Conference misery::feline_v1

    Re: .0
    
    Good luck talking your cat out of it.
    
    I just can't keep T.K. away from the tree.  Luckily
    he has not tipped the tree although the other night was
    a close call.  I was doing homework on the couch, all wrapped
    up in a blanket when I saw this flailing body out of the
    corner of my eye.  I looked up and there is T.K. with his
    body and legs very well tangled in the Christmas tree lights.
    I swear he did this on purpose.  Luckily he detached him
    self without tipping the tree or committing suicide and was
    gone from the room by the time I had managed to extract myself
    from my blanket.                         
    
    If he manages to do this again I'm banishing him to the
    basement.  Somebody told me that cats usually calm down
    by the time they are 2 years old.  T.K. is 1-1/2 years
    and still wild.  I don't know if he will ever calm down.
    
    Is your tree real??   Artificial trees are much more difficult
    to climb since the wire branches bend under the cats weight.
    
    Good luck
    
    	Karen

    Black Thunder just loves rearranging the lower branches.  She pulls
    off the ornaments, unwinds the garland and pulls down the lights.
    So far, she hasn't hurt herself or the tree other than the fact
    that I have to re-arrange it every night when I get home.  
    
    And I thought the surgery would slow her down.  The only night the
    tree was safe was the night she spent at the vets.
    
    I read somewhere where you can save the tree from toppling if you
    wire it to the ceiling.  That's a good idea.
    
    Sandi (Lightning, DejaVu and Black Thunder the Wonder Cat's mom)
    
    

    Our first Christmas with cats we bought a small tree and only left
    it out when we could supervise.  Whenever we left the house we picked
    up the tree and closed it in a spare bedroom.  I think we skipped
    a year or two because we went away for Christmas, but after that
    they left them alone.  We do take some precautions though...
    We use dried Babies Breath instead of tinsel (which can tangle in
    their intestines).  Not only does the Babies Breath look beautiful,
    but it makes our tree rather unique.  We also put only non-breakable
    ornaments on the bottom.  I would second the idea of wiring the
    tree to the ceiling.  I had considered that myself but it turned
    out to be unnecessary.
    
    Good luck!
    
    Karen, Tristan and Tenzing.

    Please be careful with the hanging tinsel.  I found Selina and
    Mijo munching on a few.  Thank goodness I caught it in time.
    I'd hate to think what might happen if they digest it.
    
    So I rearranged the Christmas tree and took off all that stuff
    that was enticing them.  Now to keep them off the tree.  That's
    going to be the trick.                  
    
    Hey, have any of you seen the Christmas cards to your favorite
    cat or dog in the Hallmark store?  I thought it was so cute.
    
    
    My husband and I searched high and low to find Christmas cards with
    Siamese cats on the front.  Our search ended at Ames.  We found
    the perfect card with a siamese kitty sitting in the "o" of the
    word JOY.  So we rushed home and couldn't wait to send them out.
    Unfortunately, the top card was the siamese and the 29 others were
    of piontsetta.  How disappointing!!!
    
    So have any of you found your favorite cards yet?
    
    
    Shelly, Selina, and Mijo

                I've been lucky sofar, none of the cats that I have
        lived with have payed any particular attention to the tree (oh,
        a few balls now and then, but nothing serious). The one
        exception was our present cat (now 18 years old) who arrived
        Xmas Eve one year and decided that the tree was hers - too sleep
        under!
                
                This does remind me of what some good friends of ours
        used to have to do with theirs. They used wire to attach it to
        the tops of the windows and doors. Then they hid the wire by
        hanging the Xmas cards from it!
                
                /s/     Bob
                
  p.s. - there is another lengthy note on this somewhere in here.

    How do you know it was Peewe?  Maybe it was Pepper.
    

    One solution is to get a small tree in addition to your
    regular tree.  Give the cat(s) the small tree.  Maybe you
    can convince them to leave your Christmas tree alone if they
    have one of their own to climb and attack.
    
    This worked for me (once).  Another time it did not work.
    
    

    In past years we have adopted the attitude that some cat is going
    to try and climb our tree and have tied it up.  This year we have
    to pieces of heavy string that run from about 1/4 the way down the
    tree over to two of the curtain rods. (The tree is in a corner so
    the two strings hold it from two different angles.)  The best
    set up I ever had was in a basement apartment with a big window
    in the front.  I had to plant hooks hanging from the top of the
    window sash spaced about 3 1/2 feet apart and I would run heavy
    string or light rope from the tree to that.  
      This way, WHEN they climb the tree it can't fall over.  
        Good luck.
         N

    
    
    	I returned yesterday to find at least 8 of our Christmas
    	bulbs scattered around the apartment.  Not to mention that
    	Sasha's lost various pieces so that I cannot hang them back
    	up!!  So the kitties are in the kitchen until Christmas is 
    	over. (only when we're not home of course)  And when we are
        home I use the squirt bottle to keep her away from it....but
    	she just moves from one spot around the tree to another!!
    
    	She's only 5 months old so maybe next year?......probably not!
    
    
    	JJ
    
    	

    When I read the replies, I counted my blessings that Nippa is not
    interested in the tree(knock on wood), however she makes up for
    it by being very interested in the presents underneath.  She can
    chew through anything!  So we don't put anything underneath the
    tree until the last minute.  But once we do, it's fair game!! ;^)
    
    One idea I had to keep cats from climbing trees is;  when your not
    home what if you closed the room off which has the tree?  Or confined
     the cats to another part of the house?  Nippa only seems to get
    into trouble when no one is home, therefore she either goes out
    or down to the basement. 

When Brat was younger, I used to have to tie the tree down.  I'd tie 
some upholstery string to the tree top and tie the other end of the 
string to a large nail hammered into the window casing.  Once he found 
out he couldn't knock the tree down, he'd try and knock the ornament off 
the tree.  I solved that one by hanging plastic ornaments from the 
branches he could reach.

Re:  2059.1

Brat didn't calm down until he was four.  I'm not sure if it's because 
it took me that long to get through to him, but I suspect it's because 
it took Brat that long to train me.

Happy Holidays!

Brat and his pet

    My tree looks funny because I have good ornaments at the top of
    the tree and unbreakable ones at the bottom.  My cat Butty can jump
    real high.  He jumps up to get the high ornaments and has broken
    a few of them.  I let him do it because he's a spoiled rotten brat.
    Plus I love to watch him jump, he looks so stupid when he does it.
    
    If your tree is real beautiful, and you want to keep it that way,
    then good luck keeping the cats away.
    
    I like watching the cats in the tree.  I have three cats and they
    all love my tree.  When the dog starts trying to get in the tree
    then I have a problem.
    
    

    
     We were able to solve our "tree toppling" situatuion by bolting
    the stand ( standard red and green kind with screws to hold the
    tree ) ,,,Any way we bolted the stand down to a 2 and a half sq.
    foot piece of half inch plywood.  That tree isn't going anywhere.
    We cover the ugly wood up with a extra big tree skirt ( I made it
    )and we always have tons of presents, so you never know its there.
    
    When our tree was toppled by Yaddie and Rocky *(last year's Xmas
    Guest )*  My husband came up with this solution.  This year we now
    have Pippin, so ornaments toward the bottom are the ratty, knitted
    or wooden ones!  I happen to think watchin' the Cats play with the
    tree is half the reason we put it up!!! course, that'l change one
    we have some children.
         
          do stay away from icecycles though
    Nancy >>> Merry Xmas!

    Well, I want you all to know that none of my cats has ever managed
    to knock our tree down (not for want of trying) but I'm told by
    my mother that I PULLED THE TREE DOWN when I was about 2 yrs old!
       Mostly our cats confine them selves to sitting under the tree,
    batting the plastic ornaments on the bottom or pulling the bows
    off of presents.  (Oh, Isis will play a follow the leader type
    game with Jack which involves Jack tapping a series of ornaments
    followed by Isis sitting up and tapping the same exact series
    of ornaments!)
      Nancy DC
    

    Sorry folks....the first two notes had me rolling in laughter. 
    I can just picture PeeWee's and Pepper's antics or lack of antics.
    
    Easy for me to laugh, since I haven't put my tree up yet!!!!!!!!!!!
    But I know that when I do, it will be secure from all directions.
    

Well, Sunday our tree goes up -- my husband uses strong fishing line on 
either side and ties it to the wall on the either of the picture window.
Then all the "cat" ornaments go on the bottom branches, but that doesn't
stop any of them from trying to get at the "non-cat" ornaments.  I suspect
that Midnight will be "guarding" the tree again year.

We have pictures of him from previous years -- what happens, is he sits
in front of the tree and watches the others play - when they start getting
to rambunctious, then he goes over and swats them!! If they still continue,
he chases them out of the room and won't let them back near the tree. 

On Christmas Eve we put down all the presents -- Midnight goes searching
all thru them and when he finds the ones he thinks belongs to him, he pulls
them all together waaaaaaaaaaaaay under the tree and checks on them every
so often -- of course, none of the others are allowed anywhere near then.

This year, we have the new kitten Lightning, so this ought to be interesting.

Have a happy holiday.

	Marian - Mom of 5

    We also worried about all 3 cats knocking over the tree--none of
    them had ever seen one before.
    
    So, when we brought it in, we just let it sit there for a few hours
    while they investigated it.  It was a riot.  Brittany and Melissa
    sat up on their hind legs like little prairie dogs while checking
    it out.  (Needless to say, there I was, camera in hand!)   Melody,
    being a sophisticated 1 and 1/2 years old, layed on the stairs
    and watched.  (Later, when no one else was around, I caught her
    taking a looksee.)
    
    While we were decorating, they showed no interest.  BUT, later
    that night I was sitting at the dining room table and saw the
    ornaments swaying!  The tree is too full, wide and thick to be
    climbed and therefore knocked over (we hope) but Brit and Missy
    are having great fun undecorating!  How they manage to get some
    of the ornaments off is beyond me since I hand them about 2 inches
    down on the branch.  They got one glass ball from about 3 feet up
    and knocked it across the room without breaking it.  Amazing!
    
    One thing they do that drives Bruce nuts (and worries me some) is
    to drink the water from the stand.  Does anyone else's kitty do
    that?  I am concerned about them ingesting pine needles but they
    seem ok so far.
    
    Brittany has also discovered candy canes and how good they taste
    if you break open the wrapping.
    
    I can't wait until they discover presents!
    
    Barbara and Melody, Brittany and Melissa

    re: .17
    candy canes and wrapping
    
    Somewhere I reacll reading that cellophane was dangerous to cats
    as it turned into something glass-like in the stomach.  Possibly
    this is some figment of my imagination, however.
    

    I was pretty paranoid about bringing in the Christmas tree this
    year -- since we added Elmo to the household and he is a screaming
    maniac terror causing trouble making brat.  I felt for sure that
    Elmo would automatically assume that the tree would be a new ElmoToy.
    
    However, we brought the tree home on Thursday and decorated on Friday.
    Elmo has NO interest at all.  Not even with the presents all wrapped
    under the tree.
    
    It's Portia who is the trouble maker.  She sits like her typical
    Porty-Precious-Pookins under the tree with the "Aren't I just a
    beautiful cat" look on her face.  And, as soon as I turn my back,
    she up on her hind legs, knocking the ornaments around.  Her favorite
    are the jingle bells.
    
    I think the only reason Elmo isn't attacking the tree is because
    Portia is guarding _HER TOY_.
    
    	-Nancy

    While I'm glad that my trials and tribulations concerning the cats
    and the Christmas tree are not unique, I was hoping (vainly) that 
    someone would have a miracle solution that would allow us to keep
    our tree intact without resorting to feline incarceration.
    
    Snowy, our three year old female Lilac lynx point siamese terrorist,
    absolutely loves to climb the branches of our artificial tree, bending
    metal branches notwithstanding. A lover of cat toys, she feels that
    every small object (especially round) that makes interesting noises
    when batted about on the floor is fair game and hence a cat toy.
    She is driving us wild. Maxwell, the fatso 2�year old male lilac
    lynx, is content to dream on the couch while the destruction takes
    place.
    
    I have tried using the squirt gun to no avail. (Maybe if I use a
    moth ball solution, nah) I have tried scolding her (resulting in
    her taking a bath during the diatribe.) I've even tried a smack
    on the backside when catching her in the act. Nothing seems to work.
    The tree is looking pretty tired right now, having weathered 10
    days of guerrilla warfare.
                
    Well, the tree will only be up for a little while longer. i hope
    it lasts till Christmas.
    
    Bye now and happy holidays...
    
    The Doctah

    Over the weekend, we couldn't find Opus anywhere in the apartment.
    We looked at the tree, and everything was swaying and jiggling,
    and sure enough, there she was--lying down across a row of branches
    about 3 feet up the base of the tree.
    
    We would take her out, look around, and there she was again! 
    
    We finally decided to keep the door closed to the tree room, and
    only let her in when we are in there to scream whenever she touches
    it. (BTW the Christmas tree looks pretty funny with no ornaments
    on the bottom of it)
    
    Michelle
    

    
    My cats drink the water under the tree, so we have to be sure to
    refill every day.  As soon as we do it, all the cats run over to
    drink their fill.  These are the same cats who won't touch a water
    bowl.
    
    So far they have also managed to take down the bottom row of lights
    and garland, rip up the plastic bag I put under the tree for when
    we throw it away, and remove some of the rounder ornaments.  Now
    last year when it was just Mielikki and Ishtar, nobody touched the
    tree.  This year with Loki joining the family, the tree is under
    attack.  Not that I'm saying our youngest is a bad influence or
    anything... ;-)
    

    With all these cats so interested in the trees, what it wrong with
    our Bob?  
    
    We brought the tree in Sunday night and decorated it.  When we brought
    it in, Bob took off.  He didn't want to deal with the commotion.
    After it was decorated, we all stood back and admired it.  The dogs
    gave it a sniff and Bitser, our 11 year old cat, went to have herself
    a drink from the stand.  Bob came in the room, took one look at
    this monster and hightailed it to the second floor.  He hasn't entered
    the living room since.  I think he is really scared of it!!!  Such
    a big brave kitten!
    
    Ellen

    Tying balloons to the lower branches which will pop when disturbed
    will annoy some cats enough to stop climbing the tree. 

    We have four cats at home.  One of them brought the tree down within
    minutes of its completion.
    
    Was it 12 pound Max...no
    
    Was it 8 pount Lucy...no
    
    Was it six pound Emma...no
    
    It was 3 pound Katy...are you listening Mary???
    
    Gary