Cat-friendly Christmas Tree

[galadhir]

One of Daughter's cats - Voidstar, the 1 year old - absolutely loves eating plastic, so preparing for him to visit meant purging as much plastic from the house as possible. We did that over a couple of days, helped by the fact that we had gone not plastic-free, but plastic-minimal, a few years ago, and all that was left was mainly forgotten bags.

But then we got very nervous over the idea of tinsel. Should there be tinsel on the Christmas tree? Would he try to jump up and eat that too?

So we made some white, red and green paper chains to use instead.

When Daughter arrived she told us that Void had not jumped at her tree and had only sniffed the things he could reach, so we decided to have a two part tree. Closer to the floor, where cats could reach, we would have felt fabric ornaments and paper chains which wouldn't harm the cats if they were chewed on. Then above cat distance we would have the metal/glass ornaments and tinsel.

They turned out to be two very different themes which did not really go together, but no chomping or plastic-eating took place, so the main purpose was achieved.

Comments

[hoarmurath]

A plastic-eating cat, wow!

It looks like a fun tree, though! :)

[galadhir]

Yes, it's a bit worrying. If you put down a plastic bag on the floor he will immediately start tearing chunks out of it and swallowing them. They have to be very careful about what is lying about the house when he's roaming around unsupervised.

Thank you! I was pleasantly surprised by how nice the paper chains looked

[sunshine304]

A very good if chaotic-looking compromise! :D

[galadhir]

Thank you! Yes, we should really have just gone with the felt-and-paper all over, but we weren't confident it would be shiny enough without at least some tinsel. If they come back next year we'll go fully rustic, I think :)

[seleneheart]

It's really good you found a solution! We have given up on a tree due to my daughter's cat.

[galadhir]

Oh no! Have you tried the bitter apple spray at all? We sprayed the tree heavily with that. I don't know if it worked or if it was just that the cats weren't interested, but it might be worth trying if you haven't tried it already?

[katuah]

You have done well! but I would consider doing a fully safe tree next year if the cats are visiting again. We have fostered kittens for the local animal rescue for many years now, and more than once we have looked over to see a kitten halfway up the tree and reaching for higher ornaments. All our trees are now unbreakable ornaments, paper, felt, wood, something like that with no tiny removable parts. It's fine, and still quite pretty. Hope you have had a happy holiday season!

[galadhir]

Yes, I think we'll do that. I have enough paper chain to go all the way to the top, and it wouldn't hurt to have the ornaments spread out a bit. Fortunately they're going to Fiancee's parents next year so we won't have to worry again until 2025.

It has been good, thank you! I hope yours was too?

[katuah]

Eh, it was ok. Kinda glad to be done with it, honestly. Bah humbug! :-D

[galadhir]

It certainly makes you appreciate the peace and quiet afterward :)

[mistressofmuses]

I like it! I think it looks nice, even if the bits are slightly mismatched. But yay for no cat snacking!

[galadhir]

Thank you! Yes, our tree is generally very chaotic and themeless, so it's not honestly that much worse than normal :) But the cats ignoring it the whole time was perfect.

[mistressofmuses]

I like chaotic and themeless trees, personally. Ours tends to be "wherever the ornaments fit", ha. But hooray for the cats being pretty cooperative as far as it went!

[umadoshi]

Victory! ^_^

[galadhir]

Indeed :)

[watervole]

The tree looks very pretty from here :)

Do your efforts at going plastic minimal extend to clothing?

We try to avoid synthetic fabrics (not least because they don't breathe as well and can make you pretty whiffy on occasion)

We're lucky in having a number of really good local charity shops. My lovely alpaca jumper only cost me £12 and the fine wool jumper I've layered under it today was only £4.

[galadhir]

Thank you! Yes, we don't like it to be too themed as long as it's cheerful and colourful :)

Yes, admittedly we also buy about 95% of our clothes from the charity shop too, but we try fairly hard to only have natural fabrics. Ely barely has any shops except for charity shops, so it's a good place to find a pure wool jumper, although as I've got more plus size my choices have decreased. IDK why so many plus sized dresses are made from the most ghastly material, but that's partly why I've taken up sewing again. It's easier to find pure cotton duvet covers in charity shops than plus size cotton clothes.

[watervole]

You are truly a woman after my own heart!

I also hunt for pure cotton duvet covers for dress making!

[galadhir]

I lost a really nice one yesterday - spotted it across the shop but by the time I got close enough to look at the label someone else had picked it up :)