Here is Lorrick, kitten / Mac repair guru:
He is super playful and also loves to be UP. Climb, climb climb. He loves to be IN THINGS - boxes, bags, closets, corners, etc. He is PERSISTENT - he will jump up on the counter a half dozen times to get my sandwich while I'm making it, and only sometimes runs away after I fling a handful of water on him from the sink. He is BIG. He's less than a year old but already 8lbs or so and as large as our other cat and our Papillon lapdog.
I just put up our Christmas tree (it is fake) but have put no ornaments on it yet. In the last 24hours I have removed him from the tree
8 times.
What on earth can I do to keep him out of the tree?!? He loves it. It's the perfect combination of climbing and being in things and sneaking and hiding and pouncing on you from cover.
HALP
Posts
They also climb trees and ignore you because they're assholes.
I'm sorry.
You can try that cat repellent spray, but I've found they ignore it after a few hours.
Do you have one of those cat fortress/tower things? It may provide a safer, more structured and appealing alternative for your cat to climb/hang out in. My friends had one (It's a large, white structure with built in scratching posts and several tiered platforms). Their cat pretty much hangs out in/on/around it all the time.
Our first game is now available for free on Google Play: Frontier: Isle of the Seven Gods
Personally, my cat would be up our tree several times a day before we put lights + ornaments on it and wrapped a soft cloth base around the bottom.
Now she just sleeps on that base.
Dunno why, but apparently the lights and ornaments were a deterrant for her.
Try setting up the lights, and some ornaments you don't particularly care about breaking, and see what happens?
This is our only tree! I can't put it outside...
Motion Activated Pet Deterrent
You're a gaming family, so pretend you are playing 'Tower Defense: Living Room Edition'. Entertainment for the whole family.
But my grandparents weren't especially worried about animal cruelty, so you might not want to go that route.
A nice Christmas collar, maybe something with jingle bells on it, maybe find one that lights up. You'll probably need more cats to get the effect of a fully decorated Christmas tree though.
You'd also want to secure the tree or weight it down at the base so it's harder to tip over.
One friend gave in and put stuffed animals in her tree for decorations.
If you can't keep the cat out of the tree, you can at least prevent it from falling forward into your living room. This works best if your tree is in a corner.
I'd try covering the floor around the tree with tin foil for a couple of days. Most cats absolutely hate tin foil and won't go near the tree even after you've removed the foil.
I can only attest to a 50% success rate using this in my house. It has stopped Luna entirely from bothering the tree, but Loki still figures something out - your cat does sound like he's closer to Loki's temperament, but it might be worth consideration, it's a lot harder to get into most fake trees through the outside than to climb up the middle.
After that, good luck. You can either try training our cat with water pistols, tin foil and other gimmicks. Go with the room approach (I'd still recommend securing it, in case the cat slips in or someone forgets to close the door). Hope that the cat loses interest once ornaments and lights are up. Just deal with the fact that your cat is hell bent on climbing the tree.
If you are unsuccessful in keeping the cat out of the tree. I'd say go for non-breakable ornaments or make sure the glass ones are secured enough that they can't fall off ever. On a note with non-breakable ornaments, I'd avoid yarn ball ornaments (I think that's what they are called) since those tend to get ruined by trees on there own and I remember my cats that liked to play with the tree taking an interest in those over all the other ornaments that can roll on the ground. I'd also avoid any ornaments that have loose strings.
I am going to try and make the cat conform to our traditions, rather than replace our ornaments or change trees. We have a big family and I don't want to go for a tiny tree or a set of decorations that don't have any tradition or history attached. The process will be different this year though... I began with the tinfoil option and it is mooostly working. In addition to that I have stationed a can of compressed air (for cleaning computers etc) near the tree and we blast him with it whenever he tries to get in the tree.
We left it empty for a couple of days while this process worked. The cat is mortally offended by a blast of canned air and will flee out of the tree immediately! This was working great and he'd lost interest, so last night we put all the non-breakable ornaments up and waited to see what would happen.
More air is required, for sure. Not only was it a challenge last night, he also got into the tree after we went to bed. There were a couple of ornaments on the floor this morning and even more concerning, his breakaway collar was also on the floor so he obviously got himself tangled trying to get out.
We will see how today goes.
wtf, cat! That is glass! You are the dumbest.
It was invented after humans were invented.
Satans..... hints.....
If he gets in from the underside, you could put netting just on the underside.
Additionally if he dislikes alfoil try wrapping some branches in it as well.
Satans..... hints.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_glass
Santa Claws came early this year.