How to Cat-Proof Your Christmas Decorations

So you carefully selected your Christmas decorations to be safe for the cat. There are no toxic berries, gut-clogging tinsel or sparking wires. But how can you make your décor safe from your furry little ninja demolition experts? Short of borrowing the neighbor's Doberman and stringing concertina wire as a tree skirt, you can minimize the damages with these ideas I have tested over the years.

Don't try to defend everything. Use non-breakable ornaments in areas that are within the predicted reach of the cat on mantels and low on the tree. Stuffed and wooden ornaments have a chance of surviving being a cat toy. The stuffed ones may be gutted but you can patch them.

Cats will eat popcorn strings by nibbling off the fluffy parts and leaving a string of hard nubbins. Protect the strings by stringing dried chili peppers with the popcorn. One dried Japan chile every few inches will deter most cats and looks pretty too.

Minimize the attractiveness of the ornaments that are higher up. Remove ornaments with feathers that will flutter in the slightest breeze from the heating system, and mobiles that will revolve and catch the feline's eye.

Above all, do not use anything that chirps like a bird! My mom got a chirping bird ornament one year, hung it about 8 feet off the floor, and turned on the chirp. A few seconds later our 18 pound tomcat launched himself from the stairs into the top of the tree to get the bird. The tree did not survive the assault.

Leave space for the cat under the Christmas tree. Every cat I have had would spend hours under the tree, peering out at the humans. If there was no room, they would shove the presents aside to make space. Let them enjoy the holiday too.

If the thought of a cat enjoying itself near your tree at Christmas is too much for you to handle, try these household repellents. They aren't guaranteed effective, but they make the area around the tree less attractive to the cat. Most cats do not like the smell of citrus. Cut thin slices of lemons or oranges, blot them dry and hang them throughout the lowest branches. The peels are as effective as the slices. Cloves also repel cats. Make bundles of a few whole cloves wrapped in netting and hang them on the lowest branches.

Merry Cat-mas!