Get your Cats from Climbing in the Tree to Laying Under it

Guess who adopted kittens right before Christmas time? This girl!

Steps to cat-proof Christmas Tree

Growing up I had two childhood cats and as far as I remember they NEVER climbed up the tree. They occasionally played with the ornaments that were towards the bottom but that was as far as it ever went.


That is not what happened with my kittens...


My girlfriend and I put the tree up and within MINUTES they were at the TOP of the tree. They charged up that thing like it was their job. While this gave me the opportunity to get the cutest pictures in the world, I did not appreciate their talent of climbing.

I was so upset, I thought that I was not going to be able to have a Christmas tree this season. Not only was I terrified of them knocking the tree over and breaking all of the ornaments, but every day they ripped the lights off of the tree.


I quickly took to google and found many different "easy fixes" or home remedies to cat-proof a Christmas tree. It ranged from putting tin foil on the base, placing orange peels throughout, and spraying cat repellent sprays directly on the tree.

They couldn't care less about the tin foil, they actually enjoyed the citrus smell, and the cat repellant sprays did not have the best reviews. So my search continued on...


I ended up coming across a device that attaches to the base of the tree and creates a circular barrier so that way they don't have access to climb up from the bottom. It looked amazing! It seemed just like the thing I was looking for but this thing was like FIFTY DOLLARS. And your girl was not about to spend that kind of money on something that might not actually work, so I brainstormed an idea to DIY.

How I Cat-Proofed my Christmas Tree!

1. I found some cardboard boxes that had been placed in the recycling and ran to the store to get some paint. I cut up the boxes into large pieces and covered them with the forest green paint I had just bought.

2. I then arranged them on top of the first layer of my tree making sure that it was completely covered and that I left a hole for where the other layers insert into the base. Once I was happy with my arrangement I hot glued them down so that way they were properly secured together.

3. I grabbed some scissors and cut the cardboard into a circle and tried to make sure that it was the same width as the tree branches. Tip: make sure it is not bigger than the circumference of where the branches fall otherwise it will poke out and look funky.

4. Set up the rest of your tree and trim any of the cardboard that seems to poke out a little bit too much.

5. When you are decorating your tree be sure to place ribbon or garland around the cardboard layer so it doesn't stick out like a soar thumb.

I did this to my tree about a week ago and they have not been able to get into the tree! They haven't even attempted to climb it.


Also, please do not skip the painting step, it is the key for it to blend in and not be an eyesore.

Though this method does work I still strongly suggest that you still place your glass or fragile ornaments on towards the top of your tree to ensure that they will not get damaged. Also, make sure that you securely wrap each ornament on to the tree so that way if it gets bumped around at all they won't fall or break.



If you have a real tree that you are looking to cat-proof my suggestion is to follow the steps listed above but instead of having a full circle glued together create two half circles. This way you can slide each half circle into one side of the tree and then it will still create a barrier to block the devious kitties from their devious plans!

I love that I am able to have my tree up and decorated! My cats now like to lay under the tree instead of destroying it and I am hoping that this can guide you to having an anti-cat tree too!