Cat eating tinsel

Heroditas

Any ideas how I can stop her doing this? She keeps pulling small clumps of it off the tree and then "depositing" them in a pool of vomit a while later on the living room floor. :rolleyes:


Don't get me started on the decorations hanging off the branches..... that's another matter altogether...

Graces7

Exiling tinsel works.

They seem to love it; used to find bits in the litter trays.

Now we do not have it. There is too much risk of it clogging their guts..

No Christmas tree either!

Heroditas wrote: »

Any ideas how I can stop her doing this? She keeps pulling small clumps of it off the tree and then "depositing" them in a pool of vomit a while later on the living room floor. :rolleyes:


Don't get me started on the decorations hanging off the branches..... that's another matter altogether...

Heroditas

Graces7 wrote: »

There is too much risk of it clogging their guts..

In that case, time to pull all those tufts off the tree!
Thanks.

eden_my_ass

My parents cat has the same obsession, and seems to be training to dog to do the same....perhaps something could be sprayed on the tinsel to deter them? I have no idea what, but I'm sure someones aware of safe but unattractive tastes that could be used?

Encoder1970

There is "cats off" spray for furniture. Otherwise maybe mixing Tabasco and water and spraying that on the tinsel (just guessing here )?

Heroditas

Encoder1970 wrote: »

There is "cats off" spray for furniture. Otherwise maybe mixing Tabasco and water and spraying that on the tinsel (just guessing here )?

One of them has just licked the remnants of my lunch plate clean and it was very spicy. Not a peep out of him.

They always rob chillis from the vegetable basket and play with them.

I don't think Tabasco will work!

Graces7

It was easier to outlaw tinsel...I had Siamese who loved climbing Christmas trees. Since we got the dogs I haven't bothered with a tree either.

A vet told me that the majority of emergency surgery on cats and dogs is what they call the swallowing of "linear objects." eg tinsel

Mine try to eat wool; I see them and grab the end before it vanishes. ( I earn by knitting so there is always plenty about)

Once I hauled in a foot of wool.... Cat was fine! Looked surprised is all

Heroditas wrote: »

One of them has just licked the remnants of my lunch plate clean and it was very spicy. Not a peep out of him.

They always rob chillis from the vegetable basket and play with them.

I don't think Tabasco will work!

Encoder1970

star-pants

Aye if you can't keep the cats from eating it, I'd just remove it - I'd be afraid of them getting sick too much or getting stuck in the gut.

Alun

Rather bizarrely (and luckily!) neither of our two have fascination with tinsel. The first Christmas we had them, when they were only 6 months old, we deliberately avoided putting tinsel or any low hanging decorations as we were afraid of problems, but they just ignored it!

I agree with the others though, if they are showing an interest in it, get rid of it quickly.

Howitzer

Ours eats tinsel too - and ends up doing a Christmas poop because of it.

We kept her away from it with a water pistol (taking care to avoid the lights on tree!!!)

If you are leaving a cat unsupervised with a tree - then best to remove the tinsel.

Graces7

Yep; been there !!!

The cats then were Siamese; the worst tinsel-eater also loved plastic bags.

Seeing part of that emerge from him... We were on an offshore island then and no vet.

That one lived to a ripe old age though.

Howitzer wrote: »

Ours eats tinsel too - and ends up doing a Christmas poop because of it.

We kept her away from it with a water pistol (taking care to avoid the lights on tree!!!)

If you are leaving a cat unsupervised with a tree - then best to remove the tinsel.

Ticktactoe

Yes, my cat is facinated with the actual tree and use to go crazy climbing up and down it and then proceeded to have a fight with the star on top. She loved the decorations too as they swing from the branches.

There was no way i could get her to stop so last year I didn't have a tree and this year the tree is off limits (as we moved house and have more room!) so cats and tree are kept seperate.

Didn't have a problem with her eating the decorations, more a problem with her playing with them!

Acoshla

By some miracle my cat and dog have no interest whatsoever in the tree, the decorations, the tinsel and the presents are all left alone Although, the tree is on a chair (hidden by pretty Christmassy fabric, I wanted a tall tree!) and my cat seems to think the enclosed space under the chair inside the fabric is his new house, he's happy out staying in there and doesn't disturb the tree at all.

When I worked as a Vets Assistant we had a cat come in in late January who was off his food and quieter than usual for no apparent reason. Loads of tests and x rays later and still no answer, the vets decided exploratory surgery was the only option...turned out he had a really long tangled piece of gold ribbon in the full length of his intestines, they reckoned he ate it over Christmas and it had stayed there causing havoc for nearly a month :eek:

Ticktactoe

Spadina wrote: »

By some miracle my cat and dog have no interest whatsoever in the tree, the decorations, the tinsel and the presents are all left alone Although, the tree is on a chair (hidden by pretty Christmassy fabric, I wanted a tall tree!) and my cat seems to think the enclosed space under the chair inside the fabric is his new house, he's happy out staying in there and doesn't disturb the tree at all.

When I worked as a Vets Assistant we had a cat come in in late January who was off his food and quieter than usual for no apparent reason. Loads of tests and x rays later and still no answer, the vets decided exploratory surgery was the only option...turned out he had a really long tangled piece of gold ribbon in the full length of his intestines, they reckoned he ate it over Christmas and it had stayed there causing havoc for nearly a month :eek:

I would have thought the x rays would have picked it up!
My cat went missing for a month. Turned up at 2 0 clock one night beating the door down. Brought her to the vets because she was skinny and toileting bad. They took an x ray and it show a piece of string about the lenght of a finger in her gut. She passed it a few days later and since then has given birth to four kittens! Her going missing and producing the kittens were unrelated events btw!

Acoshla

Ticktactoe wrote: »

I would have thought the x rays would have picked it up!

That's what the vets thought too, we did the x rays with the attitude of "she's eaten something odd, it'll show up on x ray" and it didn't, a shadow was visible on one part of her intestine but nothing that would have suggested giant long piece of gold ribbon!

Ticktactoe

Spadina wrote: »

That's what the vets thought too, we did the x rays with the attitude of "she's eaten something odd, it'll show up on x ray" and it didn't, a shadow was visible on one part of her intestine but nothing that would have suggested giant long piece of gold ribbon!

Bet you were charged for them tho!

Acoshla

I worked there, it wasn't my cat, but I had the lovely job of being in charge of the ribbon when they removed it!
That was fun.

Having to wash lots of blood off chewed up ribbon isn't as easy as you'd imagine!

Fukuyama

Heroditas wrote: »

Any ideas how I can stop her doing this? She keeps pulling small clumps of it off the tree and then "depositing" them in a pool of vomit a while later on the living room floor. :rolleyes:


Don't get me started on the decorations hanging off the branches..... that's another matter altogether...

Yeah, a jolly good kick up the arse :P

Demonique

Luckily our two cats have never shown an interest in the Christmas tree

We've had iguanas climbing it in the past though

Interceptor

Sorry OP - I'm still laughing at the thought of those sparkly pools of vom all over your house.

Have you thought of putting the pepper spray that gardeners use to keep pets off their roses onto your christmas tree?

'cptr

Heroditas

Interceptor wrote: »

Have you thought of putting the pepper spray that gardeners use to keep pets off their roses onto your christmas tree?

'cptr

I think they've developed an immunity to stuff like that. They keep robbing my chillis and playing with them. I often retrieve them from behind the couch and they're ripped to shreds!
Doesn't deter the feckers from robbing them again though. :rolleyes: