Tis the season to be JOLLY - Fa-La-La-La-La-La-La-La-La…. Unless you have a cat - then it is the season to pick up your Christmas tree eleventy million times!
Cat’s are too curious for their own good - they love to scratch and climb and explore and adding a beautiful tree with all the shiny baubles on is definitely going to pique your kitty’s interest!
But I got you, kitty family - there are a few great tricks up my sleeve to help save your Christmas tree this festive season!
First thing you can try is to move your cat’s climbing tree next to your Christmas tree - then do clicker training with lots of yummy treats to reward them when they stay on their cat tree and admire your Christmas tree from a distance VS launching themselves into it!
Oranges
Jingle Bells, Oranges Smell, They Chase Your Cat Away!!!!
Ok, seriously, kitty’s don’t like the smell of oranges, so if you save up your peels, dry them out and scatter them strategically through the branches - BAM, you have a natural kitty repellent and as an extra bonus all those oranges will give you an added Vitamin C boost to ward off the Christmas sniffles.
Essential Oil
You can get some orange scented essential oil (make sure it’s a pure essential oil, nothing synthetic), put a few drops into a spray bottle with water and go ahead and spray that all around your tree. Again the orange scent should repel your cat naturally.
Please do not spray your cat with water as a deterrent - this is an outdated method that will only make your kitty scared of you!
Hire MacGyver!
For those really stubborn kitty’s who insist on being a part of all things Christmas and have resisted all three previous attempts to get them to behave well for Santa, you might need to call in the big guns.
I have seen people hang their trees from the ceiling so it’s too high up for their cat to jump on - however, you just know there will be that one kitty who sees this as a challenge and will start trying to launch themselves off of other things to get at the dangling tree.
I recently also saw someone build a 3 foot plexi-protector around their entire Christmas tree to keep their cats off, so you could give that a try! However if you’re on a budget, simply wrap your tree up like this!
