The reason was the four kittens we had taken in, along with their mother, in the summer of 2009. They had shown, while they were still out in the garden, that they loved climbing trees. In addition, when we brought them inside, within a few days Jester had tried to climb the silk ficus tree in the bedroom, with the result that the whole thing toppled over.
We could only imagine what would happen to a Christmas tree.
And then, of course, you only have to Google "cat in Christmas tree" to see our concerns.
Well this year we decided one year without a tree was enough and that perhaps they had matured enough (and perhaps learned from the ficus incident that these indoor trees couldn't be trusted to stay upright) so we thought we'd put up a small tree this year. By placing it on a table we hoped to discourage investigation and climbing.
Naturally Jester, the class clown, was first to investigate but two feet stayed on the ground at all times.
And, after sniffing at it for a while, they decided it was boring and went back to wrestling on the kitchen floor or chasing each other up and down the cat tree and all was well with the Christmas tree for a couple of days.
Then came the morning when I heard crrrrraaaaaaash! from the living room and heard the sound of cats zooming in all directions.
Bandit, seen here, looked at me with a "I didn't touch it, honest!" look.
The suspected culprit, the aforementioned Jester, was shaking in the far corner of the room.
We surmise he had been patting at the tree and got a claw caught in the wiring for the lights and, when he pulled his paw out, pulled the tree down with it. Poor little guy was obviously spooked.
I decided to give it another try so we stood the tree back up (secured this time with velcro so it won't be so easy to knock over) and put the ornaments back on.
This morning the tree is still standing and the cats are showing no interest. Fingers crossed it makes it through the Holiday!
I wish each and every one of you the very best of the Holiday Season and look forward to a wonderful New Year.
Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.
5 comments:
Hope your tree survives intact through the season!
You were wise not to have one when they were kittens. We did that once, years ago and that tree consistently was decorated with 5 kittens on the limbs and scurrying up the trunk. As people walked by, they got bopped by a kitten or two. By the time Christmas Day came, the tree looked ready for the shredder and most of the ornaments were askew or had been swept up as trash. The tree listed far left. We had to give up and laugh and just let it be the kittens' tree.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Thanks Sandy. So far, so good. It made it through the day today :-)
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too.
Your little Christmas tree looks wonderful, I hope it will stay so for another week.
The lights have a fairytale effect on the whole picture.
I have a small tree too but i was too lazy too put the lights on it. Now that I see yours, I may take the time to finish my tree.
Have a wonderful Christmas.
Hi Jayne,
So glad you decided to try a Xmas
tree this year,its not Xmas without a tree.Hope the cats have satisfied their curiosity and leave it now.Very happy Xmas to you
and Eric
Love Mum&Dad
The tree looks great - glad you found a compromise that works with your pets. For a while, I kept finding random ornaments on the floor, and one day the garland was partially unwrapped from the tree, but like your cats, my dogs eventually lost interest.
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