's current cat is somewhat indifferent to the tree.
You are looking after God's lovely little ones, thank you Jackson! 🌻
When I was 10 I finally got a kitten - from that day forward every Christmas tree was wired to the ceiling and stood in a weighted stand. Good thing too cause that rascal certainly climbed the tree her first few Christmases. Next, the lower first foot of the tree was non-breakable, but pretty, ornaments that would not be broken when they went hurling across the room thanks to a little paw! She loved to parade around the house with tinsel streaming from her tail, a banner of pride so to say.
We put the tree up with a couple of bells on the bottom branches. After a week or so, the cats are bored of it, then the rest of the ornaments get hung. Breakable ornaments get hung on a poinsettia wire ribbon across the top of the bay window (when cats are locked out of the room, so they aren’t as fascinated by them). Four cats and several Christmases later, it’s a proven tactic.
I have to keep my cat Mochi away from our fake tree because she keeps trying to bite at it lol
I have the cutest picture of my cat’s head sticking out of Christmas tree prior to lighting and ornaments…I told my family we have to take it back down and can’t decorate any tree. they thought I was crazy because we just erected it. Lol. I explained to them why we can’t have a normal tree at Christmas and they understood. So as long as my fur babies bless me with their presence this family will have no traditional tree. Everyone is safe. HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!
Our cat is mostly well-behaved around the Christmas tree in terms of not bothering the ornaments. She is a “bush” cat, and so rather than try to climb into it, she likes to hide under it. However, the problem that we have with her is that she wants to CHEW on it. I mean, she literally walks up to it and starts chewing on it. She did this when we had a real tree and ended up having an allergic reaction to the sap. So, we got a fake tree. AND SHE STILL CHEWS ON IT…😅
I got good luck I'm not a Christmas enjoyer! Totally fine giving gifts (kitties will get them and also my niece) No tree or other decor since I'm a Grinch!
Dear Jackson, THANK YOU. You have taught me so many things to make my and my cat's life safer, easier and more enjoyable.
I so appreciate all this information. So glad I found you this year. Last year we had a cat-tastrophy with the Christmas tree! Yeah…that tree (fake) had one side destroyed by our favorite feline. Luckily it was before it was decorated so no ornaments were hurt and he didn’t eat any! Going to play it smart this year, thanks to all of your Christmas hacks!
We went with the deterrent/barrier prevention for our tree, plus shatterproof ornaments, artifical tree, no tinsel or flocking, and just babysitting the tree. We never put the gifts out before Christmas morning anyways. We also don't have houseplants and never leave food out (theiving dog). For the kitty, we got him a PILE of new toys and he has been going nuts with them since.
Having a human toddler means a lot is already cat proofed
Thank you for all this info. It will be my first Christmas with my furry friend and I didn't know about the dangers surrounding holiday decorations and foods. I'll keep this video in mind as I decorate and celebrate.
We opted for Christmas garlands hanging from curtain racks, and I really love the look!❤
A couple of years ago I opted for a wooden tree with lights to be put onto a cabinet so I got a tree but the kittens couldn't get to it. Now they are older, I have still decided to lock them out of the lounge at night away from the fake tree that has fake snow on it. Not risking anyone's life this holiday! Love all 5 of my moggies too much and you too Jackson ♡♡♡ Happy Christmas
@Jacksongalaxy1onnicegrammmmm love your channel and all you work to educate people about cats Jackon 🐈 😻
Our two current cats have been ignoring the tree for the week it's been up. Of course, it's not going to be decorated till tomorrow. We've had some sniffing and a little nibbling at the lower branches (this we correct). But nothing really major, thankfully. We do have a "hack" for our tree that has always worked for us. We have a "sacrificial ornament" on the bottom branches...it's a stuffed toy ornament that they know they can take off the tree freely, and we'll just put it back when we find it on the floor under the tree. The one thing we had a problem with was a large bell that was (yes, was) on the tree skirt. We took the bell off the skirt, and problem solved. Of course, our holiday hacks were developed due to the mentalities of our cats, and may not work for everycat.
A good idea for the fake trees with the stand on the bottom is to get 2 x new 6kg or more bags of cat litter and place on either side the bottom of the tree! Works for me. And it doesn’t seem to be toppling over. I just cover the base with a blanket
I got a fake tree, with no ornaments of glass and I put Lumis favorite box underneath the tree and a scratching post next to. So far so good. 🎄
We are going to my mom on christmas and Im planning to take some of her favorite toys and even though its a pain to travel with, the big carrier where she likes to sleep.
Merry Christmas & God bless y'all!
My cat just chills in a room with her toys. Her canine friends come to the room to visit. She doesn’t mess with trees or plugged in wires. I’m not congregating, it’s better that way. Too, who gets mad at their cat? If anything I’d be projecting unplugged wires upon anyone who inflicts anger towards my cat. Hence the not congregating part. Happy candy cane season everybody! Yay festive sweaters! ✨💜✨
I just donated a beautiful flocked tree to a local school because of my cats. I loved that tree but I love my four boys (cats) WAY more.
We would tie the tree from the ceiling to make sure it wouldn't topple over. We also would only put plastic ornaments on the lower 1/3 of the tree and the same for the tensile. It worked for us. As far as plants we stopped having any real ones at Christmas, too risky. It can be fun to wrap a catnip gift up and watch it keep them away from the other gifts. Jackson, I've watched you for years. Thank you for these videos.
The air cans saved our sanity this year! We have two 4 mos old kittens and 2 cats who are 1.5 yrs. We put the spray can out in front of three tee, they got sprayed twice, and that was it. None of them come near it anymore and we don’t have to be on constant alert (which is what was driving me crazy).
Sadly learned this the hard way last year. The previous cats I had never tried anything with the decorations, but when they passed we adopted a new pair of brothers Snoopy and Spike. Unfortunately, Spike loved chewing on just about anything he could find, including light string bulbs. Some months later, he passed over the bridge from a respiratory issue that we initially thought was asthma. Now I believe it was the plastic from the tiny bulbs that may have perforated his windpipe. I had already decided we wouldn't have light strings anymore (we don't do ornaments at all for this reason), but we may just forgo a tree altogether this year. We got Snoopy a new little brother Spuds who is just as curious and ornery as Spike was (maybe more so) so your videos help a lot with managing his wild side.
Aside from Christmas when choosing plants for our balcony I made sure anything in reach is cat safe so they can actually eat it. Like cat grass and catnip and some cat friendly herbs. Whatever was not safe was planted out of reach. I don't have to worry and since there is enough choice within reach they don't even try to get to the other plants.
Thank you for everything you upload Jackson Galaxy all this stuff about tree and Christmas stuff can harm my beloved girl midnight have to keep her safe from harm for the holidays! 😊❤
Thank you Jackson 😊 our tree is a bolted, white, fake, no tinsel, pretty (no break) ornaments and cotton and burlap. And it is very pretty! We do have our newest rescue BB. She has bounced a couple ornaments, hey, it's her 1st Christmas 🤗😊🥰 and it's safe. Happy holidays
I've been so lucky that my cats really have had little interest in my tree. The year my 17 year old was a kitten at Christmas, she walked up to it, sniffed at it, it tickled her nose, she sneezed and walked away and never bothered it again. None of my 3 cats that I have had have really had much interest and I consider myself very lucky. They just like to lay under it like the gifts that they are. :)
We are entering my families first Christmas with two kittens. This video is very helpful. Thank you 🍻
We used to put our tree in a playpen to prevent human toddlers from pulling it down. Our kittens would probably consider it a challenge... I decorate the bottom of the tree with plastic stuff. Hand blown imported stuff at the top. A big hook in the ceiling.
I just bought a tiny fiber optic tree and decorated it with their toys, if you can’t beat them, join them
New cat mom got two dogs now a cat and a kitten got a fake tree had to tie it up as they chase each other and play footy with baubles I bought a calming collar off Amazon it’s amazing Now when they chase they don’t bother the tree result 😊
"Your cat is a toddler that can reach the ceiling." How very true!
sorry I missed the live, I love all the crazy cat friends. love this video for new cat owners!
We use a a small plastic tree with the lower branches removed and put it on a table. That has stopped our cat from chewing on the tree
Thank you
Thanks Jackson! Didn't know what I was going to do about Christmas with two six month old kittens. Really good ideas about the tree. I'm excited now!
That's that's why I don't have a Christmas tree to protect my cat. You have some great ideas always do Jackson. I even tell my friends on Facebook about this about be careful around the holidays. The foods around the holidays what's toxic and what's okay for them to eat.. especially if you have guest over put them in a private room where they feel comfortable.. put the litter box and water and food in there and just help them stay calm because some guests think it's funny to give your cats foods are not good for them and it could be very toxic..
My first rescue 100% believes the Christmas tree is for her. Wasnt too bad when she was a tiny kitten but shes pretty pudgy now & climbs the whole tree. She doesnt actually knock it over though.. its crazy! & its fake. Also great solution- hang your tree upside down from the ceiling.. it looks cool.. doesnt lose pineneedles, dont have to water it, no cat climbing.
I got a wooden Christmas tree. You can't hang anything on it but it still looks cool and is completely cat safe. They can scratch it and climb it all they want as it's completely sturdy
Your information is awesome Jackson. I've owned 4 cat's and never had problems around this special season. Great to know you created a spray for cats. 😁😁
Hello everyone, happy second Advent 💗
We still putting stuff on his scratching post for Xmas.
My older cat still like to play with the silver balls and the long tinsel only LOL He doesn't eat them Jackson 😇 same with ribbons he plays with it, but he doesn't eat them, and there's no ribbons when he is alone.
And he just loves it sleep under the tree 😃 but he doesn't go all mental, if any loud noise happening he is gone anyway, my flower cat LOL but he is a lovely cat and 15 years young. And he is still doing great. Playing, climbing his post run around that's jimis lives LOL 😃 and we love him dearly 🥰
Jackson, it's really really hard to put up a barrier if you have A. High jumping cats and B. a small apartment/condo!
I have to say I’m so incredibly proud of my girl! I was so nervous about putting up a Christmas tree because I thought she’d be all up in it. We got a tall skinny tree and some spray deterrent, and she has not gotten in the tree once! I think we’ll wait to put out the presents until Christmas Eve night though lol.
Just to clarify the spray deterrent was to spray the tree with, not my cat 🐈
Thank you Jackson for your advise 🐱😽
We put a cat bed and treat bowl next to the tree and our cat doesn't mess with the tree at all. She likes looking at the tree while she eats her treat and naps in her cat bed.
New cats last year. I put straw ornaments on the bottom branches of the artificial tree. The cats took 1-8 straw ornaments off every night. No other trouble at all.
I got a Rosemary Christmas Tree. The cats played a bit with the ornaments a bit but gave up. The smell is too much for them.
The aesthetic of this video is top tier 💜
I have an artificial tree with lights built in. We put the tree up with three sand bags tied on the bottom and have a tree skirt to cover them. Now when the 14lb cat climbs it, it doesn’t tip. The ornaments on the bottom are cat friendly that can take being messed with. No glass ornaments. We leave the tree undecorated for a week at least for the newness to wear off. No ribbons or bows on presents except the stick on ones that don’t bind or come apart. NO TINSEL. You have not experienced the true joy of Christmas until you see 2” of tinsel hanging out of your cats butt and when you gently but firmly remove it, all two feet of it comes out.
You've been the thing I've been listening to recently to get adjusted to raising my 3 little babies. Thanks!