Cats and Christmas

Cats and Christmas can be an uneasy situation with your precious furbabies being at risk from decorations, gifts and inattention. Christmas trees and cats are a regularly posted disaster on social media.

Cats love to climb and trees are such a temptation on their own without the addition of those pretty decorations and lights as well. It is easier to train a kitten than a cat but both can be achieved with patience. First to stop your furbaby from climbing the tree. Set up an artificial tree preferably in an area your cats like. Remove one of the feet from its base. When kitty takes an interest in the tree and looks like they want to climb it. Say a firm NO!. Then let nature take its course. Kitty will try to climb it and when they do it will fall down giving the cat a fright. Put the tree back up and when kitty is looking at it again say no. You may have to repeat this action two or three times but my cats have learned with just one attempt.

We then come to decorations so very pretty to bat with a paw, pull off the tree and roll around the house or even chew. First use only non breakable decorations just like having a child it is the pet owners responsibility to protect them. Do not place foam or plaster decorations low on the tree as it's amazing how high your kitty can reach to chew on them. Prior to decorating the tree get a couple of old ball decorations that you can throw away after and place double sided tape around them and hang them on the tree where kitty can easily reach but not low enough that it will stick to their fur if they walk too close. If they try to bat it their paw will stick to the tape and they will not try it again. If you have done this on your tree with the foot missing they may pull it down again reinforcing the tree danger to your kitty. It should now be safe to put up your try and decorate it. Make sure to place the tree in an area your furbaby has not already laid claim to.

Lights and their cables are a delightful temptation to your kitty as well especially chewing the cords and the bulbs. If they are not low voltage they can also be fatal. Choose low voltage lights just in case. Use LED lights as these are plastic, not glass so if a bulb is chewed it is less likely to break and will do less damage if it does. Prior to adding lights to the tree spray the light set with scented body spray, deodorant or hairspray and allow to dry for 12 hours. If your little darling does attempt to chew, the taste will put them off.

Two other things pose serious risks to your puss, flowers and food.

Many flowers are toxic to cats and these should be avoided where possible. If not possible then place any flowers out of reach of your cat and if you must have lillies (for me it's not Christmas without Christmas lillies) then not only should you put them in a safe place but because even the pollen can cause fatal liver damage, use a pair of scissors to remove all the stamens from each flower and check daily for buds opening and remove stamens as soon as they open.

Acting out or misbehaviour is common at Christmas due to many factors including change of routine, the influx of visitors, eating human food and inattention. To reduced the likelihood and effects of misbehaviour is not as hard as you may think.

Firstly keep your cats routine as normal as possible. Feed at usual times, if you have to move their litter box then do so several weeks in advance to get them comfortable with the new placement. Make sure there is a safe quiet place for your kitty to retire to where visitors won't be going.

Food is discussed further down in this post but some human food and drinks can cause hyperactivity, illness and on occasion death so protecting your darlings from eating human food is very important. The biggest issue however is a decrease in the attention your puss usually receives. Make sure you make time for your furchild doing the normal things you would normally do whether it's lap time, play time or going fir a walk around the garden. It's not fair to punish your cat because you want to party.

Christmas is often a bountiful time with food. It is often the only time each year we have all those fancy foods we associate with celebrations many of which can make your cat sick. No you don't have to avoid these foods but take steps to protect your furbaby from their own urges. Only bring out meats, cheeses and creamy foods when you are going to eat them and watch your cats when they are out. Creamy drinks can also be a temptation so be especially cautious around alcoholic drinks. They have small bodies and can lap up a fatal dose very quickly. I find on celebration days it is best for my furkids that I feed them their favourite foods on these days and I feed just before I serve a meal so they are filled up before the human food comes out. None of my kids are lactose intolerant so I also give them milk with a touch of cream added as another treat. For lactose intolerant cats give them a lactose free milk and add a little oil to it to give them the luxury fatty taste.This should only be done a couple of times a year. If you know of any other Christmas and kitty hacks please comment on this post so we can help protect all those lovely kitties out there.