You might know I love decorating for Christmas. You might also know my cat is sick. She has a chronic disease. My husband and I work to keep her symptoms under control and make sure she is a happy cat. One thing about cats though, they don’t seem to mind vomiting as much as WE mind them doing it. They just hurl and move on. I was not looking forward to having to spend the additional time needed to clean with the Christmas Decorations added onto her frequent regurgitation. But so far so good. Every year though, her and I fight over “underneath the tree”. She thinks it is her spot. I think presents belong there. Last year the second the tree went up she cemented herself IN THE MIDDLE of the underneath and rarely moved! This year I made some kitty concessions to allow for a happier kitty.
Cats with Inflammatory Bowel Disease can live up to five years after diagnosis, but you never know, so this year she gets special treatment. For almost all of the 13 Christmases that we have had her we have put our tree up on a table. Some think it is odd to put a 6 foot tree on a table, but it saves a lot of time and headache. Our cat has never been one to climb the tree or even futz with the ornaments, but she does love “underneath” the tree. And all real/live trees shed so when she would walk underneath it she would brush it with her tail and cause needles to fall all over. While I love a real/live, I don’t care for the needles all over the place. They are not called needles for nothing. They hurt when they stab your foot. So, we started putting the tree up to keep from having needles all over.
That also allows for more room for presents . . . at least so I thought. Some years I have left room for her, but this year I hadn’t put any gifts under the tree, I was going to let her have the entire space, but after a few days of her having it all to herself she hasn’t been under there since. So I did put a few gifts under the tree, but still have a bed for her there.
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here she has chosen to lie is in my reindeer spot. As I was decorating I was struggling with how I was going to get her to agree to a move. We do not know why she has chosen this odd place near the curio, but it has been her spot for a few months now so I was not looking forward to the battle. Then I realized, I probably wouldn’t really “win” no matter what, so I moved my reindeer spot. They are now under the tree.
Also the last couple of years she has been chewing on the garland. Last year I finally was so tired of scolding her I took it down. This year, I decided not to put it up on the banister. That room needs light though, so, I moved it to an impossible-for-a-cat-to-reach spot. Yay! Now I have my garland and lights up, AND no chewing. Cat and decorations are safe!
Now, I mentioned this on Facebook earlier this month. In the past we have had exactly 30 days for the tree. At 31 days, the cat DOES swat an ornament. I took that to mean that she was done with the tree, it was time for it to go outside. This year since she doesn’t use her displaced tower as much now as she did then, she might let it stay longer, but really, in our house it doesn’t need to be up longer. And I am happy for the time she allows us to have it undisturbed.
Ahhh. I love Christmas decorations. I think this year we have some good compromises going on.
Do you have to decorate in concession with your pets? What do you do in order to keep your pet happy?
Terre Pruitt's Blog 