Asked on Nov 05, 2017

Tips for keeping our cat from knocking over our Christmas tree!

Pamela Scott
by Pamela Scott
We put our Christmas tree up after Thanksgiving dinner. Last Black Friday my Husband rescued a tiny kitten out of the middle of traffic. He is now a 13.5 pound cat how do we keep him from toppling our tree. Have already changed out a lot of the decorations so they will be safe if kitty plays with them , like using hard plastic lifecycles for tinsel so he will not try to eat any tinsel and will be using felt ornaments instead of glass. Now I am just worried he could get hurt if the tree falls on him! Any ideas on how you kept your tree up will be greatly appreciated!

  13 answers
  • Wendy Wendy on Nov 05, 2017

    We secure it with a length of plastic coated wire with one end attached to a cup hook screwed into the side of our window frame and the other end twisted around the tree trunk halfway up the tree.

  • 27524803 27524803 on Nov 05, 2017

    Heavy weight on the base of the tree, or secure to walls with heavy mono-filament..... spray bottle of vinegar water for the cat.... soft or wooden ornaments on the bottom of the tree just in case.. Christmas is for kitties too!

    Good Luck !

  • Ms Sethra Ms Sethra on Nov 05, 2017

    When we had young energetic cats we would tie a length of fishing line about a foot or so down from top and anchor the other end to a screw in wall. No more coming home to find tree and ornaments splattered on floor and the fishing line was not noticeable. The cats however would still climb the tree, so we put away breakables until they got older and weren't so interested in climbing the tree.

  • First get a better stand. Next brace the tree to the wall. I had a long post and lost twice - page just refreshes and lose everything. Next you have allowed this behavior so it will be harder to break. Here are some links! As long as you use pet safe decorations and the tree falls over, nothing will happen to the kitty other that teaching him or her not to do it again.


    https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/21281/how-do-i-keep-my-christmas-tree-from-falling-over


    https://petcube.com/blog/cat-proof-dog-proof-christmas-tree/


    http://www.catbehaviorassociates.com/how-to-keep-your-cat-away-from-the-christmas-tree/


    http://www.animalbehaviorcollege.com/blog/cat-proof-holiday-decorating/


    I have 6 rescue cats and none of them climb the tree, I just taught them the first Christmas not to do so. A good sharp no works wonders.



  • Susan Susan on Nov 05, 2017

    Ah must be a relative of my cat! To prevent tree from falling (an annual event) we put eye screw to the left and right corner where the tree stood. Folded 2 pcs of picture wire (1 for each side) , wrapped each end around tree trunk , down then back up, finished by wrapping wire several times around screw. Repeat on other side. Do match size of screw and wire to size of tree.

    My brother placed tree in center of room. To defeat his two cats, he put hook in ceiling then ran a crisscrossing length to point cats reached. He did have to patch and repaint ceiling but small task compared to ckeanind up tree mess,

  • An An on Nov 05, 2017

    If that kitty wants to climb the tree, it will be climbed on. Several years ago our 3 kittens were not heavy enough to topple the tree, but they really thought they were out in the yard. They not only climbed but chased each other up the tree. We did have soft felt ornaments and no tinsel. Not sure who had more fun, the kittens or us watching them play.

    You should attach to the wall behind the tree with wire holding the tree upright. This also works for crawling babies.

  • Johnavallance82 Johnavallance82 on Nov 05, 2017

    I'm afraid they all do it, because things move on the tree and they think it is prey............The only thing to do is Tie your tree down so it doesn't move....

  • Wendy Joly Wendy Joly on Nov 05, 2017

    we had the same problem when i was a child with our cat we even had a tree that kept falling over with out a cat...my mom put a couple of hooks in the wall behind the tree and wrapped some wire adound the trunk of the tree and secured the wire around the hooks and went on with the decoratine....we no longer use tinsil or glass decorations that would break when batted by the cat....the tree always looked great and all was well

  • Fiddledd224 Fiddledd224 on Nov 05, 2017

    Place your tree in the corner of the room and tie it into the wall on the two sides with nails and a string. I would also put one or two unbreakable ornaments on the lowest branches for the cats to play with without causing too much harm. This works for my 3 cats.

  • Pamela Scott Pamela Scott on Nov 06, 2017

    Ve stand Thank you everybody for your answers! So I guess we will be getting a better stand and wiring the tree to hooks in the wall! I know it will sound silly but one of my favorite memories of Christmas is the year my Turkish Angora got way up in our tree. Her big green eyes glowed better than any of the lights Mom had on the tree! I did manage to find heavy aluminum wire that is twisted and about 1/4 of an inch wide. I cut it into 6 in strips and have punched a hole in one end so it will look like I have silver tinsel on my tree but Floki will not be able to eat it. Also got a bunch of the plan wooden beaded garland from Mom! I quill so I will make some snowflakes out of 1/4 inch paper strips. Should look nice might have to put the Carlin on more than once but at least with your help my tree should stay up!

  • Mary Mary on Nov 06, 2017

    We are new to the cat world and like a lot of people christmas decorating is over board at our home. We have cats ( 2 ) for four years now and was wisely informed at an Aroma therapy shop to use orange oil. This lady was sweet enough to tell us that real orange while working great can ruin furniture so missing a costly sale directed me to orange pledge furniture spray. I sprayed the trees yes plural and any tables where I placed decorations on with this spray and the cats don't go where it is. I know it works because i use it on my kitchen counters with it and they stay off. I don't have stone counters so I don't know if pledge will effect them. Long story they stay out of my trees all these years

  • Michael J Balsamo Michael J Balsamo on Nov 06, 2017

    unless you train the cat using a water bottle every time it goes in the tree, the only solution I found was to anchor the tree to stop it form falling over. I was lucky enough to have 2 walls and either catty corner or a straight wall and used fishing line and had used the Removable hooks (the ones that use a srtip of glue like material) to attach to. It was good enough to get the cat OUT before the tree came down

  • Cynthia H Cynthia H on Oct 31, 2020

    Hi! For years I have hung bells under the tree. The cats would play with the bells and stay out of the tree. We had a kitty who chewed through the wire on the tree lights. She survived, but, after a very expensive vet bill. That's when we started with the bells. I find they are easy to get and inexpensive this time of year. Good luck!