Printable View
Dear Chloe and Calypso,
Where did you put the bathroom sink's drain plug? It was in it's proper place this morning after I brushed my teeth and left for work. How did you get it out of there anyway? You have a whole basket of toys, why yank the drain plug thingy? :rolleyes:
Your Mom,
who keeps you in kibble and catnip
Dear cat owners:
Who wants to take a bet on how long Critter's first Christmas tree is going to last? Considering that he currently 1) bites everything that fits in his mouth, 2) chases everything that can be made to move, and 3) breaks everything he can knock over?
Dear boyfriend's cat:
Your being in front of the pantry != automatic receipt of kitty treats.
Stop complaining when you don't get them. I can hear you all the way over here.
Dear Frisbee,
I understand how wonderful the Christmas tree is. I choose to enjoy it from a distance, not from within it as you prefer. However you choose to view it, please oh please, just don't eat it.
Love,
the girl who dangles the toys
Quote:
Originally Posted by jessmarimba
I've been pondering these same thoughts. Chloe Kitteh is in the "everything R my toys" stage.Quote:
Originally Posted by Atlas
Which is why I haven't put up the Christmas tree yet.
Rory-
Just a reminder: you are not a dog. Just because you like chasing the big dog toys, like to sleep in the dog's bed, and like the dog's jerky treats so much that we had to block the cupboard so you can't get to them, you are actually a cat, so please eat your own food which is provided in the dog-free room.
Thank you-
the management.
Dear outdoor cat who's selected my down-the-street neighbors as its servants:
The scary workshop assistants are gone: The older RV dweller got fired; and the couch surfer, boudoir surfer, quasi-homeless slacker kid did too. It's now safe to hang out around their house. Please come around more often.
Actually, I wish you'd come as far as my house. My friends will be moving next summer, and then what will you do?
Dear Cat,
Where do you go all day? You are not allowed outside, and this house is not that big. I am all over this house, upstairs, basement, living room, den, office, all day and never see you. Then at 6:30 pm, poof, there you are, wanting your back scratched.
Signed,
One of the people who feeds you.
Mine is artificial and pre-lit. So it's standing, with lights on, but nothing else. Yesterday I came home after 13 hours at work and one whole side of the tree was flat. Not sure if they climbed it or tipped it into the wall and it self-righted (the stand is very heavy!).Quote:
Originally Posted by bmccasland
I'm debating a box of cheap plastic ornaments or just leaving it plain and lit. Maybe I'll make paper snowflakes and do tinsel and leave it at that?
We bought cheap shatterproof ones (which actually look really nice) for the bottom third :D Fortunately, our cat-monsters didn't climb the tree last year (knock wood!), so the nice ornaments near the top were ok.Quote:
Originally Posted by jessmarimba
I wouldn't do tinsel with a cat-monster who eats everything....sounds like a recipe for an emergency trip to the vet. :eek:
Thankfully, our young cat really only seems to care about the tree skirt. We don't even try to keep it around the tree at this point. She enjoys playing with it too much. Still, we don't put anything breakable on the lower branches, and we secured the tree with a rope knotted around an otherwise well secured curtain rod. A number of years ago, I had a tree that I decorated solely with little white lights and velvet bows that tied around the branches on the off chance that my then-young Sophie Kitty would destroy it. The tree was plain but pretty and there were no emergency trips to the vet.
Ours too! They love to sleep on it, roll up in it, and hide under it. I can't for the life of me figure out why the tree skirt is more fun than a blanket :confused::)Quote:
Originally Posted by indysteel
At least at our house, the tree skirts moved across the hardwoods a bit better than your average blanket. She often does a flying leap onto them so that they'll skirt (pun intended) across the floor.Quote:
Originally Posted by Becky
DH took some adorable pictures of our kitten playing with the tree skirt the other day; I'll have to post them.
We couldn't have our pre-lit artificial tree up for 2 years. Young crazy cat wouldn't leave it alone. The first Christmas we had him he was maybe 8 months old. He took one look at that tree and took a flying leap. 5 minutes after putting it up we took it down. The next year he was still insane, so we didn't put it up.
He has calmed-down considerably, especially in the past year. So now we don't worry about it. Last year we put it up and he would lay under it for hours looking up at the lights. I don't think he even batted at a single ornament.
I just pictured this, it made me laugh out loud, thanks for the mental image. Looking forward to the pictures :)Quote:
Originally Posted by indysteel
I'm a Luddite, so I hope I attached this image correctly. This is Izzy under the tree skirt. In my humble opinion, she is the cutest kitten ever.
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/attac...1&d=1323198787
Help! Why is the picture so big and why is it attached as a thumbnail, too? I knew I should have waited for DH to help me!
Awwwww, she is just adorable and looks SO much like your avatar! She is the spitting image of your beloved Henry (if I remember the name correctly).
Thanks! Henry is my avatar. He's bigger and more of a buff color. Izzy is more orange and has a perma-kitten quality about her. Personality-wise, Izzy is a trouble maker, while Henry is a love bug.Quote:
Originally Posted by Catrin
That is an excellent photo, Indy!
Just want to you know that y'all are scaring me. Chloe is 7-8 mo old..:rolleyes:
Still debating whether or not a tree will go up at my house. It is artificial, with lights, so maybe I'll start with just the tree...
Indy, I love that photo of Izzy! That'd be an awesome Xmas card :D
We put our tree up last year when Izzy was about that age and she didn't bother the tree at all. Again, it was the tree skirt that she fixated on, although we did make sure to hang breakables up high and tightly secure any hooks. We also kept a spray bottle of water handy to squirt her if she did mess with the tree itself.Quote:
Originally Posted by bmccasland
we are used to keeping the lower third of the tree bare of everything but lights and don't mind putting down several layers of tree skirts (tablecloths and colored sheets) for the kitties to play in on and under, they love lurking underneath, especially if there are prezzies to leap over around or "accidentally" knock out to skid across the hard wood floor, as they jump out and attack passing ankles, and small dogs. Poor
Weena the corgie was so terrorized last year that she avoided coming into the front room until the tree was gone, and after we took it out, the cats were terribly irritated.
Fun times.
marni
We do the same thing - we hang "cat things" at the bottom of the tree (ornaments that can't be damaged and we don't mind them playing with - bells on strings, etc) and anything that shouldn't be touched farther up. We have an artificial tree, when we had cats and a real tree the troublemakers would climb up the middle; you can't predict that until you have seen it, though, the cats I would EXPECT to do that weren't the ones doing it. ;) We also have to move their cat tree away from the tree-tree (cat tree is 6ft, tree is 7ft) so they don't dangle off the edge of it to mess with stuff.Quote:
Originally Posted by marni
They do love to snuggle on the tree skirt.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net..._2455830_n.jpg
Ornaments!
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...7_571287_n.jpg
What presents are good for:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net..._3858333_n.jpg
Indy: I love, *love* that picture. Very cute!
Quote:
Originally Posted by indysteel
....And I took the tree down yesterday. I fixed a few branches when I got home from work. Went upstairs to sit down with a beer. Came back down to put the glass in the sink and the branches were flat again. Since the branches are bendable wire, they'll eventually break if they are bent and straightened repeatedly.
Dear cat - I WANT A CHRISTMAS TREE!! If I have to put it up on xmas eve and leave you locked in the garage for two days, I will. So think on that with your little goldfish brain and decide how you want this to go.
Sincerely,
Scrooge
(PS Indy that photo is adorable! Trade you cats :) )
Jess, I've had good luck getting Izzy to leave stuff alone by squirting her with a bit of water. Have you tried that tactic?
I am very lucky, with 6 indoor cats they do NOT bother the tree. Now they all lay underneath it at different times. I also put "cat friendly" ornaments on the lower limbs, so they can play with those and if they "knock" them off they don't break and they bat them around on the ground. Again, I am VERY lucky!
And WHY is it that cats LOVE to lay under the tree. I had just put mine up (artificial tree) and before anything was done there was a cat under the tree!
My first dear cat (no longer with us here on earth) would remove the bows from EVERY package. I could never put those tacky store bought bows (which I still use) on any package. They were her favorite toys!
K
I actually put this as the wallpaper on my computer.....it was just too cute :DQuote:
Originally Posted by indysteel
Hope you don't mind.......
Certainly not; Izzy and I are extremely flattered! It's my wallpaper, too, of course!
Oh good, it is going to go on one, or both, of my work computers as well. Thank you! This is just adorable and makes me smile to look at it :DQuote:
Originally Posted by indysteel
Dear Sophie,
Thank you for positioning yourself beside the Scrabble board. I was getting my butt kicked and had six vowels on my rack. Your tail swoop across the board was timed perfectly, thus ending my torture. Now, if I could only teach you how to scour the Scrabble Players’ Dictionary and find a word that incorporates the letters X, C, J, I, I, I, E.
Aww, she's so cute!
I haven't actually "caught" him yet. I know who it is, because the other two know better and the branches aren't spontaneously flattening. But I'm also not home enough to really reinforce it - I'm gone 14 hours for two days and about 9 for the other 3, way too much time for a goldfish-brained 8-month old cat to forget that the tree is off-limits. Now...if I could somehow booby-trap the TREE to squirt him, I'd be all set.Quote:
Originally Posted by indysteel
To those of you who share your house with felines AND have a christmas tree.
It is NOT goldfish brained for a cat to take great delight in playing with new toys that you put in their domain. Especially indoors only cats who have NEVER seen a tree, you just put a tree in their house! Is that not heaven? 3 dimensional play field with enticing scents and DANGLY THINGS??!?!?
If I were a cat, I would be playing in that tree CONSTANTLY!
He has none of those excuses :) He grew up outside, and I didn't even get to put anything ON the tree! From the noise pattern, it sounded like he was leaping from the floor to halfway up the tree, then falling off. Repeatedly. He's a slow learner.Quote:
Originally Posted by Biciclista
But he's goldfish-brained anyway. Attention span = 3 seconds, max. It's actually really funny to see him distracted by something in the middle of chasing something else (especially since he's getting no better at stopping, starting, or changing directions on wood floors).
I have to wonder about my cats' little brains, too. None of them have really been all that interested in the Christmas tree. They can play in an empty Amazon box for hours, however. Who knows how their minds work.
Currently my cat's favorite toy is a long orange sting made of t-shirt material. It is like AWESOME! My cats are definitely of the high IQ type!;)
K
We won't have a tree this year - but we do have cats..so no worries about cats and trees.
Okay...Gonna use this thread to ask another dumb owner question about my kittens. We finally sprouted our tub o' wheat grass for them. Grew nice and tall. Cats love to rip it out of the tub. And...that's it.
They rip it and leave it. All. Over. The. Place. :rolleyes:
Aren't they supposed to EAT this stuff? My friend's cat devours this stuff. I'll take scissors and cut up blades into their dinner - which they'll eat. But as far as actually consuming it from the plant on their own...they haven't grasped the concept yet. Zoe is closer to it than Paris (who is an idiot...love him to pieces..but he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer). But if I don't dice it up for even Zoe, she won't eat it. Their little meat-eating teeth just don't work on the plants (even the parsley I've been giving them...gotta cut it up).
Is this a trick they learn or what?