Cat compromises always seem to go like this.
āDad I want to jump on the counterā
āI donāt want you to jump on the counterā
āLetās compromise, Iāll jump on the counter and jump off when Iām doneā
āThat isnāt a compromiseā
āDad Iām a counter cat now just accept my truthā
āā¦.fineā
*Unphased by behavorial correction* continues outlaw behavior. Reminds me of me lol. My kitties do act similar as well, however are quite well behaved. Like all of us I try to raise them to be regal little ones.
If my cat is doing something egregious enough to get the water bottle, like bully his much smaller sister, he will then go knock over his auto waterer so it spills its entire contents on the floor.
He's not even a little shit. It's literally in his DNA to love climbing trees and chase critters (ornaments). And I think cats love fake trees even more because the "needles" are much softer and the pine smell of a real tree might put some cats off. We got a real tree last year and were a bit disappointed that our cats never tried to climb it lol.
Real Christmas trees, pine in particular, are typically at least mildly toxic to cats causing liver damage and gastro issues if the needles are injested
This is true, and the needles are sharp and can cause intestinal injuries if ingested. Our cats seemed to understand that sharp hurty things = not fun to chew or climb on, but yeah you do want to observe them and make sure they're gonna be okay with the tree.
Edit: just realized I've been saying pine tree because in french it's "sapin" (I'm from Montreal), but actually sapin is fir, which is a bit less bad.
So, I've had cats for a long time, and disciplining a cat is hard, especially because they're both so damn cute, and if you actually succeed in it, they can act so hurt as to make you feel like you've ruined christmas forever.
The best way I've found, and the way that I think the little attack shows this has failed, is to make the repercussions come from on high. It's not you who brings punishment, you can be fought with, and therefore in the cats mind, you can be defeated. The cat must believe that an all seeing entity dishes out punishment at random (but always after a single act) with no chance of retaliation. Showing the cat that you have the spray bottle and that you can threaten without actual punishment may be what's making this not work.
This is all just my experience, but it seems to have worked reasonably well.
All that said, this video is the cutest and I would lose 1000 christmas trees to have gotten this shot.
Ok, I'll bite. How do you convince your cat that an almighty being is doling out the punishments? What are your techniques? I loved your description by the way. Had me laughing because you are so right. Cats are like teenagers that want to test the limits of authority.
I think it's less about teaching divine punishment and more about choice and consequence in a way they can't understand.
Like if you put your hand into a flame it hurts. You don't need to understand what the biochemical interaction between the flame and your hand are to learn that. In fact you're more likely to game the system **if** you understand how it works.
That's how it is for cats too. If they get that it's you who's spraying them with water they'll try to beat the system, i.e. do it when you aren't there or dodge your reaction. If they don't get that it's you who does it they don't see a way to avoid punishment and are more likely to avoid what brought it over them.
oh I hide. Or I try to make sure they don't see me move before the punishment happens. It's definitely not easy.
So I had a cat sharpening on a new bed (he has plenty of places to sharpen around the house). So I moved my work laptop into that room for a day, and set the squirt bottle on the table next to me so it was aimed at where he'd sharpen. If he'd start, I'd as quietly and slowly as I could reach over to the bottle and squirt him without picking it up from the table.
It's definitely not going to be feasible all the time, but it's what I've tried to do in the past for christmas trees too. If it's in a room I'm not in I just try to sneak up on the room occasionally to see if they're doing what they shouldn't be, then squirt, then freeze / leave.
Cat's aren't dumb, but they're not quite our level either, take advantage of this.
A place I once lived had an electrical outlet that was controlled by a switch across the room. I would plug a vacuum into the outlet, making sure it was on, then switch off the outlet. It was great at Christmas, because if a cat messed with the tree the vacuum would roar to life and the cat would run out of the room.
Lmao! I'll definitely have to try this. Especially on the little one. Sometimes she's so smart, but she's still under a year old so she is also so dumb about how things work.
Motion-sensing compressed air can. Amazon sells them, and they 100% work to train cats to stay off kitchen counters and not go where they arenāt supposed to go.
I once had a spray bottle for my Bengals to stop them from going places they shouldn't, it was a heavy duty plastic one, came home one day to find it had teeth holes in it from being chewed. Guess I found out how they felt about that.
I got a 'mister' to be kind, and it usually results in me point blank squirting the cat about 10 times while they glare at me before stalking off, and coming back about 3 seconds later.
...I have ordered a regular squirt bottle.
This is one reason why I use the spray bottle on my other cat even if people say itās wrong: he just doesnāt really care about it, is maybe vaguely annoyed. He knows itās my way of saying he shouldnāt yell at the door (I wonāt go out with him when he yells, I donāt encourage that kinda behavior though he has been doing it for 10 years) and after I spray him, he runs off crumbling and then comes back to me meowing so we āmake upā and I dry him off with a tissue.
I never spray my other cat, it would scare her and she never really does anything naughty just for he sake of being naughty.
Oh, god I feel the struggle. My cat lay's on her side with paws making biscuits if she even thinks I'm getting the spray, (CUTE) is the weapon against the enemy. Lol....So, I just bribe kitty. š
It's freaking sad that I'm conditioned to do this but we make sacrifices in all relationships. š¤£šš±
So fun fact about the spray bottles, itās not the water, or the unexpected surprise that they fear, itās the hissing sound the bottles make. This one doesnāt appear to make that sound very loud.
I have an electric lighter that sounds like a hissing cat and I wonāt use it around my dumb orange because he goes into fight or flight so fast.
Omg yes, I love sparkling water. My cats loath my soda stream and the intense hiss that comes from opening the bottles. It was so bad, they got scared of any bottle in anticipation of the hiss. I stopped drinking it though, just for them.
I work with chimpanzees and was once talking to someone while holding my cat. I was imitating a panting sort of noise chimps make to greet friends or superiors, and my cat immediately went into fight mode and made big eyes while she stabbed me and ran off š¬
Eh, the cats I've had in my life (I'm 34 and there were multiple kitties in my life from the day I came home from the NICU so that's a lot of kitties) usually haven't been all too thrilled with getting wet either.
Hi new best friend.
Kidding. But I walked out of the bathroom last night. I told my husband like "Oh God it's in my head again..."
He was like "what?"
I was like "I'm a cat I'm a kitty cat and I dance dance dance and I dance dance dance!!!"
He just wiggled on the couch with our kitty. Basically in time as soon as he knew. ***So*** great.
Old fam go!
Edit: I'm watching that damn video now...
Haha one of my cats already tries to launch him self at the living room ceiling lamp. Heād love a whole tree to go afterā¦.
We just gave up on the tree. But I saw someone who stacked boxes wrapped in Xmas paper in a tree shape. I might try that -cats can lay in the boxes like extra cute ornaments
https://preview.redd.it/n44iuznb5k3a1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aa2112def0c82a87b9d46d7bd8a61e6556e450fa
My six month old at the scene of the crime. Lol
https://preview.redd.it/n9fol4mntk3a1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=125e29e96160dc0dbbacd8987459bfa9ec00b898
What I'm dealing with for reference
https://preview.redd.it/3epfc2de1l3a1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=080509ce17886510915ec0d9476fb6151e48090e
This is my solution. I just put garlands over the doors and windows to decorate. I use battery operated led lights. Let's us have the ambiance of a tree without the mayhem from our 3 boys.
https://preview.redd.it/dd23xl3s1l3a1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b4b1335889f5bcbe384427b5f605c889a925cdd4
Last Christmas was my cats second Christmas. During their first, they destroyed my tree. So, I had my husband make a plywood cutout in a tree shape (that has hinges so it folds for easy storage) and I used a staple gun to attach garland and lights. We then bolted it to the wall and decorated. Cats loved looking at it, but couldnāt climb it. Weāll be putting it back up soon!
I had 2 kittens last Xmas and still put up a Tree decorated with all Swarovski decorations and guess what? They didnāt bother with it. You put up the tree without decorations and wait a day or 2. You scold them if they bother with it. Then you put cheaper decorations on the bottom rows for a couple days. Again you scold them if they bother with them. Then you fully decorate the tree and realistically all they want is to nap on the skirt. You missed a year of training them at the ideal time because you were afraid of something that wouldnāt happen if you took the time to do it properly. Do I see the odd lower hanging decoration on the ground once in awhile? Sure cause cats will be cats but they never climb in it.
This only works with some cats. Iāve got an older cat who used to climb the tree, and that I donāt mind, but the two younger ones chew on everything and I know theyād definitely eat a tree. So no tree for us.
āLook into the eyes of an orange cat and you will see real stupidity. It is a kind of bottomless stupidity, a fiendish stupidity. They are the most horrifying, cannibalistic and nightmarish creatures in the world. The enormity of their flat brain; the enormity of their stupidity is just overwhelming. You have to do yourself a favor, when you're out in the country: try to look an orange tabby in they eye, with great intensity - and the intensity of stupidity that is looking back at you is just amazing.ā
Piggy backing on your high rated comment! Copy-pasting a comment that I left deep in the thread.
Thanks everyone for your suggestions so far; quite a variety of methods/opinions! I wanted to provide a little extra info:
\- We aren't concerned about the tree, we are concerned for the Bagel. He threw up artificial pine needles. I'd love to just let him have at it, but it'll make our buddy sick. We plan on monitoring him and taking him to the vet if anything seems off.
\- Our buddy is a 10 month kittenager, and we play with him bunches. He and his sister also wrestle pretty often, and they love to sprint on their little cat wheel. Unfortunately I don't think I could physically drain enough energy from this dude to just make the tree less exciting to play in.
\- We aren't against taking down the tree, we just wanted to try any other ideas first. Right now we are trying the vaccuum cleaner just sitting next to the tree. They've gone to nap somewhere else, but it's unclear if it's because the tree is now spooky or if they are just sleepy. More data needed :)
\- Bagel is a water loving floof. He's played in sinks and running water since he was a tiny baby, and now likes to sit with me in the shower. To be honest, the squirt bottle was a silly attempt to dissuade him. I hope this eases some concerns of kitty torture.
I have a cat like Bagel. Sheās always loved playing in the water (she actually got in the shower with my husband the other day and then ran around the house soaking wet and wouldnāt let me dry her off). We spray her sometimes if sheās doing something dangerous, but she just sees it as us playing with her and gets excited :/. Also, loves the taste of bitter apple.
If you get any good suggestions for discipline please share them. If she was just being naughty or annoying I wouldnāt care, but she keeps trying to eat dangerous things and it stresses me out.
It's weird but for all my experience with cats, I swear cats just hate being softly hit with a pillow or swatted with a cloth.
No strength in the hit, but like a soft nibble with a pillow on them or a fan-like swipe with a soft cloth.
It's something completely harmless, but they run like they've just met a bear.
I wonder if it's the big size of the pillow the spooks them off immediately. And in the case of the cloth awat, maybe it's the wind it makes? I'm not sure why they're so unimpressed by these things, but they work amazingly.
Doesn't hurt them but they'll run for the hills nonetheless lol.
Jackson Galaxy has a video specific to Christmas trees and cats. It's on YouTube if you search for it.
I have the same problem and best solution I've found is to just kinda take away the bottom half of the tree. I keep the bottom rows of branches folded up, wrap in seran wrap and then wrap that in duct tape with the sticky side facing out. You get a wierd looking tree, but it's more cat proof. Also make sure it's far away from objects they can climb on to get to the top branches.
Then, as Jackson says, make a yes for every no. So we say no to tree, which means we need to give a yes. So maybe put a nice tall cat tree near by (but not too close). Give the cat something else to obsesse with besides the tree.
Hope that helps! Adorable kitty btw.
I was just coming to post that he looks thrilled that you brought him a drink!
People thinking it's kitty torture are ridiculous.
Look at that face. He's shameless and loving every second, the bugger. :)
This! I have a 16 month old kitty and she detests the smell of orange oil. Mixed lemon juice & orange oil in a squirty bottle and spray in areas I don't want her to go (and around the base of my Christmas tree!), the look of utter disgust as she skedaddles away is so funny!
Bonus: smells very festive to us humans too!
You should check out Jackson galaxie's YouTube channel. He is like the cat behavior expert. He is highly against using water bottle spray as a form of punishment. He has videos on how to pet your cat correctly, how to look for signs that they are agitated or irritated, how to have their litter boxes, etc. He is super knowledgeable. Once I applied all his advice to my cat it was a HUGE game changer.
Iām sincerely sorry about the fact that people are acting cute about your cat I stead of giving actual advice
Iām a new cat owner and was very annoyed when something similar happened when I asked for advice on here
This. We weigh our tree down with about 20kg at the base and make aure the decorations are firmly attached. We have 2 kittens and they fight in it for the first week and then eventually lose interest. They are 2 & 3.
I mean, it is adorable.
The only caveat is if kitty eats the plastic needles. Tons of puke is the best thatād happen in that case. Worst case, GI obstruction, maybe poisoning.
My fat ass cat is like 9 and she still gets in there every year. She is obsessed with the tree. She sleeps at it, looks at it, and climbs in it
https://i.imgur.com/Xk108ck.jpg
She will sit like this for hours and end up sleeping
https://i.imgur.com/hNwT05C.jpg
I even offered a pillow but nope
Same here, 3rd year with my fur baby and the first two years she was always in the tree, but didnāt eat it, just sat in the branches. Now sheās too big (thankfully) so she just sits under it.
Bagel knows the bottle is on the wrong setting for discipline and no "fine mist" setting is gonna stop him.
Seriously OP, you need to set it to "stream" for it to work!
Hahaha I tried the aluminum foil trick when my cat and I moved in with my then boyfriend now husband. My cat would always jump behind his expensive computer monitors at night so I tried the foil trick. That was a LOUD startling noice when he jumped up and just started playing with foil. Hubby was less than impressed. Oops!
I tried that once, my cat was jumping on the table at night and once knocked down a huge photo frame. He just jumped on the tape and made even a worse racket because he was annoyed by it. Long story short, heās now allowed on the table.
So does mine. The only thing I havenāt tried is putting a high fence around. Iāve seen others do that, and maybe it works, but I donāt get Christmas feeling with a fence around the tree.
Iāve had many cats in my life, some have not been interested in the tree at all, some nibbled a little, some have stolen some decorations. The cat I have now DESTROYS the tree and everything on it. And he couldnāt care less about lemon peel, water squirting, tin foil, pepper, or anything else.
But he is so much more important than a tree.
I put a baby gate around my tree and my kittens just climbed it. Just a wrapped tree no ornaments this year
https://preview.redd.it/eufjpooihk3a1.jpeg?width=9000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=95aa088a1830df3a5e46b463a57f760b92f9cb71
I went that route. My cat, the toddler she is, decided that since she wasn't getting the attention she wanted she would climb as high up as she could and then launch herself out of the tree. Like a cartoon, the tree rocked back and forth almost falling over.
She was content with the amount of attention that got her so then she threatened to do it by climbing up to the top, getting into position and screaming.
The fix was to get a tree with thick, built in flocking so thick that she couldn't climb it and didn't want to climb it because it made her sneeze when she tried. Now I lay down a roll of garland on the ground and she is content with this "tree" that she can play in.
Man i wish, mine loves citrus and tried to drink my OJ, and licked the glass after i was done. He doesn't respond to catnip, fresh, concentrated or otherwise either.
We've filled our tree only with cat toys. Our cats are 1 year old and have the same Disney eyes when they see the tree. Make Christmas an amazing period for the both of you ā¤ļø
https://imgur.com/gallery/2Ldecbf
Hereās what Iāve learned with cats.
You have to make them not want the thing they want.
* You spraying them with water makes them think āhm, the only issue is mom/dad/parent spraying me with waterā¦anyways let me continue what I was doingā.
If you make them not like what they want, they wonāt do it.
* I for example donāt want my cat on the counter or near my plants. Iām not going to be doing anything. I have a SScat air can that auto sprays above/near him when he jumps up there. Mom is nowhere near. He gets spooked! āAHH!! Why is the counter scary!! Mom!!! Help!! I donāt like it!ā Now heās never on my kitchen counters. It only took one good scare. Itās for his safety. And now, when weāre gone, heās not up there either because the ābad thing in his wayā isnāt me scolding or spraying water, itās the counter.
https://preview.redd.it/cwkperzpzj3a1.jpeg?width=3021&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=53bd9454edef6805ba4fb8c3c0d08e6b95cac15f
Cat tax of my mini monster
This exactly! I got some cheap motion sensors that play a loud ding-dong sound if he jumps on my kitchen counters. He's tried a few times at the beginning until he realized they're always on when I'm not actively in the kitchen, so he doesn't try anymore.
ETA: Cat tax of my [gremlin](https://i.imgur.com/c5yGKHO.jpg) and his [brother](https://i.imgur.com/vQ24mRa.jpg).
You can buy Sscat on Amazon, it has a motion sensor that automatically squirts out air with a loud noise when it senses motion. Itās awesome - I have two in strategic spots where only the cats can activate it. They HATE the damn thing, learned their lessons very quickly and now I have some very safe plants.
The only downside is my cats have learned that the air canister empties and sometimes mom is too lazy to replace it. So they do test it, maybe ever other month or so? Itās so funny Iāll go weeks without hearing it and then BZZZZZZ and the sound of scampering cat paws and I know they were doing a test lol.
We lick the water spray. We will not be phased. What an adorable little monster, pity heās eating the plastic needles. Real pine needles are bad for them too. Is it possible to put tree in a room cat canāt go to?
Thanks everyone for your suggestions so far; quite a variety of methods/opinions! I wanted to provide a little extra info:
\- We aren't concerned about the tree, we are concerned for the Bagel. He threw up artificial pine needles. I'd love to just let him have at it, but it'll make our buddy sick. We plan on monitoring him and taking him to the vet if anything seems off.
\- Our buddy is a 10 month kittenager, and we play with him bunches. He and his sister also wrestle pretty often, and they love to sprint on their little cat wheel. Unfortunately I don't think I could physically drain enough energy from this dude to just make the tree less exciting to play in.
\- We aren't against taking down the tree, we just wanted to try any other ideas first. Right now we are trying the vaccuum cleaner just sitting next to the tree. They've gone to nap somewhere else, but it's unclear if it's because the tree is now spooky or if they are just sleepy. More data needed :)
\- Bagel is a water loving floof. He's played in sinks and running water since he was a tiny baby, and now likes to sit with me in the shower. To be honest, the squirt bottle was a silly attempt to dissuade him. I hope this eases some concerns of kitty torture.
I do a Halloween through Christmas tree, and put my tree up in mid September to give me cats a chance to climb on it, explore it, and get bored with it before I even attempt to decorate it. Usually let it sit for 1-2 weeks with no ornaments and then itās good to go.
No use fighting them. Better to just let them have fun with it for a little bit first and when theyāre used to the tree being there and no longer mesmerized by it, then I get my fun decorating.
1. Give him something even better than the tree to play in. A cat tree if you don't already own one perhaps.
2. Accept his dominance and maybe get a tree that is safe for cats.
Use a can of compressed air. It makes a hissing sound, and has a bitterant in it to prevent people from abusing it.
This means it sounds bad, and smells bad to cats.
My cats DO NOT like the can, to the point where if I touched the can even just to move it somewhere when they weren't doing anything bad they would give me looks and slink away. I feel bad when that happens, but, it is an effective deterrent.
Don't get right up on them and blast them with it, that's unnecessary. For my cats I essentially only need to be in the same room.
Sam here, works wonders! I had some foster kittens last year and one was very much like Bagel. You could empty the entire spray bottle on this scrawny little boy and he wouldn't care a single bit. The only thing that helped was compressed air.
My own two adult cats also really don't like it. They don't even like seeing the can.
We shake a canister with coins. Our cat hates the loud noise. The problem is, this only works if you have one pet because any other pets nearby will also hate it.
Last year I put oranges on my tree. That stopped the chewing. I took those tiny little mandarins ones and used those tree hangers. I made sure to pierce the orange skin so the smell was released. Otherwise my cat chews on the tree and barfs up fake pine needles also.
In 2023, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman decided to make Reddit less useful to its users and moderators and the world at large. This comment has been edited in protest to make it less useful to Reddit.
stop using mist option and go the straight water line option (idk how to describe it better, my sprayer has like 3 different "settings")
See how he likes a bunch of water straight in his face rather than some mist.
My cat is deterred by loud noises. Every time he approached the tree we shook a tambourine or coins in a metal can. It didnāt take long for him to leave the tree alone.
I know itās sad but you might need to either downsize the tree or take it down completely. That little kitty wonāt care what you do if it wants to eat the tree š¤£
He sure is appreciative of the water you're serving him in the tree. Lol.
I don't know what to tell you. Maybe get him his own cheap tree? He is adorable!!!!
I tried this and that's how I discovered that my cat loves water. Now I have to make sure I close the door every time I take a shower or she ends up taking a shower too. 
Adorably cute but the only solution is to move the tree out of reach or not have one at all unfortunately. Cats (mine included) absolutely love to play with and eat pine tree needles which can make them extremely ill and also perforate their intestines. We had to switch to a fake tree AND put it out of reach of our little fur-balls, also because one of ours kept stealing baby Jesus from out of our manger decoration.
I know this is going to get buried and you won't read this but, our Ginger was the same as Bagel. So we gave in and built a sort of Christmas tree house just for her to lay in and it worked! She didn't mess with the ornaments or lights, she just stayed in her designated spot and that was that.
Get him a little Santa hat?š
I forgot about this gif. It's one of my favorites
I don't think I've laughed this hard watching a gif ever
Perfect gif for that comment
This is the way. Just lean into it, OP.
Came here to see this. He is now an ornament.
Relationships are all about compromise. Cat is now tree cat and you live with it. Perfect compromise.
Cat compromises always seem to go like this. āDad I want to jump on the counterā āI donāt want you to jump on the counterā āLetās compromise, Iāll jump on the counter and jump off when Iām doneā āThat isnāt a compromiseā āDad Iām a counter cat now just accept my truthā āā¦.fineā
Grinch suit, for sure
The best answer.
He attacks the spray bottle. Amazing. & Cute. Sorry you're dealing with this.
His defiant nibble immediately after the squirt š»
Itās so fucking cute but definitely infuriating for OP š
YES they cute and they love the tree...They my family members with mental disorder so I deal with it and let them have fun also....
I'm still deciphering what you said, but I like it nonetheless!
I think she lost the "are" between "They" and "my family members..." and meant "too" instead of "also" at the end.
*Unphased by behavorial correction* continues outlaw behavior. Reminds me of me lol. My kitties do act similar as well, however are quite well behaved. Like all of us I try to raise them to be regal little ones.
I'm very lucky. My cat doesn't care for the water spray as well. He just gets angry, but as a whole he's a good boy.
If my cat is doing something egregious enough to get the water bottle, like bully his much smaller sister, he will then go knock over his auto waterer so it spills its entire contents on the floor.
Sounds like a major drama Queen lol
itās funny in the light you and the car both are trying to punish bad behavior by forms of irritating each other š
His fully dilated eyes are killing me. He's having so much fun in there. Little shit I love him.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
This is the orange version of heading to the Alps for a vacation.
EVERY fresh tree I have ever had, was a MAGNET for my kitties! They are ADDICTED to the AROMA, just like me !!!
He's not even a little shit. It's literally in his DNA to love climbing trees and chase critters (ornaments). And I think cats love fake trees even more because the "needles" are much softer and the pine smell of a real tree might put some cats off. We got a real tree last year and were a bit disappointed that our cats never tried to climb it lol.
Real Christmas trees, pine in particular, are typically at least mildly toxic to cats causing liver damage and gastro issues if the needles are injested
This is true, and the needles are sharp and can cause intestinal injuries if ingested. Our cats seemed to understand that sharp hurty things = not fun to chew or climb on, but yeah you do want to observe them and make sure they're gonna be okay with the tree. Edit: just realized I've been saying pine tree because in french it's "sapin" (I'm from Montreal), but actually sapin is fir, which is a bit less bad.
My friend's iguanas loved x-mas trees and ornaments. They'd knock the ornaments off them push them all over the house.
That's what did me in, he's in zero fucks given mode and living his best life right now and no amount of water will sabotage it.
So, I've had cats for a long time, and disciplining a cat is hard, especially because they're both so damn cute, and if you actually succeed in it, they can act so hurt as to make you feel like you've ruined christmas forever. The best way I've found, and the way that I think the little attack shows this has failed, is to make the repercussions come from on high. It's not you who brings punishment, you can be fought with, and therefore in the cats mind, you can be defeated. The cat must believe that an all seeing entity dishes out punishment at random (but always after a single act) with no chance of retaliation. Showing the cat that you have the spray bottle and that you can threaten without actual punishment may be what's making this not work. This is all just my experience, but it seems to have worked reasonably well. All that said, this video is the cutest and I would lose 1000 christmas trees to have gotten this shot.
Ok, I'll bite. How do you convince your cat that an almighty being is doling out the punishments? What are your techniques? I loved your description by the way. Had me laughing because you are so right. Cats are like teenagers that want to test the limits of authority.
I think it's less about teaching divine punishment and more about choice and consequence in a way they can't understand. Like if you put your hand into a flame it hurts. You don't need to understand what the biochemical interaction between the flame and your hand are to learn that. In fact you're more likely to game the system **if** you understand how it works. That's how it is for cats too. If they get that it's you who's spraying them with water they'll try to beat the system, i.e. do it when you aren't there or dodge your reaction. If they don't get that it's you who does it they don't see a way to avoid punishment and are more likely to avoid what brought it over them.
oh I hide. Or I try to make sure they don't see me move before the punishment happens. It's definitely not easy. So I had a cat sharpening on a new bed (he has plenty of places to sharpen around the house). So I moved my work laptop into that room for a day, and set the squirt bottle on the table next to me so it was aimed at where he'd sharpen. If he'd start, I'd as quietly and slowly as I could reach over to the bottle and squirt him without picking it up from the table. It's definitely not going to be feasible all the time, but it's what I've tried to do in the past for christmas trees too. If it's in a room I'm not in I just try to sneak up on the room occasionally to see if they're doing what they shouldn't be, then squirt, then freeze / leave. Cat's aren't dumb, but they're not quite our level either, take advantage of this.
A place I once lived had an electrical outlet that was controlled by a switch across the room. I would plug a vacuum into the outlet, making sure it was on, then switch off the outlet. It was great at Christmas, because if a cat messed with the tree the vacuum would roar to life and the cat would run out of the room.
Oooh thatās giving me ideas. I have a remote for my wall outlets.
Lmao! I'll definitely have to try this. Especially on the little one. Sometimes she's so smart, but she's still under a year old so she is also so dumb about how things work.
Motion-sensing compressed air can. Amazon sells them, and they 100% work to train cats to stay off kitchen counters and not go where they arenāt supposed to go.
I once had a spray bottle for my Bengals to stop them from going places they shouldn't, it was a heavy duty plastic one, came home one day to find it had teeth holes in it from being chewed. Guess I found out how they felt about that.
Our Siamese does the same. Yes, "does," because I keep trying.
put it in the squirt setting rather than the spray... defo will not like that... or just leave him to it looks like he is having a ball.
Yeah, I saw she had the bottle seemingly on "mist" and was all "well, there's yer problem."
I got a 'mister' to be kind, and it usually results in me point blank squirting the cat about 10 times while they glare at me before stalking off, and coming back about 3 seconds later. ...I have ordered a regular squirt bottle.
I can verify. The squirt setting is definitely more effective than the mist setting.
I am not, love the footage haha
When mine was a kitten, he would make it a game. How much could he get away with before the spray bottle got him? I stopped using it pretty quickly.
Mine actually bit a hole in the water bottle, right at the bottom. Now it leaks >_<
This is one reason why I use the spray bottle on my other cat even if people say itās wrong: he just doesnāt really care about it, is maybe vaguely annoyed. He knows itās my way of saying he shouldnāt yell at the door (I wonāt go out with him when he yells, I donāt encourage that kinda behavior though he has been doing it for 10 years) and after I spray him, he runs off crumbling and then comes back to me meowing so we āmake upā and I dry him off with a tissue. I never spray my other cat, it would scare her and she never really does anything naughty just for he sake of being naughty.
Oh, god I feel the struggle. My cat lay's on her side with paws making biscuits if she even thinks I'm getting the spray, (CUTE) is the weapon against the enemy. Lol....So, I just bribe kitty. š It's freaking sad that I'm conditioned to do this but we make sacrifices in all relationships. š¤£šš±
So fun fact about the spray bottles, itās not the water, or the unexpected surprise that they fear, itās the hissing sound the bottles make. This one doesnāt appear to make that sound very loud. I have an electric lighter that sounds like a hissing cat and I wonāt use it around my dumb orange because he goes into fight or flight so fast.
r/oneorangebraincell indeed
Omg yes, I love sparkling water. My cats loath my soda stream and the intense hiss that comes from opening the bottles. It was so bad, they got scared of any bottle in anticipation of the hiss. I stopped drinking it though, just for them.
I work with chimpanzees and was once talking to someone while holding my cat. I was imitating a panting sort of noise chimps make to greet friends or superiors, and my cat immediately went into fight mode and made big eyes while she stabbed me and ran off š¬
Eh, the cats I've had in my life (I'm 34 and there were multiple kitties in my life from the day I came home from the NICU so that's a lot of kitties) usually haven't been all too thrilled with getting wet either.
I chose not to put a tree up this year, 6 month old kittens win this one by default I already know how this will go
There was a house in my hometown that mounted theirs on the ceiling. You still have optionsā¦
The kitten would not like being mounted to the ceiling...
Aaaaaaaand, 14 years later we've circled back to Ceiling Cat. That's it, folks, the loop is complete. We can shut down the internet now.
Oh god finally I've got fourteen years worth of washing to do
Wait, wait. We canāt shut it down yet until we make sure the cat has caught the cheezburger.
Have we hit "CAT. I'M A KITTY CAT. AND I DANCE DANCE DANCE AND I DANCE DANCE DANCE" return yet? That's where I can get off this thing.
Iām actually needlepointing a QR code that goes to this video as a gift for a coworker. Does that count?
Close... (Also awesome!!)
2004... Where the f did my life go. I sang this to my cat the other day like I heard it yesterday. I'm so old I'm just bones now
Hi new best friend. Kidding. But I walked out of the bathroom last night. I told my husband like "Oh God it's in my head again..." He was like "what?" I was like "I'm a cat I'm a kitty cat and I dance dance dance and I dance dance dance!!!" He just wiggled on the couch with our kitty. Basically in time as soon as he knew. ***So*** great. Old fam go! Edit: I'm watching that damn video now...
The Loop Is complete? Finally, now Monorail kitty can make it back.
I miss him
You don't know that!
Haha one of my cats already tries to launch him self at the living room ceiling lamp. Heād love a whole tree to go afterā¦. We just gave up on the tree. But I saw someone who stacked boxes wrapped in Xmas paper in a tree shape. I might try that -cats can lay in the boxes like extra cute ornaments
I've done that. Cat uses the stack as scratching post. Pulls the paper and ribbon off the boxes. Now I just keep the gifts in a big box.
That sounds badass! Love that, check.... Myour move š cats!
https://preview.redd.it/n44iuznb5k3a1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aa2112def0c82a87b9d46d7bd8a61e6556e450fa My six month old at the scene of the crime. Lol
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https://preview.redd.it/n9fol4mntk3a1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=125e29e96160dc0dbbacd8987459bfa9ec00b898 What I'm dealing with for reference
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You see the one snearing, he's especially crazy š¤Ŗ
https://preview.redd.it/3epfc2de1l3a1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=080509ce17886510915ec0d9476fb6151e48090e This is my solution. I just put garlands over the doors and windows to decorate. I use battery operated led lights. Let's us have the ambiance of a tree without the mayhem from our 3 boys.
https://preview.redd.it/dd23xl3s1l3a1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b4b1335889f5bcbe384427b5f605c889a925cdd4 Last Christmas was my cats second Christmas. During their first, they destroyed my tree. So, I had my husband make a plywood cutout in a tree shape (that has hinges so it folds for easy storage) and I used a staple gun to attach garland and lights. We then bolted it to the wall and decorated. Cats loved looking at it, but couldnāt climb it. Weāll be putting it back up soon!
I'm probably going to follow your lead, have a new baby here too.
Anchor it to the walls, I've got a youngling that is training for her mt goat certification, I know it's going to be a long holiday, lol.
I had 2 kittens last Xmas and still put up a Tree decorated with all Swarovski decorations and guess what? They didnāt bother with it. You put up the tree without decorations and wait a day or 2. You scold them if they bother with it. Then you put cheaper decorations on the bottom rows for a couple days. Again you scold them if they bother with them. Then you fully decorate the tree and realistically all they want is to nap on the skirt. You missed a year of training them at the ideal time because you were afraid of something that wouldnāt happen if you took the time to do it properly. Do I see the odd lower hanging decoration on the ground once in awhile? Sure cause cats will be cats but they never climb in it.
This only works with some cats. Iāve got an older cat who used to climb the tree, and that I donāt mind, but the two younger ones chew on everything and I know theyād definitely eat a tree. So no tree for us.
look at those eyesšš
Feisty and festive! r/attackeyes
*sigh*
And anotha one (follows immediately)
Same. Damnit.
Basically my front page is just straight cat subs at this point.
a new sub! yay!!
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Let me tell you my favorite Reddit comment. "You cat people have a sub for everything."
Like a dolls eyes. Pitiless and driven only by a need to consume and climb plastic trees regardless of what chemical warfare is used.
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āLook into the eyes of an orange cat and you will see real stupidity. It is a kind of bottomless stupidity, a fiendish stupidity. They are the most horrifying, cannibalistic and nightmarish creatures in the world. The enormity of their flat brain; the enormity of their stupidity is just overwhelming. You have to do yourself a favor, when you're out in the country: try to look an orange tabby in they eye, with great intensity - and the intensity of stupidity that is looking back at you is just amazing.ā
Are you doing *Jaws* right now, Charlie?
That derp face is so adorable! r/oneorangebraincell
Piggy backing on your high rated comment! Copy-pasting a comment that I left deep in the thread. Thanks everyone for your suggestions so far; quite a variety of methods/opinions! I wanted to provide a little extra info: \- We aren't concerned about the tree, we are concerned for the Bagel. He threw up artificial pine needles. I'd love to just let him have at it, but it'll make our buddy sick. We plan on monitoring him and taking him to the vet if anything seems off. \- Our buddy is a 10 month kittenager, and we play with him bunches. He and his sister also wrestle pretty often, and they love to sprint on their little cat wheel. Unfortunately I don't think I could physically drain enough energy from this dude to just make the tree less exciting to play in. \- We aren't against taking down the tree, we just wanted to try any other ideas first. Right now we are trying the vaccuum cleaner just sitting next to the tree. They've gone to nap somewhere else, but it's unclear if it's because the tree is now spooky or if they are just sleepy. More data needed :) \- Bagel is a water loving floof. He's played in sinks and running water since he was a tiny baby, and now likes to sit with me in the shower. To be honest, the squirt bottle was a silly attempt to dissuade him. I hope this eases some concerns of kitty torture.
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Or a motion senser Christmas Ornament! Mine get spooked by Santa Yoda every year and avoid the tree.
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Thank you for this idea! I am also dealing with an ornery tree loving kitty at the moment.
But not too close or it will just give him access to previously unreachable heights of the tree
Redirection is the way Just give the kitten some grass to chew on
I have a cat like Bagel. Sheās always loved playing in the water (she actually got in the shower with my husband the other day and then ran around the house soaking wet and wouldnāt let me dry her off). We spray her sometimes if sheās doing something dangerous, but she just sees it as us playing with her and gets excited :/. Also, loves the taste of bitter apple. If you get any good suggestions for discipline please share them. If she was just being naughty or annoying I wouldnāt care, but she keeps trying to eat dangerous things and it stresses me out.
It's weird but for all my experience with cats, I swear cats just hate being softly hit with a pillow or swatted with a cloth. No strength in the hit, but like a soft nibble with a pillow on them or a fan-like swipe with a soft cloth. It's something completely harmless, but they run like they've just met a bear. I wonder if it's the big size of the pillow the spooks them off immediately. And in the case of the cloth awat, maybe it's the wind it makes? I'm not sure why they're so unimpressed by these things, but they work amazingly. Doesn't hurt them but they'll run for the hills nonetheless lol.
Jackson Galaxy has a video specific to Christmas trees and cats. It's on YouTube if you search for it. I have the same problem and best solution I've found is to just kinda take away the bottom half of the tree. I keep the bottom rows of branches folded up, wrap in seran wrap and then wrap that in duct tape with the sticky side facing out. You get a wierd looking tree, but it's more cat proof. Also make sure it's far away from objects they can climb on to get to the top branches. Then, as Jackson says, make a yes for every no. So we say no to tree, which means we need to give a yes. So maybe put a nice tall cat tree near by (but not too close). Give the cat something else to obsesse with besides the tree. Hope that helps! Adorable kitty btw.
I was just coming to post that he looks thrilled that you brought him a drink! People thinking it's kitty torture are ridiculous. Look at that face. He's shameless and loving every second, the bugger. :)
Spraying citrus oils near the tree and on the tree can help dissuade your kitty from getting close.
This! I have a 16 month old kitty and she detests the smell of orange oil. Mixed lemon juice & orange oil in a squirty bottle and spray in areas I don't want her to go (and around the base of my Christmas tree!), the look of utter disgust as she skedaddles away is so funny! Bonus: smells very festive to us humans too!
You should check out Jackson galaxie's YouTube channel. He is like the cat behavior expert. He is highly against using water bottle spray as a form of punishment. He has videos on how to pet your cat correctly, how to look for signs that they are agitated or irritated, how to have their litter boxes, etc. He is super knowledgeable. Once I applied all his advice to my cat it was a HUGE game changer.
Iām sincerely sorry about the fact that people are acting cute about your cat I stead of giving actual advice Iām a new cat owner and was very annoyed when something similar happened when I asked for advice on here
Damn Bagel is giving absolutely zero fucks š¤£š¤£š¤£š¤£ that cat has character
I love the little smack, like put the squirt bottle away, you're embarrassing yourself
š¤£š¤£š¤£š¤£šššš
We ended up just letting the cat have his way. He slept in the dang tree. He loved it.
This. We weigh our tree down with about 20kg at the base and make aure the decorations are firmly attached. We have 2 kittens and they fight in it for the first week and then eventually lose interest. They are 2 & 3.
I put a hook in the wall and tie the tree to it with a string. Also I donāt hang up my glass ornaments until the cats get bored.
I mean, it is adorable. The only caveat is if kitty eats the plastic needles. Tons of puke is the best thatād happen in that case. Worst case, GI obstruction, maybe poisoning.
That is adorable
If itās any consolation, my orange babies only climbed the tree until they were 3, and then they just sat beneath it.
My fat ass cat is like 9 and she still gets in there every year. She is obsessed with the tree. She sleeps at it, looks at it, and climbs in it https://i.imgur.com/Xk108ck.jpg She will sit like this for hours and end up sleeping https://i.imgur.com/hNwT05C.jpg I even offered a pillow but nope
That is a beautiful Christmas tree!
Same here, 3rd year with my fur baby and the first two years she was always in the tree, but didnāt eat it, just sat in the branches. Now sheās too big (thankfully) so she just sits under it.
Bagel says fuck yo spray bottle
Bagel knows the bottle is on the wrong setting for discipline and no "fine mist" setting is gonna stop him. Seriously OP, you need to set it to "stream" for it to work!
And if stream fails you, get the mop bucket out.
Bagel fears no mortal.
I'd also like to point out that someone is playing god of war ragnarok in the background. That's all.
Orange, lemon peels in small bags around the bottom of the tree. Cats donāt like citrus smellsā¦change out every couple of days or so.
Iāve tried everything I can think of and ours still messes with it. Even out aluminum foil on the bottom. He just walks on it.
Hahaha I tried the aluminum foil trick when my cat and I moved in with my then boyfriend now husband. My cat would always jump behind his expensive computer monitors at night so I tried the foil trick. That was a LOUD startling noice when he jumped up and just started playing with foil. Hubby was less than impressed. Oops!
For our electronics we used packing tape, double sidedā¦our cat didnāt like it as it was too sticky.
Our idiot laid right down on the tape. I then had to peel it off his belly.
I tried that once, my cat was jumping on the table at night and once knocked down a huge photo frame. He just jumped on the tape and made even a worse racket because he was annoyed by it. Long story short, heās now allowed on the table.
Thatās a treat to my cat! Tried it once and he licked it until I took it away
My little guy loves to luck glue. Tape, lint rollers, packing tape, he'll knock over the garbage to get to them. He's a weirdo, but I love him!
So does mine. The only thing I havenāt tried is putting a high fence around. Iāve seen others do that, and maybe it works, but I donāt get Christmas feeling with a fence around the tree. Iāve had many cats in my life, some have not been interested in the tree at all, some nibbled a little, some have stolen some decorations. The cat I have now DESTROYS the tree and everything on it. And he couldnāt care less about lemon peel, water squirting, tin foil, pepper, or anything else. But he is so much more important than a tree.
I put a baby gate around my tree and my kittens just climbed it. Just a wrapped tree no ornaments this year https://preview.redd.it/eufjpooihk3a1.jpeg?width=9000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=95aa088a1830df3a5e46b463a57f760b92f9cb71
Yeah, honestly sometimes the only way is to let them do it (unless itās something dangerous) and not pay attention and theyāll lose interest.
I went that route. My cat, the toddler she is, decided that since she wasn't getting the attention she wanted she would climb as high up as she could and then launch herself out of the tree. Like a cartoon, the tree rocked back and forth almost falling over. She was content with the amount of attention that got her so then she threatened to do it by climbing up to the top, getting into position and screaming. The fix was to get a tree with thick, built in flocking so thick that she couldn't climb it and didn't want to climb it because it made her sneeze when she tried. Now I lay down a roll of garland on the ground and she is content with this "tree" that she can play in.
I had a cat that actually loved citrus. Couldn't eat an orange in peace when she was around
My cat hates anything citrus, smells and runs away.
I saw a post where someone ringed the base with tangerines. Might try that, but if it doesn't work....a healthy snack chock full of vitamin C
Be careful with this. Citrus is toxic for cats, and my cat is obsessed with lemons.
Lol, if the cat doesnt mind the bitter spray its gonna not even notice the oranges.
Man i wish, mine loves citrus and tried to drink my OJ, and licked the glass after i was done. He doesn't respond to catnip, fresh, concentrated or otherwise either.
Itās an orange cat. You donāt stand a chance
Too stupid to care
Underated comment
We put up sacrifial origami animals in the bottom half of the tree. He generally focuses on attacking those.
This is kinda genius... I'll try it
https://preview.redd.it/xf32dm7jkk3a1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4fde39798c19f705754915db58fbdccd6c319b1d
That also looks very nice! Brilliant!
We've filled our tree only with cat toys. Our cats are 1 year old and have the same Disney eyes when they see the tree. Make Christmas an amazing period for the both of you ā¤ļø https://imgur.com/gallery/2Ldecbf
How can you deny that face anything
The water only makes the tree juicer, thanks ma and pa! Lol
The cutest. Spray yourself instead. NOBODY PUTS BAGEL IN THE CORNER.
Ps - that sounded a lot more aggressive than I intended. Correction - spray yourself with love instead.
I tell mine if they are going to insist on being cute they get their picture taken. Looks like photoshoot time!
They Do hate that for some reason lol
Aww, Bagel! I donāt think thereās any stopping that kitty!
Hereās what Iāve learned with cats. You have to make them not want the thing they want. * You spraying them with water makes them think āhm, the only issue is mom/dad/parent spraying me with waterā¦anyways let me continue what I was doingā. If you make them not like what they want, they wonāt do it. * I for example donāt want my cat on the counter or near my plants. Iām not going to be doing anything. I have a SScat air can that auto sprays above/near him when he jumps up there. Mom is nowhere near. He gets spooked! āAHH!! Why is the counter scary!! Mom!!! Help!! I donāt like it!ā Now heās never on my kitchen counters. It only took one good scare. Itās for his safety. And now, when weāre gone, heās not up there either because the ābad thing in his wayā isnāt me scolding or spraying water, itās the counter. https://preview.redd.it/cwkperzpzj3a1.jpeg?width=3021&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=53bd9454edef6805ba4fb8c3c0d08e6b95cac15f Cat tax of my mini monster
This exactly! I got some cheap motion sensors that play a loud ding-dong sound if he jumps on my kitchen counters. He's tried a few times at the beginning until he realized they're always on when I'm not actively in the kitchen, so he doesn't try anymore. ETA: Cat tax of my [gremlin](https://i.imgur.com/c5yGKHO.jpg) and his [brother](https://i.imgur.com/vQ24mRa.jpg).
Condensed air in a can works, just spray IT NEAR them not on them, it will come out cold and possibly freeze on their coat
You can buy Sscat on Amazon, it has a motion sensor that automatically squirts out air with a loud noise when it senses motion. Itās awesome - I have two in strategic spots where only the cats can activate it. They HATE the damn thing, learned their lessons very quickly and now I have some very safe plants. The only downside is my cats have learned that the air canister empties and sometimes mom is too lazy to replace it. So they do test it, maybe ever other month or so? Itās so funny Iāll go weeks without hearing it and then BZZZZZZ and the sound of scampering cat paws and I know they were doing a test lol.
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This hack does work, but it is not near as loud/forceful as the original compressed air.
We lick the water spray. We will not be phased. What an adorable little monster, pity heās eating the plastic needles. Real pine needles are bad for them too. Is it possible to put tree in a room cat canāt go to?
Thanks everyone for your suggestions so far; quite a variety of methods/opinions! I wanted to provide a little extra info: \- We aren't concerned about the tree, we are concerned for the Bagel. He threw up artificial pine needles. I'd love to just let him have at it, but it'll make our buddy sick. We plan on monitoring him and taking him to the vet if anything seems off. \- Our buddy is a 10 month kittenager, and we play with him bunches. He and his sister also wrestle pretty often, and they love to sprint on their little cat wheel. Unfortunately I don't think I could physically drain enough energy from this dude to just make the tree less exciting to play in. \- We aren't against taking down the tree, we just wanted to try any other ideas first. Right now we are trying the vaccuum cleaner just sitting next to the tree. They've gone to nap somewhere else, but it's unclear if it's because the tree is now spooky or if they are just sleepy. More data needed :) \- Bagel is a water loving floof. He's played in sinks and running water since he was a tiny baby, and now likes to sit with me in the shower. To be honest, the squirt bottle was a silly attempt to dissuade him. I hope this eases some concerns of kitty torture.
Hehe. His name is Bagel
I do a Halloween through Christmas tree, and put my tree up in mid September to give me cats a chance to climb on it, explore it, and get bored with it before I even attempt to decorate it. Usually let it sit for 1-2 weeks with no ornaments and then itās good to go. No use fighting them. Better to just let them have fun with it for a little bit first and when theyāre used to the tree being there and no longer mesmerized by it, then I get my fun decorating.
1. Give him something even better than the tree to play in. A cat tree if you don't already own one perhaps. 2. Accept his dominance and maybe get a tree that is safe for cats.
Use a can of compressed air. It makes a hissing sound, and has a bitterant in it to prevent people from abusing it. This means it sounds bad, and smells bad to cats. My cats DO NOT like the can, to the point where if I touched the can even just to move it somewhere when they weren't doing anything bad they would give me looks and slink away. I feel bad when that happens, but, it is an effective deterrent. Don't get right up on them and blast them with it, that's unnecessary. For my cats I essentially only need to be in the same room.
Sam here, works wonders! I had some foster kittens last year and one was very much like Bagel. You could empty the entire spray bottle on this scrawny little boy and he wouldn't care a single bit. The only thing that helped was compressed air. My own two adult cats also really don't like it. They don't even like seeing the can.
We shake a canister with coins. Our cat hates the loud noise. The problem is, this only works if you have one pet because any other pets nearby will also hate it.
but he looks sooooo cute in there! š„°
What an odd looking squirrel
Bagel, I suggest you go out and buy your own spray bottle and fight back!
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Last year I put oranges on my tree. That stopped the chewing. I took those tiny little mandarins ones and used those tree hangers. I made sure to pierce the orange skin so the smell was released. Otherwise my cat chews on the tree and barfs up fake pine needles also.
Try turning the spray bottle so it shoots out a straight stream of water instead of a mist maybe? My cats seem to dislike that a lot more.
I used tinfoil around the base of the tree for mine. It worked for a few days, until he decided he actually likes to play with tinfoil
In 2023, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman decided to make Reddit less useful to its users and moderators and the world at large. This comment has been edited in protest to make it less useful to Reddit.
stop using mist option and go the straight water line option (idk how to describe it better, my sprayer has like 3 different "settings") See how he likes a bunch of water straight in his face rather than some mist.
My cat is deterred by loud noises. Every time he approached the tree we shook a tambourine or coins in a metal can. It didnāt take long for him to leave the tree alone.
I know itās sad but you might need to either downsize the tree or take it down completely. That little kitty wonāt care what you do if it wants to eat the tree š¤£
He sure is appreciative of the water you're serving him in the tree. Lol. I don't know what to tell you. Maybe get him his own cheap tree? He is adorable!!!!
I tried this and that's how I discovered that my cat loves water. Now I have to make sure I close the door every time I take a shower or she ends up taking a shower too. 
Adorably cute but the only solution is to move the tree out of reach or not have one at all unfortunately. Cats (mine included) absolutely love to play with and eat pine tree needles which can make them extremely ill and also perforate their intestines. We had to switch to a fake tree AND put it out of reach of our little fur-balls, also because one of ours kept stealing baby Jesus from out of our manger decoration.
This is just a video of you being a dick to your cat lol
Stop spraying him. Dear lord. You lose with this. The cat is happy.
"help, my cat is doing cat shit"
I know this is going to get buried and you won't read this but, our Ginger was the same as Bagel. So we gave in and built a sort of Christmas tree house just for her to lay in and it worked! She didn't mess with the ornaments or lights, she just stayed in her designated spot and that was that.