Keep Your Cats Safe this Holiday Season!
From all of the temptations on the Christmas tree, to the stress of new visitors, the holidays can pose potential problems and even hazards for your curious cat. Here are some tips to keep your cat safe this holiday season and check out our easy-read guide on the Three D’s of Happy Holiday Kitties here.
Cats & Christmas Trees
Cats may be interested in Christmas trees for a variety of reasons. Maybe it’s because it’s a real plant and they can detect the outdoors. Maybe it’s the way the lights shimmer and delight. Whatever their reason, your cat may be drawn to a tree (real or artificial). Your cat probably wants to climb the tree, sleep in the branches, or even go after the light strings!
So be prepared this year; a few tips for keeping your feline friend out of trouble:
The oils produced by some Christmas trees may be mildly toxic and irritate a kitty’s tummy. The oils of live tree needles can irritate the gastrointestinal tract and can cause stomach upset, leading to vomiting and a decreased appetite. The needles themselves, from both live and artificial trees, are also irritating to the gastrointestinal tract due to their shape and lack of flexibility. See more on plants that are toxic to cats below.
If you go with a potted tree that you may plan to plant outside in the spring, know that the dirt in the plant may be as appealing as kitty litter. Be sure to cover the dirt with something that is a deterrent to cats. Some possible ideas are tin foil and plastic bags. You can always cover that with a tree skirt, so your tree still looks great! Cats also hate citrus, so using a citrus or bitter apple spray will keep them away.
If you choose to go with a potted tree, it’s best that you don’t use fertilizers or plant food. Many of these are toxic and may leak into watering trays.
In summary, as you can see from the tips above, you may want to consider artificial tree. There are still several temptations, but less possibility of them ingesting the tree or using it as a litter box. (bluecross.org.uk)
What else can you do to keep your kitties safe?
Avoid tinsel and garland
That shiny, stringy tinsel, wrap-around garland, and other decorations may look like cat toys to them. After all, don’t we all have a feather on a string that they play with? It’s also best not to use glass decorations, either. If your kitty is interested and bats them off the tree, they may break allowing shards of glass to lay on the floor where they may get cut or accidentally ingest it.
Anything of a string can pose a danger to your furry friend. With their barbed tongue, they may not be able to spit it out. Any foreign body poses a possible choking or gastrointestinal hazard. The ASPCA deals with hundreds of foreign-body ingestion cases annually, so take precautions this holiday season and all year long to avoid this!
So, what is safe to use as decor for the tree? Plastic baubles are best! Don’t decorate the bottom level of the tree to keep the biggest temptations out of paws’ reach! You can put a comfy blanket under the tree to give your cat a secluded place to rest with the tree, without the temptations of using ornaments as toys.
Make sure the decorations are secure
Most decorations and ornaments are hung with Ornament Hooks. This is very helpful when decorating your tree and getting your ornaments in just the right place. However, if you don’t secure them extra tight, your kitty can easily knock them off the tree. Then chaos may ensue. That ornament may become a play toy and excite your cat.
Secure your tree and be smart about decorating
We know cats have a fondness for climbing trees and your Christmas tree may be the first tree they’ve seen in a while. Temptations . . . YES! It’s hard to deter cats from climbing. We know they like tall places where they can get a great look around. But if they decide to climb the tree, it’s very likely that it will tip over sending ornaments and decorations flying. Who needs or wants that? To help in this situation, it’s best that you have a wider and heavier base for your tree. Now if your kitty decides to climb the tree or sleep in the branches, it’s less likely to tip over! The other pro tip is to give your kitty an alternative place to climb! If you give them a great kitty condo or tower where they can scratch and climb, they will be less likely to go to the tree to scratch that itch!
If your tree is displayed in a corner or against a wall, you may want to consider using some discreet wire or twine to secure the tree to the wall behind it, if possible.
Hang ornaments a little bit higher
So what is safe to use as decor for a tree? We just want to make the lower part less enticing to your feline friend. As I said, I hang the less interesting ornaments lower (if at all) and create a little kitty space below the tree to keep the interest at a lower level.
LIGHTS, LIGHTS, LIGHTS - Perhaps the Most Dangerous Part of the Holiday
Where do we start? No Christmas tree is complete with lots of lovely colored lights. Blinking or not, they are truly enticing. And it’s not just the lights, it’s also the strings. This is probably the most dangerous aspect of having a Christmas tree. Chewing on a strand of Christmas lights can put your kitty at risk of electrocution or severe burns. Prevent this by spraying any lights within your cat's reach with a deterrent. There are several Spray Deterrents that you may already be using for other purposes. You may also want to try a Citrus Spray as cats are repelled by the Citrus Odor, too. This will also give your home a nice citrusy vibe. Furthermore, consider buying a tree with fiber optic lights already installed on the branches that have no hanging cords or lights.
TRUE STORY - Happy Ending
While decorating for Christmas this year, I had the lights on the floor to be certain they worked before I put them up for decorations. I was using a very fine fiber optic string at the time and my kitty was watching every move I made. She was fascinated! As soon as I bent over to grab another string, she had bitten into the string of lights breaking a piece off. It was not immediately known until a few minutes later. I noticed the string was not complete and was actually missing a one-inch piece. I freaked out and had no idea what to do. As I said, fortunately for me and Sammi, this story has a happy ending. Sammi was able to purge her stomach and the piece was expectorated. I cried with relief and happiness after seeing how sharp the end of the wire was after it had come out. She could have punctured any part of her body as it passed through and that would have certainly meant a visit to the Vet. I encourage you to be especially aware of tree lights during the holidays.
What plants are safe to have during the holidays?
Most cats love to chew on natural plant foliage. Which is why a real tree can be so tempting. We want to buy special plants to help decorate our homes for the holidays, but there are many plants that are toxic and even deadly for cats. Avoid having any of the following plants where your cat is likely to reach them:
Mistletoe, Christmas Cactus, Poinsettias, the Christmas Tree, Christmas Rose, Narcissus, Amaryllis, Holly, Ivy, Yews, Pine and Azaleas:
The toxicity in these plants can cause a wide range of symptoms, including excessive drooling, decreased appetite, weakness, vomiting, diarrhea, and even cardiac failure. Read more from PetMD about plants that are toxic to cats.
Lillies – The entire plant and even the water in the vase can cause serious harm or even death. Even small amounts of this plant can cause arrhythmia or kidney failure.
Azaleas and Rhododendron also known as Rosebay can be lethal. You may not have the entire plant in the house, but if you have any fresh flower arrangements, these plants may be part of them. Ingesting them can cause Cardiac Arrest.
How do you protect your cat(s) if your family celebrates Hannukah?
You will want to be sure your candles are never left unattended after they are lit. For eight nights each winter, lighting the Hanukkah menorah brings the whole family together — and that includes the cat. Your cat may be fascinated by the flickering and might just try to play with the flames. Ouch. Serious burns can occur, and the Menorah may just get knocked over and start a fire. Here are a couple of tips from Battalion Chief Jennifer Utz of the Baltimore County Fire Department for you below:
If you’re using a live flame, be sure your menorah is set on a good, stable surface that your cat can’t get to.
Crate-training your feline is a great way to keep him contained and away from open candle flames during your celebration.
Never leave lit candles unattended, especially with pets in the home. Place your menorah at least 12 inches from flammable materials so it can’t be knocked into curtains or drapes by the swat of a cat’s paw
Make sure the candles of your menorah have burned down completely before you go to bed so nocturnal kitties can’t cause trouble if they roam the house at night. More than half of fire deaths attributed to candle use occur between midnight and 6 a.m., Utz says.
Gifts & Presents
If you are like most people, you start putting your gifts under the tree as soon as they are wrapped. This is a great habit to get into to save you from having to do all the wrapping the night before! However, it’s best to leave the bows and ribbons off. Curiosity can get to the cat and even cause them harm. Your tree may not have that beautiful Home for the Holidays Christmas look, but your cat will be much safer.
See how beautiful the Christmas tree above looks with all the presents under the tree, yet none of the gifts have bows or strings or ribbons. You can still have a beautiful tree!
Add calming aids to kitty’s routine to help de-stress
Strange plants, new visitors, loud noises, and parties can all be overwhelming for kitties during the holiday season. We recommend using additional calming aids during this time to lower the stress levels for your feline friends and offer a calm atmosphere when they feel stressed or anxious.
Make sure your kitty has a go-to “safe space” where they can retreat if they are feeling overwhelmed. This space should have all the basics – a litter box, fresh food & water, and their comfy bed and blankets. It should also have towers, scratchers, toys, treats, and other things to entertain them when they retreat so they feel happy and safe. We recommend using a pheromone diffuser in your home to create a sense of serenity and safety for your kitty. You can also use a calming collar, and calming treats and supplements to build a larger sense of calm in a stressful moment. Some kitties also like thunder shirts to swaddle them when they are anxious, and some like to have a piece of clothing with your scent on it so they can feel your presence when they retreat. Make sure you find out what your kitty responds to best and have all that on hand for any stressful times.
In Conclusion
We know that this may sound like we are being Grinchy, but we are just trying to help you be happy during the holiday season and to keep your cat safe too. Once you have read through this list of Holiday Safety Tips, please feel free to share them with your Hooman Feline Friends to help them keep their kitties safe this holiday season as well.
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Thank you to Kathy Goldman, a fellow cat lover, for researching and writing this post!
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