Those Mischievous Cats ...

From: Kala, New Ulm, MN
Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2005
Subject: Oh no!

Here's a pet-related question for you...

My husband and I put up our Christmas tree on Monday and found that our cats had tipped it over during the night. It seemed to be ok; I think it was taking water yet at the time. But now it's been tipped again, and we didn't have time to deal with it before work, so the tree went out into our garage (our very cold Minnesota winter garage). Is our tree doomed?

Answer: I don't think the tree is doomed, but I know some kitty cats who need a serious "timeout."

The temperature in the garage won't hurt the tree, in fact cold is much better than warm. The bad thing is having the cut surface of the trunk exposed to air for more than a few hours. If that's happened, cut another 1/2 inch or so off the bottom before putting back up in the stand and in water. This will re-open the tissue which absorbs water. Also, depending on how cold it is in your garage, if it's much below freezing, the branches could be brittle and susceptible to snapping, so handle with care if the tree is frozen.

You should invest in a sturdier tree stand if your cats are going to continue behaving badly. Depending on your room set-up, you could also try securing the tree with some fishing line tied to something stationary like an end table or something, to keep it from tipping again.

"Cats Behaving Badly" ... wasn't that a one-hit wonder band in the 80's?.....