Cats and Holiday Decorating Disasters

Chloe enjoys hanging out with the stuffed holiday critters.

Why is it a feline who loves routine is so fascinated when all the holiday decorations come out? My kitty Chloe does not like change at all.  But pull out the tree, or place the decorations around the house and she is in heaven. She loves sleeping on my holiday kitty and puppy and all three cats love to be by the tree and the presents.

One year I had a 7-foot-tall tree beautifully decorated. I had only two cats at the time and while they were interested in the tree, they didn’t seem to be totally fascinated. Boy, was I wrong.  I came home from work one day and a Siamese head popped out of the middle of the tree. And then a few minutes later, the whole tree came down. There were decorations everywhere and many handmade ornaments were trashed.

My cat, Beezer, was frightened by the ruckus, so I thought he would stay out of the tree. Wrong again. That tree went down two more times before the holidays were over. After that, I learned how to anchor my tree to the wall using fishing line and I haven’t had one fall over since. I also learned that live trees don’t work in my house, because Kiki would eat the needles and then barf them up. I put kitty-proof ornaments on the bottom of the tree and make sure not to have a tree large enough for a cat to climb.

Another temptation to kitties seems to be bags with handles. Zooey is particularly attracted to them and more than once has gotten her head caught in one. She then runs around the house until I can catch her and remove the bag. That’s another item I now keep out of their reach.

I do have a couple of cat-safe decorations that I hang on the wall so they have something of their own to play with. They like a Santa that has a pull string that moves the legs and arms. And they love the stuffed animals. 

I love candles, especially around the holidays, but they are another potential hazard around cats. I keep all the candles out of the reach of the cats or use a hurricane cover if the candles are at a level the cats can reach. My mother’s cat once set her tail on fire during dinner. She walked across the dining room table and got too close to the candle. Luckily the fire went out as she went running and there was no injury to her or damage to the house. 

Be very diligent during the holiday season and make sure to cat-proof your home as much as possible.  For more tips on keeping your kitties safe, click here and here.

Happy holidays to all!  I hope you and your kitties have a safe holiday and the happiest of new years!