cat and fake tree

[MummaFug]

My cat keeps eating the leaves of our fake Xmas tree. SHe has vomitted once (in 5 days) and other than that - It seems to be doing not much harm to her but I want her to stop as i'm scared she may chew on a light or something.
Apart from yelling at her each time she does it - anyone got any other suggestions to keep her away ...

[readytotry]

Hey Fugs,

Is your kitty an indoor cat? If so, she needs access to grasses that she would encounter outside. You can buy here in Australia a product called Cat Garden. It is a little packet with 3 different seeds in it. Cat nip, cat mint and cat grass. The idea is that you plant them in a couple of pots and grow them, and cats LOVE them! They will eat them, rub on them, lay in them. These grasses aid in her digestion. I would say she is eating the fake tree confusing it for "real" grass and leaves. Im sure you could buy these seeds in China, if not let me know and I could send you some.... I wonder if it would get through customs?? :confused:

[SJ1312]

readytotry sounds right on the ball there. :yes:
If you want to stop her short term probably just sprinkle pepper or curry powder all over the tree... couple of mouthfuls and she wont be going near it again.

[floodprincess]

she needs access to grasses that she would encounter outside. . These grasses aid in her digestion. I would say she is eating the fake tree confusing it for "real" grass and leaves.

:iagree: and in the interim, a reasonably painless but incredibly effective way of training cats is to use a squirt bottle filled with water. Simply squirt the cat once or twice when you see her doing something she shouldn't and she'll soon get the idea unless she's like my recently retired breeding queen who has decided it's great fun to chase the squirt of water and therefore constantly does things she shouldn't just to get the water (mind you this cat likes to share the shower and bath with you so she's a total freak of nature)

[OneCheekyMonkey]

Try spraying the tree with diluted citronella - non toxic and cats really don't like the smell. Other than that a squirt bottle works well (my cat tried to chew the lights off our tree), so does pepper.

As for cat grasses, some cats love them, some cats are Meh with them. Personally I don't feed my cats (indoor) cat grasses anymore since I have had 2 choke on long pieces and have had to have emergency surgery. :no: Very distressing for me and the cat and quite costly too.

[MummaFug]

Thanks for all the replies .... I sprayed the tree with some citronella and it seems to have worked ... Will keep doing it if she continues.

Readytotry - THANKS so much for the offer.. There is SO SO much we cant get here so you learn to order things from friends from overseas. (whenever anyone goes overseas - they get a LONG list) ... Not sure how the grass would be through customs but I have a friend heading to Hong KOng so will ask her to get me some ..

Thanks again