Last Updated on April 13, 2020
Most people who celebrate Christmas enjoy having a tree in their home. While this is a fun and festive way to celebrate the season, it can also spell out disaster for anyone who owns a curious cat! Here are 5 great Christmas tree alternatives that are actually cat safe – And quite amazing too!
Suspended Christmas Tree
Source: not martha
This is not only a fun craft to do, but makes for a stunning modern conversational piece! This tree is a great option for cats when hung high enough. If you use plastic ornaments, you can even hang it lower and allow your kitties to bat-around the lower hanging balls. Just be sure they are securely tied on and the ceiling hook is attached properly!
Catsmas Tip! If you want to take it a step further, you can buy ornaments designed to be filled and add in some colorful mice, pom balls, feathers, and twinkling tinsel to really set the theme for Catsmas!
Christmas Tree Shelf
Source: Curbly
Now, this is not only cat-friendly but works amazingly well for small places! The concept is a hanging shelf that you can display seasonal décor on. You can even size it up and use it to put Christmas gifts right on it whilst keeping it safe from the cat’s ribbon-eating urges.
You can also add lights as well as tacked on tinsel or ornaments. Get really get creative with this one!
Catsmas Tip! Decorate each shelf with different types of cat toys in coordinating colors. You can do the traditional green and red, go for a more subtle gold and silver, or just have a multicolored masterpiece!
Ornamental Wall Hanging Christmas Tree
Source: Martha Stewart
Some cats may actually want to put their paws on this one depending on what you use, just be sure to hang it high enough! What makes this idea neat is that you can put it just about anywhere in your home and even custom size it to fit your desired space.
Missing the lights? Simply make a tree outline in a zig-zag pattern behind the wall hanger before you hang it up! Be sure to cover the plug and the outlet with something to keep the kitties from chewing the cord!
Catsmas Tip! As shown in the picture, bird ornaments look fantastic on the wooden branches. You can take this a step further by using parakeets and canary birds! You can even use hanging fish ornaments or catnip filled balls so it looks like green foliage coming from the branches!
Modernized Charlie Brown Christmas Tree
Source: The HumbleNest
These not only look amazingly artistic but because of the tall and thin design, they are purrfect for cats! You can buy large branches that are cleaned and treated or just take to the woods and pick out your own! The idea here is to find a large broken branch that has a long stem at the bottom.
The color shown here is made using fabric. You can use ribbon or colored yarn just make sure it’s wrapped tightly! Use the smaller branches to hang ornaments from and whatever else you would like! The base is not shown here but you can fit one into a wooden crate and nail it in place very easily. Just cover it up with some fun and festive fabric!
Catsmas Tip! Small colorful toy mice can act as wonderful ornaments on this type of tree. You can use jingle balls as well! Both can be found quite cheap at a pet store. Always be sure to have any items using ornament hooks high up enough to where your cat can not reach them.
Christmas Tree Ladder
Source: Tattered Style
This has to be one of my favorite designs! When decorated right and with your cat in mind, this is one of the safest Christmas tree options I have seen for kitties!
Make sure that the string lights are securely wrapped around the ladder and all hanging ornaments in the middle are high up enough to be out of paw’s reach! You may be tempted to use the candles as seen in the other pictures but that is a big fat no-no with kitties in the house.
Catsmas Tip! After you have chosen your place to have your ladder tree, instead of placing the gifts underneath it, put a cat bed there. Your cat will enjoy the ambiance and be the center of attention. Win-win! This will also make for some beautiful pictures.
Warning
Be sure anything like tinsel, garland, or twinkling wires are not able to be reached. Be sure to vacuum after using them anywhere in your home. These are choking hazards for cats!
DIY Not for You?
If you don’t have time for DIY ideas for the purrfect cat-friendly Christmas tree, you can always buy one! We’ve found a great cat-friendly Christmas tree on Amazon. Click here to buy the Kitty City Christmas tree for cats!
Lol. The only place our 4 cats cannot reach is the ceiling. They are very good at jumping great distances. So, I’m thinking my light outlined Christmas Tree will have to be on the ceiling or a small tree in a cage. Although, that will not stop them from trying to reach through and grab. I’ve also thought about doing a light Christmas Tree on the outside of my living room window. Wish me luck.
Thanks for great ideas for next year!
I love these!
This article recommends tinsel or other string to decorate your tree, which is appalling considering it’s a cat-specific website. Tinsel and other string attract cats who may ingest them. Ingesting string or tinsel is likely to cause a gastro-intestinal obstruction, which could result in costly and painful surgery, or death of the animal. Also, tinsel is bad for the environment. Purrfectlove, please remove your recommendations for strings and tinsel. Literally no one should use tinsel, especially cat owners!
Thanks for your comment Christine. Did you read the article or just scan it for the word? Here is how I am saying to use it –>
Suspended Christmas Tree : Filling plastic ornaments – Cats will not have access to it.
Christmas Tree Shelf: Tacked on (to the wall) i.e. no where in reach – Cats will not have access to it.
Modernized Charlie Brown Christmas Tree: Wrapping to the tree (like rope) -This I can understand and would depend on the cat so I will remove it.
The other two specifically are meant to keep this out of a cat’s reach. Most of these designs wouldn’t even be easy to reach, destroy, or chew on and that is the idea here. It is meant to allow people to decorate their home without using an actual tree as pine trees are toxic and fake ones can be eaten. (which is bad for the reasoning you mentioned).
I agree but kind of disagree but I love the silver tinsel but I keep it out of my Cat-Dog’s reach! My cats don’t really mind tinsel but they stay far away from it. ALSO CHECK OUT MY BLOG TOO….
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