Can you cat-proof the Christmas tree?
No. You cannot cat-proof a Christmas tree.
You can’t put the most irresistible “cat tree” imaginable in the center of your home, hang “cat toys” from every branch, festoon the whole thing with tasty plastic wire, and expect the cat to stay away.
Sure, you can construct a fortress around the tree with “cat-proof” Christmas-tree fencing. And you can surround it with a military course of electrified scat mats and spiky pads.
But all your efforts will be no match for a smarty-pants cat who has the whole day to do nothing but think about how to get at that tree.
That doesn’t mean that you can’t have a tree. You just can’t have the exact tree you want in the exact place you might want it. And you can’t decorate it exactly the way you’d like to decorate it.
I think it’s a relatively small price to pay to enjoy life with cats for the rest of the year, and keep them safe and healthy through the holiday season.
But all cats are individuals, even when it comes to Christmas trees
Everyone knows someone who has a cat who’d sooner sing karaoke than acknowledge the giant Christmas tree in the room. Maybe you have that cat and she’s sitting with her back turned to the Christmas tree right this very minute.
Those cats do exist, but don’t assume your cat is one of them.
In fact, even if your cat really IS one of them, don’t assume your cat is one of them.
The minute you start congratulating yourself for your brilliance in choosing a cat who is too smart to mess with a dangerous Christmas tree, is the minute your cat will be lapping toxic water from the tree stand.
Educate yourself about the potential dangers of Christmas trees for “other” cats, and consider what you can do to keep your cat safe when you’re out of the room or house, and can’t keep a watchful eye on him.
Why are Christmas trees so dangerous?
Plenty of cats live outdoors and climb trees every day, right? What could be so dangerous about the one tree you happened to bring inside?
From the point of view of cat health and safety, there isn’t one good thing about Christmas trees. NOT. ONE. GOOD. THING.
Let’s talk about all the reasons why cats and Christmas trees don’t work well together.
Live trees
Christmas trees can topple
Trees living in the wild are firmly rooted in the earth, secured by a wide network of underground roots. If an outdoor cat climbs a tree, it will not topple.
A Christmas tree is typically kept upright in a small, flimsy stand that has a narrow base of support. It doesn’t take much cat to pull a Christmas tree over.
A typical Christmas tree weighs 50 to 70 pounds[1] and all of that weight could fall on your cat if she pulls it over on herself. You do the math.
Here is proof it can happen:
Christmas trees have many sharp needles
A researcher in Helsinki, Finland estimates that a cultivated Christmas tree has up to twice as many needles as a wild-grown tree, up to around 400,000 sharp needles.[2]
Ingestion is the main concern when it comes to sharp pine, fir, or spruce needles. They can poke holes in a cat’s digestive tract, or obstruct a cat’s esophagus, stomach, or intestines.[3] They are also toxic (see the next section).
A cat who swallows a needle is in dire, immediate need of veterinary help. This is not a wait-and-see-if-she-passes-it kind of situation.
If you haven’t seen your cat consume a needle, but she is:
- Vomiting
- In pain (hiding, avoiding handling, growling)
- Lethargic
- Has no interest in food or water
- Is drooling, swallowing, lip smacking[4]
do not wait. Digestive tract perforations and obstructions can be deadly, even if you intervene in time. Give your vet a fighting chance to save your cat’s life.
Christmas trees (and the water they stand in) are toxic
Pine and fir trees contain chemicals called terpenes. Terpenes are what make Christmas trees smell so, well, Christmas-y.
There are terpenes in the needles, terpenes in tree bark, and terpenes in tree sap. If your cat just nibbles on a needle, or gnaws on the stump, he could experience:
The water the tree is sitting in is likely toxic, too. Pine resin, tree preservatives, and fire retardants sprayed on a tree can leech into the water. Bacteria and mold can grow in the water, too.
A cat who refuses to drink clean, delicious water out of her bowl, may find toxic water with a tree sitting in it positively irresistible.
(Read why some cats are fussy about drinking from their water bowls.)
Artificial trees
Artificial trees are typically a somewhat safer choice for cats. They don’t tend to drop needles, and some cats are less interested in climbing a fake tree. Some cats. Probably not your cat.
Artificial trees tend to be lighter, too. A quick survey of 7-foot artificial trees sold on Amazon.com suggests that they weigh in the range of 10 to 40 pounds.
But artificial trees are by no means safe for cats.
Artificial Christmas trees are often made of toxic materials
Most artificial trees are made in China from polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which is a kind of plastic. PVC releases irritating gases into the air.
PVC is often mixed with lead to stabilize it, and phthalates to make the PVC more flexible. All of these chemicals tend to shed into the air and accumulate dust on surfaces.
Phthalates and lead have been implicated in many health concerns in people, including diabetes, obesity, reproductive disorders (for phthalates), and neurological damage (for lead).[6]
Many artificial tree manufacturers today advertise their products as being free of PVCs. It might be worth replacing an older artificial tree with a newer, safer model.
Everything else that’s wrong with Christmas trees for cats
“My cat loves our tree. She thinks we set it up for her and sleeps on the tree skirt, hides under the branches, and plays with the ornaments.” – anonymousprincess[7]
Ornaments
As far as the cat is concerned, they’re not ornaments, they’re the world’s most alluring cat toys: they’re shiny, they’re dangly, and some of them even fall and break when you play with them!
Expect your cat to become obsessed with a fully decorated tree.
Some ornaments are delicate and shatter into shards upon falling. Others are comprised of tiny pieces that could be nibbled off and swallowed. Paint and glitter can be licked, and are most certainly not non-toxic for cats.
Some ornaments or tree decorations are made of food: dough, macaroni, and popcorn. A cat who might be finicky about the Ocean Whitefish Pate that you bought special from the local boutique pet shop, might not be above gnawing on a glued-on uncooked elbow macaroni.
String lights
They may be Christmas lights to you, but they’re string to kitties.
Not only that, they’re string covered in plastic. Read this post for more information about why cats are particularly attracted to chewing plastic.
Cats who chew through string lights (Or, believe it or not, chew and deliberately break the bulbs. I’m not making this up.[8]) could end up with a burn in the mouth, or worse, a fatal electrocution.
Tinsel and ribbon
Tinsel and ribbon are string, and playing with string is a hunting game for cats. The final stage of the hunt is the kill bite. Once a cat chomps down on a piece tinsel or ribbon, he must swallow it. The design of the barbs on cat’s tongue, which face toward the back of the throat, make it almost impossible for a cat to spit out a swallowed piece of tinsel or ribbon.
A swallowed piece of string (or ribbon or tinsel) becomes a linear foreign body in a cat’s digestive tract.
Some swallowed string will make its merry way to the litter box, while some string will become you and your cat’s worst nightmare as it gathers up and saws through the intestines. Read all about linear foreign bodies and cats in this post.
What is a Christmas-loving cat guardian to do?
All is not lost. You can still love cats and celebrate Christmas. But you might have to make a few adjustments. Your individual cat will help you decide what changes are necessary.
If you want Christmas to be 100% safe for your cat
“Mine love the tree every year. I tried cat repellent one year - a TINY amount because I knew one of mine was very sensitive to it. That one found it so awful, she'd stop dead in her tracks a solid 15 feet from the tree, and basically avoided the living room for a week. The other nibbled delicately where I'd sprayed, making eye contact the whole time.”
– SandboxUniverse[9]
If you don’t want to worry about your cat at all during the holiday season, you have two choices:
Lock the tree behind closed doors
You can have whatever kind of tree that you want if you put it in a room and keep the cat out of that room. Don’t let the cat sneak in. There is nothing so alluring, so seductive, so fascinating as a closed door to a cat. It’s one of the reasons cats have to join you in the bathroom.
You can have a 10-foot balsam fir, cloaked with multi-colored light bulbs, and handblown, imported glass ornaments, if the cat is never allowed in the room with the tree.
Get a wooden tree
Until cats, I didn’t even know wooden trees existed. They are not cheap, and they don’t smell like a Christmas tree, but they are beautiful and they can be erected in your living room, even if you have 12 cats.
There are many styles to choose from, but most allow you to hang ornaments on them, just like a real tree.
Here are a couple of styles I found on Etsy:
Other things that help make Christmas trees safer for cats
Not all cats do all the things.
Some cats eat pine needles. Some cats climb the tree. Some cats destroy ornaments. Some cats chew wires, and some cats drink out of the water trough.
Now, just because the crime YOU THINK your cat commits is climbing the tree, doesn’t mean he isn’t also secretly nibbling wires. None of the suggestions I’m about to offer will protect your cat as completely as locking the tree in a room, or getting a non-tree tree.
So, with that giant caveat:
Consider an artificial tree
Although not “safe,” artificial trees are slightly less dangerous (see why above) than live trees for cats.
Consider replacing your old artificial tree
If you already own an artificial tree, find out what it’s made of. Consider replacing an older tree with a newer model that isn’t made of PVC.
Choose safer ornaments
A house with a cat is no place for dangling antique and delicate glass ornaments. Replace your breakable ornaments with ornaments made of wood, cloth, or straw.
If your cat takes a swat at a plush ornament, and it falls, it won’t shatter and hurt your cat.
Avoid tinsel or popcorn strands
Avoid string and string-like décor. A swallowed piece of tinsel can become a deadly linear foreign body. It will not be a merry Christmas Eve in the pet emergency center while your cat undergoes life-saving surgery to remove an embedded piece of tinsel from her digestive tract.
P.S. If you ever see tinsel or string of any kind dangling from a cat’s backside, do not pull it. Doing so could cause internal damage to a cat’s gastrointestinal system.
Try battery-operated holiday lights
If a cat bites through Christmas lights plugged into a 120-volt outlet in the wall, she could experience burns, shock, and even death.
There will be relatively little immediate risk to your cat’s life if he decides to snack on battery-operated fairy lights instead of traditional string lights.
The risk of consuming plastic and wire remain, however.
Bolt the tree to a wall
Use heavy fishing line to secure the tree to eye hooks screwed into studs near the ceiling or behind the tree, near the top.
Bolt the stand to plywood (or make the stand extra heavy)
Make the tree harder to topple by extending the base. Bolt a traditional tree stand to a large piece of plywood.
You can also make the tree harder to topple by duct-taping the base to something very heavy, like cinder blocks.
Wire ornaments to the tree
Prevent cats from batting every ornament to the ground by firmly wiring them to branches, rather than just hanging them loosely with ribbon or hooks.
Provide appealing perches in the room with the tree
I don’t have a lot of faith that MORE perches will prevent your cat from climbing the ONE perch you don’t want him to climb, but if you’re determined to have a tree, it’s worth a try.
Put new cat trees in the room with the Christmas tree. Add cat wall shelving, and other perches that may be more appealing than climbing the tree.
Make the artificial tree boring
Before assembling the artificial tree, leave the box (with the tree inside) in the tree room for a day or two.
Then leave it opened, but unassembled for another day or two.
Then put the tree up, but don’t decorate it right way.
Hopefully, the tree will lose its magical appeal as an exciting new object by the time you hang ornaments.
But don’t count on it.
Leave the bottom branches undecorated
This advice is for an elderly or disabled cat, or a cat who, for whatever reason, you can count on not to climb the tree.
Just put all of the ornaments out of reach.
What you should never do to keep a cat away from the Christmas tree
Some fixes are worse than the problem. Here are a few of those:
Don’t spray the tree with perfume or citrus oils
Cats find many perfumes and citrus odors offensive. But perfumes and citrus oils contain essential oils which are harmful to cats.
Oranges and lemons, for example, contain essential oils, including limonene and psoralen, which are very harmful to cats. Read all about essential oils and cats in this post for more information on their dangers.
Don’t frighten the cat with the tree
There is a TikTok trend that encourages guardians to chase their cats with trees, or branches from the tree, to discourage their cats from later climbing the tree.
I suppose the idea is to create a negative association with the Christmas tree. But, in this case, the cure is worse than the disease.
Your cat is in her home, a place where she is supposed to feel protected and secure. She expects you to keep her safe.
What’s so terrible about instilling a little fear of Christmas trees in your cat? Studies have shown even one fear event can cause long-lasting fear in cats. It becomes embedded in the amygdala in the brain.[11]
Fear in some cats’ brains doesn’t just stop at the Christmas tree, unfortunately. Fear can start spreading to other objects and places, in some cases, becoming phobias.[12]
In conclusion
It’s a hard thing, being responsible for another living being who may share your enthusiasm for all things Christmas, but not in the way you’d wish them to.
Cats are just hardwired to climb, chew, and play with things. When they do things that we humans find naughty, they are often just behaving in the way nature intended them to behave.
It’s up to us to find a solution that works for them, even if that solution involves tacking a paper tree to the wall.
Meowy Christmas.
You might also enjoy these related posts:
The most hilarious Christmas cat memes and cartoons
The 12 days of Christmas dangers for your cat
Love Pinterest? Here's a Pinterest-friendly pin for your boards!
Dawn LaFontaine is a lifelong animal lover who always seems to have a little pet hair in her keyboard. Her blog, Kitty Contemplations, helps cat guardians better understand and care for the special beings they share their lives and homes with. Her cat-products business, Cat in the Box, sells beautiful, well-made, and award-winning products that she designed to meet the biological needs of cats.
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FOOTNOTES
[1] Barry, Keith. “How to Safely Drive Home with a Christmas Tree. and Should You Decorate Your Car with Lights?” Consumer Reports, www.consumerreports.org/cars/cars-driving/how-to-bring-home-a-christmas-tree-safely-a2034416158/. Accessed 10 Dec. 2024.
[2] Karjalainen, Tero. “Researcher Amazed at Number of Needles in Christmas Tree – Enough to Cover Your Bedroom Floor Completely.” Forest.Fi, 19 Dec. 2023, forest.fi/article/researcher-amazed-at-number-of-needles-in-christmas-tree/.
[3] “Are Christmas Trees Toxic to Cats?” PetMD, www.petmd.com/cat/are-christmas-trees-toxic-cats. Accessed 10 Dec. 2024.
[4] “Bowel Obstruction/Intestinal Blockage in Cats.” PDSA, www.pdsa.org.uk/pet-help-and-advice/pet-health-hub/conditions/bowel-obstructionintestinal-blockage-in-cats. Accessed 11 Dec. 2024.
[5] Taylor, Lauren. “Are Christmas Trees Safe for Cats?” The Dodo, 11 Dec. 2020, www.thedodo.com/dodowell/are-christmas-trees-toxic-to-cats.
[6] Chejadmin. “Artificial Christmas Tree.” The Center for Health, Environment & Justice, 1 Mar. 2023, chej.org/artificial-christmas-tree
[7] R/Catadvice on Reddit: Is It Possible to Have a Christmas Tree and a Cat?, www.reddit.com/r/CatAdvice/comments/qywylw/is_it_possible_to_have_a_christmas_tree_and_a_cat/. Accessed 5 Dec. 2024.
[8] R/Christmasdecorating on Reddit: Hope You Experts Can Help; I Need Suggestions Cat-Proof Christmas Lights, www.reddit.com/r/ChristmasDecorating/comments/18oowhx/hope_you_experts_can_help_i_need_suggestions/. Accessed 12 Dec. 2024.
[9] R/Catadvice on Reddit: Is It Possible to Have a Christmas Tree and a Cat?
[10] ibid
[11] “Pavlovian Fear Conditioning.” Pavlovian Fear Conditioning - an Overview | ScienceDirect Topics, www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/pavlovian-fear-conditioning.
[12] Howard, Brian Clark. “People Are Scaring Their Cats with Cucumbers. They Shouldn't.” National Geographic, 4 Dec. 2015, www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/11/151117-cats-cucumbers-videos-behavior/.