Oh sure. He looks so cute and innocent. But behind that cute kitten nose is a DEMON WITH EVIL INTENTIONS! D: Ever since we set up our Christmas tree (faux pre-lit) a few weeks ago, Hugo has been attacking it whenever possible. The other kitties seem to not care at all, which surprised me since it’s been two years since we’ve put up a tree! It might be because the others are adults and Hugo is still a kitten, but hey, I’ll take it. :P
But fear not, I bring tidings of great success! :D After doing lots of research and experimenting with multiple methods I believe I have found what works (at least for my cats). Here is a list of what I tried and the results:
- Squirting with a water bottle & saying NO! – This helped, however, I began to come home (and wake up) to find the bottom tree branches bent to the ground and ornaments knocked onto the floor. Smart kitty never attempted to do this while we were present. :P
- Boundary spray – I bought a special spray from the pet store that is supposed to keep them away from wherever you spray the solution. It didn’t smell that great and didn’t really work either. I think it’s just for keeping them from peeing on the floor and not much else. :P
- Big pillows & pine cones – I read that if you make it difficult for them to reach the branches OR somewhat uncomfortable to walk on, it will deter them. I stuffed big pillows under the bottom branches and then spread cinnamon-scented pine cones around the tree plus on the branches. Yeah, this didn’t work at all. :|
- Orange peels – My research suggested that cats are sensitive to citrus, which proved to be true! When I held the pieces up to their noses they shied away and meowed angrily. So I made little “ornaments” out of the peel and hung them around the bottom of the tree. This worked for about a day or so and then the citrus scent faded and again I came home to an abused tree. I didn’t want to keep peeling oranges either.
- Spiny garland, pinecones, & citrus spray – I bought two large strands of garland made of stiff plastic pine needles that I wrapped around the base of the tree. We’d had a tree skirt before, but kitty paws enjoyed the softness too much, so the garland replaced it. ;) Then I added pine cones in and around the garland and sprayed it all down with another boundary spray, this time citrus-scented. The results were GOOD! Less damage to the tree and less ornaments on the ground! But of course, I was not satisfied with that…
- Citrus-scented dryer sheets – SUCCESS!!! This was the last thing in my arsenal that I found during research. A combination of stuffing them under the garland and making haphazardly-cut “snowflake” ornaments to hang from the branches proved to be a 100% success! Hugo has not bothered the tree (to my knowledge) since the dryer sheets were added and my tree and ornaments remain intact! :D
All I do now is use the citrus spray and then replenish the sheets under the garland every couple of days to keep the scent strong. Thankfully it is a nice scent too. :P Also, no ornaments were truly harmed in the making of this experiment! I collect S’mores, which are cute and hardy little ornaments in the shapes of marshmallows that sit on a piece of chocolate and a graham cracker. Those that were knocked off the tree did survive. ;D
The more adorable they are, the more likely to get into mischief, in my experience. We put ours up, sans lights and ornaments and aside from attacking the box, they’ve not bothered it. We’ll see once there are shiny things up on it, what happens. D: Glad you finally found something that worked!
When we got Lucky, we had to a bit careful with putting up our tree. He loved to go under and chew on the lower branches and pull the ornaments off. It went with the tree skirt, too. Small little balls were on it. He chewed two off one day when I was at work. This year, though, he has been a lot better. Left all the Christmas decorations, including the tree alone.
Glad Hugo is starting to behave. He is a cutie, though.
Haha, cats love Christmas trees. My cat (who is still at my parent’s house in New York, unfortunately) has been attacking their tree. I will have to share this with them.
LOL I remember that my kittens Skittles and Scuddles used to bat the ornaments on the lower branches off our tree. It drove my Mom nuts. I’ll have to keep the citrus-scented dryer sheets in mind for whenever I’m able to get a new kitty. :)
I once had a kitty who would climb the tree, and just sit in it for a while every day. It was strange. Rarely she would swipe at an ornament or two, but most of the ornaments falling off was due to her climbing up into it! We just tried to hang them more securely. ^_^