Snow is falling, carols are playing, and your furbabies are destroying every decoration in sight. That’s right, the Christmas season is officially here.
For most pet guardians, these weeks involve a lot of chasing cats away from gift wrapping ribbon while simultaneously trying to stop them from chewing twinkle light cords. Most of all though, Catmas means watching helplessly as your kitty climbs the Christmas tree, praying they don’t get hurt as it topples to the floor.
Yikes.
That’s why we don’t put up a traditional Christmas tree in our house.
Do I sound like the Grinch yet?
Hear meow-t.
I get it, they are a staple in most homes during December, but…
Christmas trees aren’t safe for cats.
Okay, so maybe cats tend to instigate most of the decor damage, but they can get incredibly hurt during the process of batting around ornaments and pulling on garland.
It’s in your cat’s nature to want to explore this foreign object that suddenly appears in the center of your living room. They’ll jump, climb, and chew on anything they can reach, which will likely make your tree wobble—or even fall. When it does, it can seriously hurt your cat. Not to mention, if eaten, tree needles—both real and fake—can cause life-threatening injuries to your kitty. Even the water from real tree stands is toxic to pets, and can result in emergency vet visits or worse.
No one wants that to happen.
If you do opt for a Christmas tree, you need to make sure your cat is properly supervised around it, and if it becomes too much of a problem, swap it out for a safer Christmas tree alternative.
The safest and best Christmas tree alternative for cats.
While we don’t have a Christmas tree up in our house, we have something a million times better.
A cat tree!
Our non-traditional Christmas tree is simply cat furniture. Yes, we have several of these trees out in our home throughout the entire year. We just rebrand them to be for Catmas after Thanksgiving.
The cats love their trees, which allow them to get high vantage points in just about every room they spend time in. The trees also give the cats safe places to climb and play where we don’t have to worry about them getting hurt.
Plus, we don’t have to clean up any broken ornaments or fallen needles and tree limbs.
It’s a win-win.
All of our cat trees are in pretty decent shape, considering the hours of use they get each day, but in future years, my plan is to get the girls a new one each holiday season. Instead of chopping down an evergreen tree from the forest, we’ll build them a new tree delivered in a Chewy box!
With this version of a catified Christmas tree, we know that the cats are safe and they will have something to enjoy well past December 25th.
Do you have a Christmas tree in a home with cats? Tell me all about your experience in the comments!
I know a lot about cats, but I’m not a veterinarian. Please don’t take any of the statements I give as medical advice and do always consult your trusted vet.
Pawsitive Purrpose 