DIY Christmas 2012 with Barbara Wright
Attention Pet Lovers. You must read this post. Somehow I get the feeling Barbara Wright was trying to tell me something about kittens, but I'm not sure I got it. Read on and see if you can decode her secret message.
Keeping the Tinsel
Out of the Cat
You cannot keep a kitten out of a Christmas tree. Christmas
trees are every kitten's Everest. They must climb it, and no amount of blockading
will keep them out. People who think they've solved the kitten problem will invariably
wake up at 3 am to a loud crash. There is only one surefire way to keep a
kitten out of a Christmas tree and that is a locked doorā¦unless your kitten has
lock-picks. Then you're doomed.
All pets are curious. Bring something new into their home,
and they want to be involved. I've found that my dogs are content to keep me
company while I decorate, but the cats want to be all up in my holiday business.
For my adult cats (because you cannot keep a kitten out of a
Christmas tree), I usually don't decorate the bottom two layers of branches on
my tree. To a cat, the dangling ornament on the tree will look exactly like the
dangle-ly toys made for cats.
Besides keeping the lower branches free of ornaments, I try
to make any ornaments that may be in reach the unbreakable kind, such as these
cute tiny presents. Most pretty ornaments I've seen in stores are made of
plastic now anyway, so even if kitty does get involved, you won't have any
breakage.
If you have a kitten, however, you may want to leave all
breakable ornaments packed this year because YOU CANNOT KEEP A KITTEN OUT OF A
CHRISTMAS TREE.
My dogs are more curious about things that smell nice in the
house. They want all of the holiday dinner and they want it now. I try to keep
in mind that people food can make my dogs sick, and some foods (like chocolate)
are toxic. This doesn't stop with food, I'm afraid. A curious dog (especially a
puppy) will be tempted to try anything. I avoid putting scented candles or
cinnamon pine cones anywhere a dog can reach themā¦or where a cat can knock them
into the dog territory.
This extends to plants and flowers as well. Holly, mistletoe, and poinsettias can make
animals sick. From what I've read, this is really only if the animal eats the
plants in large amounts, but still, you don't want to be making an emergency
pet visit around the holidays, so my advice is to buy fake plants. Even then, I
keep these away from my youngest cat because she likes chewing on them.
I try to decorate far from where my pets are interested in
hanging out, places where the cats never go and the dogs cannot reach.
The best gift you can give your furry friends this holiday
(and every day) is patience. They're going to be curious about what you're
doing, but if the decorations in their reach are safe to explore, and your pets
are anything like mine, they'll get bored quickly.
Except for kittens. You cannot keep them out of a Christmas
tree.
Who has the funniest holiday pet story? Leave it in the
comments and you could win this fabulous pack of pet toys! It's a toy turkey,
roll, corn, potato, and broccoli. Perfect for dogs, and if your cats are like
mine, purrfect for them too! I'll pick one winner that Maria will announce on
Dec 24th.
Bio: Barbara Ann Wright writes fantasy and science fiction novels
and short stories when not adding to her enormous book collection or ranting on
her blog. Her short fiction has
appeared twice in Crossed Genres Magazine and once made Tangent
Online's recommended reading list. She is a member of Broad Universe
and the Outer Alliance and helped create Writer's Ink in Houston. The Pyramid Waltz is her first novel.
It's sequel, For Want of a Fiend,
comes out May 13, 2013.
***
Don't
forget, you can leave a comment on any previous DIY Christmas 2012 post
for a chance to win the prize on that post. Who knows? You might get
lucky.
Other DIY posts from:
Shelley Munro
Cathy Pegau
Gwen Gardner
Other DIY posts from:
Shelley Munro
Cathy Pegau
Gwen Gardner
There are more great posts to come. All contests end December 21, 2012.
Comments
Strangely enough, those kitties have been gone for several years and the new cats are super angels - one couldn't care less and the other is curious but restrains herself - and my reaction is to scoff at thim "some cats you are - you don't even attack the tree." :-)
:-D
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Some cats can't be bothered, Misha. They're too cool for xmas.
But one time I made the mistake of leaving a boxed gift set of sausages under the tree.
That did not end well.
I don't really have a funny holiday pet story. Though once our cockatiel Hedwig got outside on Xmas Eve. It was cold (in MN) and snowy and he kept flying further and further away (And, at one point a hawk tried to grab him. Dead serious). We thought we wouldn't be able to catch him, but we gave it one more try before bed and managed to knock him out of the tree he was in with a broom and he was too cold to fly. We caught him and brought him home and it wasn't a christmas tragedy.
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I'm glad I could teach you something, Shelley. ^_^
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Dang, Sarah! That sounds terrifying! One of our cats got out in December and got stuck in a tree. We finally got him down by lifting a patio umbrella up and getting him to cling to the top!
One very lazy golden retriever is no threat to the Christmas tree, but the bowl of Christmas treats on the coffeetable at just dog-height...yeah, that's not going to happen!
_____
Mike, yowza. Poor puppy! You were small, so I forgive you. I once fed my pets peanut butter to see them spend all day trying to get it out of their teeth. They didn't complain, tho.