We had to put a gate around our Christmas tree

[Buffacuse]

Buffettina is incredibly road mobile--Mrs. Buff has a gazillion dollars worth of Radkos--and lots of kids go to ERs every year after pulling trees down onto themselves.

Dang pretty tree--to bad the gate makes it look like a giant pet enclosure.

[Appa23]

Buffettina is incredibly road mobile--Mrs. Buff has a gazillion dollars worth of Radkos--and lots of kids go to ERs every year after pulling trees down onto themselves.

Dang pretty tree--to bad the gate makes it look like a giant pet enclosure.

LOL! For much the same reason, we moved from 3 trees to a single tree this year, and it will be the medium-sized tree. We are not putting the "big, fancy" tree that has all of the breakable ball ornaments.

(The other reason is that we will be in KC for Christmas this year.)

[silvercamaro]

I wish I had a fence to put around the tree.

Last Christmas, Annie accidentally broke a glass ornament and tried to eat it to hide the evidence. This Christmas no doubt will include a crazed Lizbit running full speed toward the bright lights and shiny stuff.

Hmmn. I need a plan.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

We usually get one tree and use only balls as ornaments, because my Jewish husband has quirky ideas about tree decorating. (The ornaments are supposed to hang freely and look like "magical balls of fruit.")

This year, Emma went with me for the first time. (The first things she said when she got off the camp bus was, you didn't get a tree yet, did you?" They she told me that she missed Jasper the most.) We ended up getting an 8ft tall tree along with a three foot tall living tree for the family room.

We tried playing a joke on Jeff by putting the little tree in the Christmas tree spot, but he didn't fall for it.

After we set up the big tree, we had Cat Wars III, because Lily and Jasper were fighting to claim the tree. Lily tried to climb up the tree while Jasper tried to claim the low-hanging branches. There was much hissing and growling.

Tonight, Emma and I strung cranberries and popcorn for the tree, it was her idea, because we had never done it before.

[cindy.wellman]

I wish I had a fence to put around the tree.

Last Christmas, Annie accidentally broke a glass ornament and tried to eat it to hide the evidence. This Christmas no doubt will include a crazed Lizbit running full speed toward the bright lights and shiny stuff.

Hmmn. I need a plan.

Lemme know what you figure out because I need ideas too. We've delayed our decorating because of this issue. We've tentatively scheduled the festivities for tomorrow.

Tell me again how old Lizbit is? PBR is a tad over 3 months, and has the devil in her at times. She is sooo cute when she runs all out at full speed. I don't think that even at her size that it would be a good idea to round 3rd base where the Christmas tree will be, trying to outrun Xena.

LOL at Annie 'hiding the evidence', but how scary!!

[cindy.wellman]

After we set up the big tree, we had Cat Wars III, because Lily and Jasper were fighting to claim the tree. Lily tried to climb up the tree while Jasper tried to claim the low-hanging branches. There was much hissing and growling.

That was an incredibly funny visual!!! (almost audio too!)

[peacock2121]

Our house is really the walkout basement of what will "soon" be a two level home. (Soon, my ass). The great room has one of those red pole thingies that hold up the beams. We have placed a real tree around the pole (and place 1/2 of trees in various corners of the greatroom as well).

Here is on Christmas tree - the one on the left.

http://tinyurl.com/yqtuhe

[peacock2121]

Oh - I got three of them, so it goes all around the tree.

[kayrharris]

When Kitty was a kitten, he would jump into the middle of the Christmas tree and even though he was small, managed to pull the entire tree down more than once.

Now that he's more "mature" he doesn't do that anymore.

[silvercamaro]

Tell me again how old Lizbit is? PBR is a tad over 3 months, and has the devil in her at times. She is sooo cute when she runs all out at full speed. I don't think that even at her size that it would be a good idea to round 3rd base where the Christmas tree will be, trying to outrun Xena.

LOL at Annie 'hiding the evidence', but how scary!!

Lizbit is just over six months old, and she's 40-some pounds of solid projectile.

Yes, the ornament thing was scary. I never found more than half of the broken ornament, so I am sure she ate the first half. I fed her cotton balls soaked in cream (a treatment I found on the internet at 1 a.m.), which was supposed to help wrap fibers around the sharp edges of the shards, and took her to the vet the next morning. He said the glass might pass through without harm, but if anything showed signs of blood, she might need emergency surgery. The result was that I got to follow her around the yard in the middle of the night with a flashlight for a week. That probably freaked out the neighbors more than her. At any rate, they soon moved.

Incidentally, during that very trip to the vet, I found out that the most frequent Christmas dangers to puppies and dogs are poisonous holiday plants and strands of silvery tinsel. Once consumed, the indigestible tinsel forms itself into a solid ball in the stomach.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

We don't put tinsel on the tree because I know that it's tempting to cats.

Our cat, Lily, needed surgery because she swallowed a needle and thread. (Jeff said that it would have been cheaper to replace Lily...)It wasn't cheap, I believe it cost around $700 or $800.

I hope that Lizbet won't need it, because it took a few weeks for Lily to truly recover from it.

[silvercamaro]

I hope that Lizbet won't need it, because it took a few weeks for Lily to truly recover from it.

Lizbit hasn't yet had the chance to eat anything holiday-related. The glass ball incident happened last Christmas to Annie, who recovered without any apparent harm. My post wasn't very clear about which "she" I meant. Sorry about that.

So, when I'm confusing, why in the world doesn't everybody read my mind?

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

I hope that Lizbet won't need it, because it took a few weeks for Lily to truly recover from it.

Lizbit hasn't yet had the chance to eat anything holiday-related. The glass ball incident happened last Christmas to Annie, who recovered without any apparent harm. My post wasn't very clear about which "she" I meant. Sorry about that.

So, when I'm confusing, why in the world doesn't everybody read my mind?

I am sorry, it's my fault, I read your second post in the thread, but not your first and assumed that you were talking about Lizbet.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

I wish I had a fence to put around the tree.

Last Christmas, Annie accidentally broke a glass ornament and tried to eat it to hide the evidence. This Christmas no doubt will include a crazed Lizbit running full speed toward the bright lights and shiny stuff.

Hmmn. I need a plan.

I have heard of people using playpens around the tree.

When Maddie was 15 months old and we lived in Connecticut, in a house with wood floors, I put balloons on the tree, rather than using my ornaments. At the end of the day, I would usually have to redecorate the tree because she had taken all of the balloons out.

[cindy.wellman]

I wish I had a fence to put around the tree.

Last Christmas, Annie accidentally broke a glass ornament and tried to eat it to hide the evidence. This Christmas no doubt will include a crazed Lizbit running full speed toward the bright lights and shiny stuff.

Hmmn. I need a plan.

I have heard of people using playpens around the tree.

When Maddie was 15 months old and we lived in Connecticut, in a house with wood floors, I put balloons on the tree, rather than using my ornaments. At the end of the day, I would usually have to redecorate the tree because she had taken all of the balloons out.

DD suggested today that we buy a few more squirt bottles and decorate them. Then we could put them under the tree to deter the cats from coming near. They hate the squirt bottles. LOL

No, we don't get crazy with the bottles. They were initially used when they were kittens to let them know that the couches were not scratching posts and that the kitchen table is not a place to take a nap. Now we just have to pick the bottle up, and the cats run the other way.

[silvercamaro]

DD suggested today that we buy a few more squirt bottles and decorate them. Then we could put them under the tree to deter the cats from coming near. They hate the squirt bottles. LOL

No, we don't get crazy with the bottles. They were initially used when they were kittens to let them know that the couches were not scratching posts and that the kitchen table is not a place to take a nap. Now we just have to pick the bottle up, and the cats run the other way.

Squirt bottles have exactly the same magical powers for Lizbit! Little Miss LetMeJumpAndGrabMom'sSleeveOrNipAnnie'sEar sees the bottle and suddenly sits and stays with a misleadingly angelic look. In fact, tonight I discovered that the squirt bottle that I'd been using as the biggest threat does not actually squirt at all! Not a drop, nary a mist.

Thanks for the idea. Under the tree it will go.

[a1mamacat]

Oh reading this brought back such a giggle for me. Eons ago, in my youth....(Big J thinks it was before TV ), I was blessed to be owned by a wonderful feline, who let me call her Smokey.

One Christmas, she showed great interest in the tree. A few weeks later, I was muchly startled to notice a shiny bit near her nether regions.

It was indeed, a piece of tinsel. The vet said to give her oily fish and lots of milk to make, ahem, diarrhea. This was a slow process, and the tinsel exited inch by inch over the next week. I would have to get the nail scissors, and trim the piece that was out.

I have a lovely visual of her still, struting around with tinsel twinkling outten her ass.

[VAdame]

Oh reading this brought back such a giggle for me. Eons ago, in my youth....(Big J thinks it was before TV ), I was blessed to be owned by a wonderful feline, who let me call her Smokey.

One Christmas, she showed great interest in the tree. A few weeks later, I was muchly startled to notice a shiny bit near her nether regions.

It was indeed, a piece of tinsel. The vet said to give her oily fish and lots of milk to make, ahem, diarrhea. This was a slow process, and the tinsel exited inch by inch over the next week. I would have to get the nail scissors, and trim the piece that was out.

I have a lovely visual of her still, struting around with tinsel twinkling outten her ass.

Same thing happened with our calico Cindy -- only it was a piece of pink Easter Grass! Same treatment, same nail clipper situation....

After that year, we made sure the Easter Baskets were kept inside the china cabinet unless someone was actually picking out treats from them!

As for silver tinsel icicles -- I haven't used them in years. Never cared for how they look, or the mess -- plus, knowing they're unsafe for pets.

[kayrharris]

Tinsel and easter grass also has a tendency to show up somewhere in your house months later. It NEVER really goes away. There's always at least one stray piece just waiting to haunt you.

I haven't had either of them for years either.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

Oh reading this brought back such a giggle for me. Eons ago, in my youth....(Big J thinks it was before TV ), I was blessed to be owned by a wonderful feline, who let me call her Smokey.

One Christmas, she showed great interest in the tree. A few weeks later, I was muchly startled to notice a shiny bit near her nether regions.

It was indeed, a piece of tinsel. The vet said to give her oily fish and lots of milk to make, ahem, diarrhea. This was a slow process, and the tinsel exited inch by inch over the next week. I would have to get the nail scissors, and trim the piece that was out.

I have a lovely visual of her still, struting around with tinsel twinkling outten her ass.

A few months ago, Jasper jumped on our bad and he reeked. Jeff and I looked at him and he a foot of ribbon coming out of his bottom. I just pulled on the ribbon and the the rest of it came out easily. There was a ribbon trail of poo coming from our laundry room to our bedroom that I had to clean up afterwards.

[mrkelley23]

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

Seriously, though, be careful pulling stuff out. We learned the hard way that you can damage your cat that way, especially with tinsel.

[gsabc]

I wish I had a fence to put around the tree.

Last Christmas, Annie accidentally broke a glass ornament and tried to eat it to hide the evidence. This Christmas no doubt will include a crazed Lizbit running full speed toward the bright lights and shiny stuff.

Hmmn. I need a plan.

Rule #1: No individual strands of tinsel. Boa strings only. (Solution arrived at after pulling out a strand of tinsel discovered hanging out a cat's butt.)

Rule #2: No fragile ornaments at or below tail level. (Solution arrived at after the destruction of half a box of glass balls by an overly happy labrador tail)

Rule #3: Put all gifts under the tree upside down, to keep the bows and ribbons on the bottom. (Solution arrived at after cleaning up uncounted pet messes, from either end, containing undigested ribbons)

Rule #4: Ixnay on putting out the pet gifts before Christmas morning. Especially if they contain something to be chewed or eaten. (No specific incident here, just a few milliseconds of forethought. It took us a while, but we have learned SOMEthing from having pets)

[earendel]

Tinsel and easter grass also has a tendency to show up somewhere in your house months later. It NEVER really goes away. There's always at least one stray piece just waiting to haunt you.

I haven't had either of them for years either.

We don't do tinsel, but we used to do Easter grass until I put my foot down and said "no more". I was tired of it showing up months later in unexpected places.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

Seriously, though, be careful pulling stuff out. We learned the hard way that you can damage your cat that way, especially with tinsel.

I didn't realize that you can damage your cat that way. The ribbon was mostly out when I pulled on it, perhaps there was an inch or two inside.

[minimetoo26]

I am optimistic about no gates. The tree went up Saturday and was decorated yesterday, and is still vertical and decorated. But Erin is almost 3. We didn't put anything breakable below cat level, either.

My mom used to have this wonderful tinsel from Germany that we would carefully remove and rebox each year. But it was probably pure lead and I doubt you could find it anywhere and would need to have a death wish to use it anyway. But it caught and diffused the light in such a way that shredded mylar stuff can't, so I don't use the new stuff.. Besides, this year was a good growing season, so the tree is almost 12 feet tall and very wide, and I'd need cases of tinsel and cases of vacuum cleaner belts to deal with the fallen tinsel.

Easter grass was banned after a few years, since we've been having Easter at the beach house and the cleanup was too tedious with 8 kids strewing the stuff everywhere.