@ Cami "Death from Above!" Sorry... That's the first thing that I thought when you said that

Okay, back to the problem at hand. I have two cats, both indoor/outdoor cats. Once winter hits, they go nuts because they can't go outside.(too cold) So every year they climb the tree. We have always had fake trees, so she(the main climber) never done much damage.

Two years ago we got a different fake tree, the kind that you put together branch by branch. For some reason, she HATES climbing this tree. Our old tree was one of the ones that you stuck in a stand and fluffed up. This one, I think, has branches that are too small for her to get a good footing to climb. It definitely uglier than our old tree, but she doesn't like climbing it. As an extra precaution, we put their scrating post and a the catnip container in the "tree room" by not right next to the tree. Every so often we drop a little catnip on the top of the post. They have left the tree alone, even the presents were ignored. Aw the power of catnip. Granted, that meant our cats were drugged most of the holiday, but at least the tree/presents went undamaged for the first time in years!

So, recap, 1) get a tree that has branches that are uncomfortable to climb 2) Put scratching post in the same room as tree 3) positive re-reinforcement(via catnip!)

Hope that helps!

Wow 7 cats?!
I thought only 1 was worse!!

Okay I did not have christmas with my cat in my house yet, me and my boyfriend
had to move out of our own house and live with his parents now, who act as if
my cat Joey is a monster that will eat their eyes when they look at him.
But I think that REALY would be something for Joey, climbing the christmas tree.

I'm laughing with the idea now but I'm scared I'll have to lock him up in a room
at night. He realy has these mean tricks to make my life more missarable as it
already is. He actualy waits till I look, then he does something he may not do and
run away... ._O; ROFL

Maybe he'll think that his name is: JOEY NO

You must really love cats, to have seven of them. :P

Hmm. I used to have two cats in my house (now I've only got one, but there's a hobo that lives on my deck too, so it's almost as though nothing's changed XD) but I've never had a problem with them actually trying to climb the tree. My problem has always been the ornaments. If there are ornaments on a low enough branch for him to reach, he'll bat at it until it falls off and then usually play with it or just sniff it and walk away. I always worried about him sticking himself with a hook or braking a glass ornament and hurting himself on the shards, so now we hang the delicate ones up higher.

Actually, the only thing he really seems to do to the tree anymore in his older age is drink the water. XD I'm sure it has something to do with the way the pine makes the water taste, but he just loves it. As long as the tree is up, he will almost exclusively drink the water from its base.

The biggest problem we've had is our cats trying to eat the tinsel on the lower branches, but that's an easy enough fix. Another problem is that they like to drink the Christmas Tree water, which is supposed to be really bad for pets (even if you don't put chemicals in it, the sap seeps in and it can make them sick). I read that you should lightly spray the base of your tree with lemon pledge because the smell hurts their noses (cats and dogs) because their sense of smell is so much stronger than ours. The only problem then is that your tree smells like lemons instead of pine...hmmm...

lol my cat did that on her first Christmas. XD The only thing I can say is to keep throwing them off. Not violently, of course!

One year we had a cat who climbed the tree, knocked off the angel, shattered 5 ornaments, clawed open all the presents, and sent my mom's ceramic village flying across the room. And that was all the night of christmas eve....

wow thats a lot of cats :) i usually have to put my cats out during the holidays because we only have old antique ornaments, but i always feel bad putting them out in the cold :(

My cats probably climbed the tree when we weren't around, but for the most part we only noticed ornaments knocked off the tree and the skirt all messed up. I think having the tree up for this long though kind of bored them. They aren't as interested in it as they were before and now they only use it as a kind of chill spot to hangout underneath.

I had that problem. XD My sister brought her cat with her when she came home for the holidays, and it loved climbing up our tree. She had a small spray bottle with water in it to squirt at him when he was misbehaving, but it didn't really do any good before Christmas....because she didn't want to get the presents wet.

I would get that nasty smelling stuff used on furniture to prevent dogs or cats from tearing/chewing it up on the Christmas tree, or maybe putting some gate around it, but I don't know how much help that would be against seven cats.

Chili Oil will keep cats away from plants. Buy a small bottle, and sprinkle it on the lower branches, or on the drop cloth under the tree (If you use one). I don't know why, but it usually repels cats from the garden, so it should keep them from the tree.

You have one chance to scare the living shit out of them. You can spray them with water, or if you have a radio with a remote or an Ihome, set it up and pause it on full volume. When the cats go to climb it, CRANK THAT SHIT.
The loud noises always make my cats freak, but after that they tend to be a little more cautious.

My cats never do that, although I know what can help: spray them with water/flick them with it, distract them with something else, or just pull them off it and shout until they get the idea. We did this with my dad's room, since he's allergic. Good luck to you though =3

The only way I know to keep a cat away from a christmas tree is to do one of three things:

1. Put a catnip present somewhere other than the tree to keep it busy.
2. Put "cat friendly" toys on the bottom of the tree so it won't scale it.
3. Invest in a fake ceramic tree (LOL)

My cat, Toby, used to SLEEP in the tree. I think the more you tell them, the more they want to do it haha. I hope you've gotten some good advice! I really don't have much I can tell you other than spray them lightly with water or something if you really can't have them on the tree. GOOD LUCK!

Cats are pretty much stubborn individuals. you can yell at them, shoo them, squirt them with water, etc. and they will leave the tree, but they will just go back at it in ten minutes. You might try some of those sprays that have smells that the cats can't stand, although it doesn't work for all cats. If your cat is afraid of something like plastic bags (my grandparent's cat) you can put that around the bottom of the tree. If all else fails, But a bunch of boxes decorated as presents around it so they can't get to the tree or something. A baby gate might work too.

That's cute, anyway my cat hates the smell of vinegar, maybe try doing something with vinegar.

My cat is pretty mellow and doesn't do things like that. I'd get a water bottle and spray them when you see them doing it. That was what I did with my old kitty when she was getting in to trouble.

Get a water pistol a fairly strong one and wait around the tree. Everytime one of them starts to go near it squirt them. Or if you can stand noise a loud horn that you can blow. Loud sounds scare them. Or throw drink cans with marbles in them. That startles them. You have to be fairly consistant about it though or it wont work.

i wouldn't know how to do that

suggestion: take pictures

Not sure if you have any, or this has already been said, but--citrus-scented spray, maybe? Plus there are some sprays specifically designed to smell unpleasant to cats.

We have four cats in our house, and there's only one bit of advice I can give you:

Don't keep a Christmas tree.

Seriously. If it's there and they find it at all interesting, they will climb it. If it isn't there, they won't. Simple facts, I'm afraid.

Keep them off of it they can fall and break their leg...then they have to have it amputated. Oh no's!