| 'Tis the Season to be Careful... |
| Christmas can be a wonderful time for your feline family member to join in holiday festivities. You just need to be aware of these potential hazards to their health |
| Holly leaves and berries are also toxic to your cat |
| Poinsettias are highly toxic and can quickly lead to nausea/vomiting, dehydration, seizures, and death. |
| Your Siberian is going to LOVE Christmas. Often anything new for them is like Christmas morning anyway. But when Christmas morning REALLY arrives, then they are doubly excited to get into the festivities |
| Siberians naturally love heights and climbing - it is instinctive. So, it is a guarantee that they will love your tree when it is put up. There is no such thing as 'guarding' the Christmas tree. You need to accept that your kitty will do some exploring. So - let them. |
| Let them help to set the tree up, and tree skirt on. Having a sturdy stand for your tree, and balancing the tree is important to make sure it survives the climbing expeditions. |
| Go ahead and put your lights on the tree. |
| Then leave the tree at that decor level for several days. This will allow your Sib to explore without hurting themselves or breaking your ornaments. |
| After two or three days, you'll notice they may like to lay under the tree and look at lights, but the thrill of climbing it is gone. You can now decorate with your ornaments. |
| *Note: your kitty may look at and smell the lights, and may try to taste them. Watch to make sure they don't try to chew the lights on the lower branches of the tree |
| *Note: if you use Christmas tree preservative in the water of the tree stand, make sure this is covered securely with tree skirt so they can not drink. It is another source of water, and they will attempt to drink this. It is TOXIC - !!! |
| For your enjoyment: Click the Wreath to be instructed by EXPERTS on how to set up a Christmas tree |
| Don't leave your beautiful food spread unguarded unless food dishes are covered - Thou shalt not tempt thy Siberian beyond their will power - and a lot of human foods are not good for your kitties [maybe a little turkey treat later] |
| When you are ready to decorate your tree, have an extra box hanging around for your baby to play in. They will want to help you with all the pretty things...but if you give them a piece of tissue paper balled up in a box, they may be able to be amused for awhile. |
| Place a few cute, non-breakable ornaments on the lower branches of the tree for kitty to bat at, or at least smell. (not painted ornaments as that may contain lead) |
| Be careful with use of ornament hooks, as those could possibly injure kitty by swallowing |
| Put your "snow" on the tree if you must, but NO TINSEL (sorry). These are strings to be played with, chewed on, and swallowed. [when a cat chews on string, once it gets past a certain point, it can not come back out without your assistance. They will keep working at swallowing it] Tinsel has been known to cause some serious gastrointestinal discomforts, and internal injuries... |
| Place delicate, breakable ornaments high on the tree, and secure them well. |
| Click HERE to see another summary of winter hazards for kitties. |
| April 25, 2012 |
| Christmas background, animated gifs, clipart, and music brought to you from the following websites: |
| Background by: |
| Animated Cartoons |
| Electrical Cords - several stern "NO's", and picking the kitten up and moving them somewhere else can help to distract kitty and teach him. For more persistent kittens, there are ways of hiding the cords with rugs (careful - there can be hazards in doing that as well), or duct taping the cords to the floor |
| Disclaimer: Please pardon the blatant bias to the Christmas holiday. I send holiday greetings to all of you who celebrate Hannukah, among other traditions. But I refuse to be politically correct when it comes to this most Holy Day of the Season! |
| Make sure kitty doesn't get too close to the fireplace - have a sturdy screen to cover the hearth and prevent access to the flames and embers. |
| Keitta Customers are saying: "Merry Christmas to both of you, and thank you for one of the best presents I could ever have (My Barley Bear!!!!)" |
| Background Music by Celtic Lore - Coventry Carol |
