Cats and Christmas

There are a number of things you should take intocats can be very inquisitive and have even been
account when you start to get into the festive spirit forknown to burn their noses when trying to figure out
Christmas and other times of year when there maywhat the flame is for. Also, a careless cat could easily
be changes within the house that cause your cat toknock over a candle with its tail causing untold
get excited. If you have a cat that has been arounddamage. The last thing you need at Christmas is to be
for a while she may not over react, but if you have aspending hours with the vet rather than hours in front
kitten then all of the new decorations and unusualof the TV with a drink in your hand.
glittery things such as Christmas trees will be in dangerYou may need to spend a little more time than ususal
of being played with to destruction.grooming and playing with your cat as changes to the
If you have put up a Christmas tree in your home andenvironment by way of decorations and constant
spent hours decorating it, the last thing you need is forvisitors to your home can cause anxiety in some cats.
your cat or kitten to destroy it in seconds by playingOne thing that you can do to help is to ensure that the
with the decorations or even trying to climb to the toplitter tray, food and water are in a quiet area away
of it to play with the angel! Make sure your tree is asfrom where visitors are likely to be. This will mean that
stable as possible on its base. It needs to be muchyour cat has somewhere to go for some privacy if
heavier at the bottom that it is at the top so that evenshe doesn't feel like joining in with the festivities.
if your cat makes it to the top it won't topple over.DOn't be tempted to feed your cat differently at
One useful tip to try and keep your cat away fromChristmas. Just becuase you have great turkey meat
the tree is to spray it with lemon scented freshener asand other good food around doesn't mean you should
cats don't really like the stuff and will tend to steerchange your cats feeding habits. Most of the food you
clear.have prepared for Christmas is likely to be much to
Try not to use breakable ornaments on your tree asrich for your cat and could easily lead to an upset
the little shards that they break into are dangerous,stomach. It's a good idea to ensure any visitors to your
especially for cats and children. Also, don't use thosehome are asked not to feed your cat too.
little detachable hook things for hanging your treeAnd finally, remember that it is never a good idea to
decorations as they easily fall off and will prove to begive a kitten or a puppy as a Christmas present as all
very dangerous if they are swallowed.too often they end up being thrown out onto the street
Be carefull if you use candles around the home too asand left to fend for themselves.