Climbing Kitty

[zanthinegirl]

Any good suggestions from you cat people (I've always been more of a dog owner; this is my first kitten as a grown up) on keeping Drusilla out of the Christmas tree? She does know she shouldn't mess with it, but she's drawn to the shiny!

She's also taken up playing the piano.  At 3 am.  Madre-san was, shall we say, less than thrilled.

Comments

[curiouswombat]

Some cats really don't like the smell of citrus so a few clementines under the tree might help, and be festive.

Otherwise arming yourself with a plant mister and simply zap her with it every time she goes near it for a day or two might help.

[zanthinegirl]

The plant mister seemed to do it! I'll have to try the clementines if it becomes a problem again.

[petzipellepingo]

I fear nothing may work but you might try the "pop can of doom". Take an empty pop can, put in several pennies, put duct tape over the hole and shake it every time you see her by the tree. You can also throw it to get your point across and it's so light it won't hurt anything - or anyone.

But I fear cats are often persistent buggers.

[zanthinegirl]

She got a a couple little sprays from the plant mister and has behaved herself ever since. Though I did find her staring at the tree from across the living room!

[enigmaticblues]

Hahahahaha! If you figure it out, let us know. We routinely found Natasha up in the branches of the tree last Christmas.

[zanthinegirl]

Hee!

We got a plant mister/ sprayer per curiouswombat. It worked better than expected, though I see her lying down looking at the sparkly tree with longing in her little eyes...

[petzipellepingo]

And I take it that the piano doesn't have a cover?

[zanthinegirl]

Nope! And the dining room (where the piano lives) doesn't have any doors, just open arches. I never heard it but my mom was woken up!

[rahirah]

There is no way to keep a cat out of a Christmas tree if they are determined to climb it. We just try to make sure that the ornaments towards the bottom of the tree aren't the fragile or breakable ones. Also we put a string of bells around the bottom branches so we'll get an early warning if shenanigans occur. (Our current cats are more the sort to eat the tinsel than climb the tree.)

[zanthinegirl]

We just skipped anything fragile this year altogether. The bells are a really good idea though. I'll have to see what I can come up with!