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BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights
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Subject: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: Morticia Date: 17 Dec 01 - 12:18 PM and cabbages and Kings.....no, sorry...got carried away there. I have just learnt a valuable lesson regarding Xmas tree lights and kittens.....they do not make a happy couple. Now the little |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: Sorcha Date: 17 Dec 01 - 12:24 PM Take the tree down. Critters is one reason why I don't have one. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull Date: 17 Dec 01 - 12:27 PM Swap the cat for a hamster. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull Date: 17 Dec 01 - 12:28 PM (Hamsters don't climb trees) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: Mrrzy Date: 17 Dec 01 - 12:32 PM Water pistol used VERY judiciously... a little shock, though, would certainly teach the lesson! ...As long as you're 110 and not 220, which last could throw it clear out the window. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: Micca Date: 17 Dec 01 - 12:36 PM Morty, do your lights just plug into the mains?? if yes, they are 250 V and could harm it!!! you could rub a little tonic or something else with a bitter taste on the lamps..clove?? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull Date: 17 Dec 01 - 12:42 PM I think cats dont like lemon juice, put some near the tree, my neighbour puts something on his garden to stop cats pooing there, I will ask him what it is.Dont squirt water pistol near lights it could start a fire, or give you an electric shock. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: katlaughing Date: 17 Dec 01 - 12:52 PM SHake a tin with a couple of pennies/shilling(?) in it whenever you catch her doing it and tell her "no" in a firm voice. The noise of the tin will take her attention away from them for the moment, then after she's been scolded, distract her with a safe toy. Also, if she's going after the wires themselves, you should be able to pick up a plastic "sleeve" or tubing of some sort, to put over them. Do the bulbs get hot when on? If so, does she try to suck on them, then?! We have always had a tree with tons of cats and dogs. I always have non-breakable ornaments near where they cna reach just in case they want to bat at something, although we don't encourage it. That also started when the kids were little, so they wouldn't get any of the breakables. If you ask round at your vet's or the pet store, they should also have some kind of repellent you could spray the whole tree with, to keep her off. The only thing we quit putting on our tree is tinsel as cats are so attracted to eating it and it can cause major problems with their intestines, etc. Hope this helps. Don't 'spose the tree is in a room with a door? kat |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: gnu Date: 17 Dec 01 - 01:00 PM It's not the voltage that kills, it's the amperage. 110V will kill at very small amperage. The only way you could be slightly safe is to put them on a GFCI... ground fault circuit interruptor... you may have one in the washroom or outside.... but ask someone who knows what it is and can check to make sure it's working properly. BTW, don't use glass ornaments. After they break them, they may eat them, let alone walk on them. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: gnu Date: 17 Dec 01 - 01:40 PM I use to put a wind chime in the lower branches to signal when the cute little darlings were at the tree. As soon as the alarm was sounded, I would growl and make a mad dash for them and scare the jeepers out of them. Of course, I believe Maggie, the youngest, enjoyed this game after she learned I wasn't going to harm her. That's when I got out the water pistol. No nook or cranny was safe and I made sure she was pissed off enough to give it a rest... until the middle of the night... little bitch ! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: Gareth Date: 17 Dec 01 - 02:18 PM Small Dogs also chew lights, cabels, ornements etc. Thus no Xmas tree in this household. Dogs also present another problem with Xmas trees ! Gareth |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: GUEST Date: 17 Dec 01 - 02:31 PM Train the cat to stay away from it--it is easy to do, and you've had excellent suggestions here. We trained our kitten last Christmas, and this year he is sleeping peacefully underneath the tree, looking like a Norman Rockwell print. If you aren't going to take responsibility for training your animals, you shouldn't be a pet owner. Kittens can easily be trained to stay away from the Christmas tree, but it takes a knowledgeable, committed, consistent owner. If you aren't willing to do all that is necessary to own a pet, maybe you should seriously consider finding a new owner for the kitten who will take the responsibility seriously. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: catspaw49 Date: 17 Dec 01 - 02:37 PM Thank gawd we only have three now and none of them are the least bit interested......if it ain't soft and a good spot to sleep, ta' hell with it. We generally have started the lights a bit higher up the tree and have what we alwyas refer to as "Sacrificial Ornaments" to hang down low. If you have a determined little kitty, the only way to be sure is to keep them out of the room, especially when you're not home. And as far as tinsel goes......dogs are pretty excited about it too and when it passes out the other end......Well, let's just say the backyard has a gala look about it! But dear Mortie, bringing this subject up brings tears to Ol' Spaw.....My "old man"....his name was Cutter....is sorely missed each Christmas. For 20 years, as soon as the tree was up, he took his spot on the blanket beneath and remained there during the season. He seemed to enjoy the lights and the smell and a prettier picture could not be found than that old black cat, curled up and sleeping happily among the presents. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: Clinton Hammond Date: 17 Dec 01 - 03:39 PM other than the occasional nibble at the pine needles, and one or two really half hearted swipes at the low hanging wooden ornaments, my cat couldn't care less bout the tree... She's quite content with her mainline of nip! LOL!!! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: Wesley S Date: 17 Dec 01 - 04:21 PM Put the tree and the presents inside a portable playpen. With luck it will keep the cat and other precious and precocious critters { aka Brendan } away from the tree. The cats leave the playpen alone because that noisy, crying, smelly thing that doesn't pet them plays there. You could also consider this arrangement as an art installation - give it a fancy name like "The Death of Christmas Due To Greed" and sell it after the holidays at an art gallery. We'll let you know what we get for ours. Merry Christmas Morticia |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: Morticia Date: 17 Dec 01 - 04:40 PM Merry Christmas Wes....and I would need to borrow a small, smelly crying thing and indeed a playen....seems a bit a length to go to.... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: catspaw49 Date: 17 Dec 01 - 04:44 PM Well Mort, you might be able to have on ready for next Christmas....... Spaw |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: Wesley S Date: 17 Dec 01 - 04:52 PM HOT DAMN - Someone wants to borrow our small,noisy,crying smelly thing !! OK - but only long enough for Bretta and I to see a movie. They still have movies don't they?? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: MMario Date: 17 Dec 01 - 05:10 PM at the drop of a hat, Wes! owwww! owww! stop twisting my arm! Wish I could *grin* One of the best christmas presents I've gotten so far this season was a co-worker who let me hold his infant daughter at our company party. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: Jerry Rasmussen Date: 17 Dec 01 - 05:13 PM I too had to stop putting tinsel on the tree. My cats ate it, but it all came out in the end. Gave new meaning to the song "Silver Threads Among The Gold." Jerry |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: catspaw49 Date: 17 Dec 01 - 05:15 PM Jerry, You would have really enjoyed our backyard the year we used red, green, gold, amd silver tinsel......I mean it was the most festive dog crap I ever saw! Spaw |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: gnu Date: 17 Dec 01 - 05:22 PM Do you know someone who knows what a GFCI is and who can check it ? If not, I will talk you through determining if you have one. As for checking it, you need a testing device because the test button may not always be accurate. I could tell you how to make a home made tester, but it's a bit dangerous if you don't know what you're doing... molten copper and flaming plastic tend to put people off. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: Liz the Squeak Date: 17 Dec 01 - 06:32 PM I have a playpen and a slightly older smelly crying bawling thing, but I don't think he will fit in the same playpen. Phoebe would want to get in too..... Max has tried to take a bite out of the fibreoptic tree, Amber hasn't dared go in the front room yet and Shadow just sits under the tree on the back of the sofa. Phoebe Bratling pulls it over at least 4 times a day, so training isn't always working. Is Loki sucking them because of the shape or she just has a deathwish? The worry could be if she gets overexcited and bites down on it, that will be the dangerous bit, live wires, broken glass and wet mouth, yum.... Don't despair though, I'm sure she'll have the hang of it soon! LTS |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: Morticia Date: 17 Dec 01 - 07:53 PM Pat, darling, much as I am fond of children, I have no desire to bake one just to have a playpen.....Gnu, I don't know what a one of them is.....but Gomez is an electrical engineer....does that help? Liz, you clearly have problems of your own.....and every one else.....I am putting into effect all ideas that seem feasible.....will let you know what happens. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: Amos Date: 17 Dec 01 - 08:15 PM It's a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter, duck. Very sensitive, cuts the circuit in microseconds when it shorts so that no-one gets any continuous shock no matter how dumb they were.... A |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: Micca Date: 17 Dec 01 - 08:45 PM Morty, they are called Earth Leak Circuit Breakers, or Residual Current Circuit Breakers here in the UK and Gomez will know about them, you can get a plug with them incorporated into it and just wire the lights into it!! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: SINSULL Date: 17 Dec 01 - 11:59 PM When my Susie was a kitten, she was so small that she would climb up the trunk and out on a brach, kick off any offending ornaments, and nap quietly in the pine branches. So cute, I didn't have the heart to stop her. Now, my current kitten Fred will more than likely find a way to tip over the tree at least once a day, as he does everything else. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 18 Dec 01 - 12:13 AM If the beast is THAT stupid...let is chew....be electricuted and "decrease the surplus population." No doubt it has a common bond with its "death nomultcured" owner.
Seems to share a lot with other "critter-named" creatures. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: Amergin Date: 18 Dec 01 - 01:16 AM seems to share alot with some certain wankers i could mention... this all brings to mind that scene in family christmas vacation...where the cat eats the lights and just becomes a burnt mass of fur on the carpet.... that happened to a cousin's cat a few years ago...hear it wa a rather shocking sight... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: gnu Date: 18 Dec 01 - 06:14 AM Yup... Gomez should know. Actually, everyone should. Proper use can save your life. It's standard practise now but most houses over thirty or so years old don't have any. If anyone out there has an exterior or washroom receptacle or a receptacle within six feet of a faucet that is not on a GFCI, spend the bucks. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: Gervase Date: 18 Dec 01 - 06:51 AM Micca's oil of cloves suggestion is a good one - if you don't mind being reminded of toothace every time you go near the tree. Garden centres also sell a pepper-type spray which is meant to keep the moggies away from your veggies - that might be worth squirting on the tree. Failing that, how about widening Loki's circle and doing away with that old cliche of a fairy on the top of the tree (ouch!)? §;^) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: Morticia Date: 18 Dec 01 - 07:40 AM Ah, Gargoyle....what an utter thrill to see your crabbed spirits and eclectic approach to spelling in this thread, I am sure we are all refreshed and invigorated by your very special point of view...tell me, what is nomultcured? For those here other than to be tedious, Loki appears, after her initial enthusiasm, impervious to further arboreal blandishments and is back to knocking things off tables. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: GUEST,SharonA on vacation, checkin' in Date: 18 Dec 01 - 06:24 PM Glad to hear that, Morticia. My brother had to take his tree down last year because his daughter's teenage kitten had knocked it down more than once (and I remember him saying something about the cat pulling out the artificial branches...). When I was a kid, my father's solution was to build a wooden box higher than the kittens could jump onto, cover the box with red plastic and put the tree on that. This also had the economic advantage of forcing the purchase of a smaller cut-tree to fit under the ceiling. We used large-bulb lights which, unfortunately, are no longer available. My routine now is to use Christmas lights with plastic covers (mine are M&M candy "men") to keep the kitties from biting the lights. Plastic and wood ornaments have replaced the glass balls, and tinsel is taboo (all joking about tinsel aside, it is very dangerous to animals and should be kept away from them). The ground-fault interruptor is a necessity, too. So, with just a few modifications, you should be able to enjoy a tree ...unless your cat is like my niece's cat! If he is, then it's time for the separate-room strategy |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: Grab Date: 18 Dec 01 - 07:13 PM Maybe paint the holder (not the bulb itself) with something unpleasant-tasting. How about that stuff you stick on kids' nails to stop them biting? Graham. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Cats &trees&christmas lights From: NicoleC Date: 18 Dec 01 - 07:56 PM I can't imagine depriving my kitty of her favorite thing all year, which is playing in the boxes and tissue paper when the tree goes up and down. Fortunately, she only likes to bat at the low-hanging kitty-safe ornaments and play with the spots of light on the floor. Just be glad your kitties aren't like my Mom's, who take turns climbing up onto the furniture and leaping at the tree -- flying squirrel style -- trying to knock it over. I understand after the first successful attempt, she practically earned an engineering degree figuring out a way to stablize it. Which only made the game more fun, I suppose :) |