By The Christmas tree is the most beautiful thing to think about at the end of December. But if you already have a cat at your house, there are some precautions to consider while you are shaping your Christmas tree in order to protect your cat.
Regardless of being an artificial tree, the decorated Christmas tree always attracts cats to slide out on it and to chew ribbons on its wrapped gifts. If you are a new adopter of a cat, you may ignore the importance of precautions before setting your Christmas tree. But when you watch videos that are recognized as funny and hear stories that are related to some people whose tree felled at the charismas or their cats were injured, you may change your mind and think about what should be done to avoid these accidents.
In this topic, we will explain reasons why your cat may be attracted to your Christmas tree and then introduce a list of safety tips by which you can keep both the tree and your cat safe at Christmas.
Why a cat loves Christmas trees
Before explaining safety tips to be followed to protect your cat and the Christmas tree, you should first know what is interesting about a tree for your cat. In fact, most cats don’t forget their primary natural life before getting into people’s homes. So, anything that would make them remember this life will be attractive for them. There are three main factors that make a cat love Christmas trees:
- Fulfilling her curious nature: curiosity is the personal trait that makes a cat attracted to anything new such as a Christmas tree. She found a new object at home that is tall enough to climb and to hide above.
- Feeling safe and in control: before getting into your home or a rescue organization, cats have used to climb natural trees to watch their territory from the highest possible place. For cats, to be in the highest possible place means they are safe and controlling the situation.
- Marking: marking is a normal behaviour for your cat but it will be undesired, especially in Christmas time. In their previous natural life, marking is useful by helping a cat to establish her territory where she cooperates with other mates to protect it. But at your home, your cat will mark the Christmas tree like she marks the outside animals as a territorial insecurity. That’s because of the unfamiliar smell of the Christmas tree as a newly introduced object into your home.
Safety tips for your cat and the charismas tree
In fact, you will never be able to change a cat’s personality traits, but you can follow some tips to make sure that the attraction of a cat to the Christmas tree will not end by undesired accidents.
Make your cat dislike the Christmas tree
Based on the previously explained three factors, you know that the Christmas tree is appealing to your cat. But it won’t be appealing if your cat has an unpleasant experience if she gets close to the tree. A cat may try to chew branches, bite needles or even ingest them. But if you depend on a bitter spray on the Christmas tree, your can will not try even to smell it. But make sure to get permission from the veterinarian before using a specific bitter spray. You can buy that bitter spray from any physical pet store or you can buy it online. A foil or a double-sided tape are also considered effective deterrents that will keep your cat away if you put them on the top of the skirt.
Keep your cat far from chewable objects on the tree
says that a cat usually chews to taste strange objects and to explore the surrounding environment. Because the Christmas tree is a newly introduced creature into your home, it will call for the chewing instinct of your cat to discover what it is. The problem is the gifts, ribbons and boxes of the Christmas tree are too dangerous and they may lead to serious problems for your cat. For example, if ribbons are swallowed by your cat, dangerous problems like blockage and perforation may occur to her. Needles may also cause the same blockage problem if swallowed. So, try to keep all of these objects far from your cat until it is time to use them.
Keep your cat far from the tree water
At the Christmas time, your cat will prefer to drink the refreshing water of the Christmas tree to the water in her pot. But unfortunately, most charismas trees use chemicals in this water to still green for more time, which make it dangerous for any pet to drink from this water. There are three main ideas to protect your cat from the tree water:
- Use covered base: you can use a cover from tin foil or a skirt for the base to prevent your cat from reaching water.
- Use clean water: if you are sure that a covered base will not prevent your cat from reaching water, you can calm your stress by using clean and fresh water instead of water that is mixed with chemicals. It may need to be changed on a daily basis but you will be sure that your cat is safe.
- Use a tree without water: some artificial trees come without water and will be recommended as a precaution.
Anchor the Christmas tree
One of the worst experiences that would be faced at Christmas is a felled tree. Not to allow this to happen, you should make sure that your Christmas tree is too steady to fall if it is climbed by your cat. You should make sure that the base is heavy and sturdy and make sure that the tree is fastened with fishing lines to the ceiling or the wall. This will keep both your tree and your cat safe.
Once you follow these safety tips for your cat and the Christmas tree, you will be protect them from expected accidents that have been experienced by others.
Learn more about the steps to take on special occasions like Christmas, on this website: https://joomdactor.com/
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