How to protect a Christmas tree from a cat: an ingenious life hack for the New Year

During the Christmas and New Year season, the inexhaustible list of headaches for pet owners is compounded by the problem of how to protect the Christmas tree from cats. It seems that nothing attracts cats like garlands, silver rain, tinsel, and, of course, the Christmas star on top.

Knocking down a Christmas tree is a must for every self-respecting cat. An interesting life hack that will help protect the Christmas tree from the four-legged friend has been shared online.

Cats like to feel like masters of their territory. They need to keep everything under control. The appearance of a Christmas tree is sometimes perceived by four-legged animals as a challenge: they do everything in their power to climb on the tree and knock it down.

TikTok blogger Olivia Culver shared an interesting method to help keep your cat away from the tree. You can use ordinary foil.

The life hack is simple: you just need to put the tree under the foil. In fact, you can wrap the entire bottom layer of the tree with foil. According to experts, cats do not like foil. Even if the pet continues to play with tinsel or toys, it will at least not climb the tree.

Natural pine needles can be toxic to cats, so if you decide to buy a live Christmas tree, you should be especially careful. To prevent a live tree from crumbling longer, put it in a bucket of water and add a portion of special "chemicals." A cat can reach into the container and drink this water, which is a direct danger to animals because it is full of preservatives. And, of course, needles can lead to various injuries.

From the point of view of pet safety, the option with an artificial Christmas tree would seem to be slightly better. But it's not all good here either as sometimes the branches are made of PVC, a material that is also toxic to cats.

Veterinarians say that cats are scared off by the smell of citrus fruits, so you can put tangerines, the constant attributes of winter holidays, near the tree. You can also spray the needles with citrus flavoring or use a little orange essential oil. Another option is to leave a little orange peel on the branches. It won't add to the aesthetics, of course, but it will save both the tree and the cat.

Earlier, OBOZ.UA told what other smells cats hate.

Subscribe to OBOZ.UA on Telegram and Viber to keep up with the latest events.