Keeping Your Cats Safe and Happy This Christmas

The festive season is wonderful for us humans, but for our feline friends, Christmas can be a minefield of stress and hazards.

I sat down with Ellie Lee, Director and Veterinary Surgeon at Manchester Cat Clinic, to get the lowdown on keeping our cats safe and content during the holiday chaos.

The Stress Factor

“The biggest thing would be stress,” Ellie told me. “Cats are very much creatures of habit. They like their routine, they like things to stay the same, and obviously we can have a lot of big changes around big holidays.”

And she’s not wrong, is she?

Between visitors popping round, furniture being shoved about to make room for that massive tree, and Uncle Barry’s dog who absolutely will not leave the cat alone, it’s no wonder our moggies get a bit tetchy.

Give Them Space (And Maybe Some Feliway)

Ellie’s advice is refreshingly simple: give your cats somewhere to hide. Let them have their safe spaces where they can escape the madness.

She mentioned pheromone plug-in diffusers like Feliway, which can help cats feel more relaxed during all the festive commotion.

“Cats love boxes,” she reminded me, which, let’s be honest, we all know.

If you’ve ever bought your cat an expensive toy only to watch them play with the cardboard box it came in for three hours, you’ll understand.

“Leave them to it, do their own thing, don’t force them to interact with people if they don’t want to.”
Sound advice for humans at Christmas parties too, if you ask me.

The Tinsel Terror

Now, onto the hazards. And there are quite a few lurking around your festive decorations.

Tinsel is the classic culprit.

“Cats might be tempted to eat it,” Ellie explained, “and it’s stringy material, so if they’re not good at swallowing a piece, they can kind of gulp it and the whole thing will kind of go down on itself.”

Apparently, it can get caught in their stomach and intestines, bunching up and getting stuck.

Next thing you know, your cat’s poorly and needs emergency surgery.

Not exactly the Christmas miracle you were hoping for.

Ribbons from presents and toys can cause the same problem.

Other Festive Hazards to Watch For

Ellie rattled off a worrying list of other potential dangers:

• Christmas decorations – If there’s something new and shiny in the house, chances are your cat will want to investigate it, play with it, or knock it over
• Nerf guns and foam projectiles – Popular with kids at Christmas, but cats can swallow them. “They’re large foam pellets that have a plastic tip, and the tip that is the exact width of a cat’s intestine,” Ellie warned. “They get lodged in the middle and they can’t pass it or vomit it up, so they can be in a really bad state.”

The Christmas Tree Conundrum

I had to ask about Christmas trees, because surely every cat owner has watched in horror as their precious angel scales the tree like it’s Everest.

“I’m quite lucky,” Ellie admitted. “I’ve never really had cats that climb my Christmas tree.”

Lucky indeed. Her tip? Cats hate the smell of citrus.

You can hang orange or lemon slices around the tree, or spray lemon oil at the base to keep them away.

Although Ellie acknowledged that if you’ve got a crazy Bengal, “there’s only so much you can do.”

Fair point!

The Bottom Line

Christmas should be fun for everyone, including our pets. Keep an eye on what your cat can access, give them plenty of escape routes when the house gets busy, and maybe think twice before draping tinsel everywhere this year.

And if you’re bringing dogs to the house (Ellie’s got both sets of in-laws’ dogs coming, poor thing), make absolutely certain your cats have somewhere safe to retreat to.

From all of us at Mix 56, here’s to a safe and happy Christmas for you and your furry friends!

• The Cat Clinic is a cat-only Vet based in Manchester.  Find out more here.