Dear Cat

[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.

[indysteel]

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!

[Catrin]

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).

[indysteel]

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.

[Becky]

That is an excellent photo, Indy!

[bmccasland]

Just want to you know that y'all are scaring me. Chloe is 7-8 mo old..
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...

[VeganBikeChick]

Indy, I love that photo of Izzy! That'd be an awesome Xmas card

[indysteel]

Just want to you know that y'all are scaring me. Chloe is 7-8 mo old..
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...

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.

[marni]

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

[pll]

Indy: I love, *love* that picture. Very cute!

[jessmarimba]

....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 )

[indysteel]

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?

[katluvr]

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

[jessmarimba]

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 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.

[Biciclista]

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!