Cats don’t necessarily ruin Christmas, but they can make it a lot more interesting. They unravel the bows and ribbons on the presents. They knock ornaments off the tree, or sometimes just flat-out knock the tree down. They might try to eat your Christmas cookies and they’re almost guaranteed to try and eat your Christmas dinner. What’s a beleaguered cat parent to do with cats at Christmas?
One way to handle cats at Christmas
Chris Poole, parent of the famous Cole & Marmalade, has one answer for what to do with cats at Christmas. He decided to write a story about his cats at Christmas, and provide some entertaining video footage to boot.
Dealing with our own cats at Christmas
This year, we’re not putting up our big tree because we no longer have a big tree. I’m not even sure we’re putting up the small tree, because we’re going out of town for Christmas and not taking the cats with us. Anybody have any idea what our cats will do to Christmas decorations when left all alone for the vast majority of the day? Yeah. We don’t want to think about it either.
The last time we just didn’t want to put up with our cats at Christmas was 2009, when Chase and Kali were a pair of rambunctious little kittens that were able to get into anything and everything, and made a point of doing so. Both of us were working outside the house at the time, and we really didn’t like the idea of coming home to a tipped-over Christmas tree with shattered ornaments everywhere.
If you have trouble dealing with your cats at Christmas, there are some things you can do. You can put up a cat-safe Christmas tree, along with other cat-safe decorations, so if your cats get into them it’s not that big a deal. You can also anchor your Christmas tree to the wall with wire in order to keep it standing no matter what your cats try and do.
But cats can be so much fun at Christmas, too
Even with all this, having cats at Christmas can be a lot of fun. When I was a kid, we had one cat that loved to play in all the ripped-up wrapping paper after we were done opening presents on Christmas morning. She was hilarious; she’d jump into the big pile of paper and disappear. It happened every Christmas.
Cats like to help with the cooking, and they like to keep us company on cold nights. They love helping us wrap presents, and even if they get in the way, their antics provide the light of amusement on cold, dark, winter nights. So, despite the problems, having cats at Christmas is a delight to treasure every year.
