My current cats don't bother my tree much other than to sleep below it.  Now
the first 3 I had could destroy a tree in no time if left at it.  I used to
tie the ornaments to the tree than have to tie the tree upright.  If I
didn't they would strip the tree of every ornament and play with them for
hours.

Celeste

Suddenly, without warning, ingrid.seim@gmail.com exclaimed (18-Jul-05
6:44 PM):

Well, truth be told, I think she must have previous lives to rely on or
something.  She was just a real good kitten, but what I did was discover
that she hates the smell of a petroleum-based lip balm I used (one of
those ones that come in a little dish, like Tiger Balm), and I dabbed
that on all of the bulbs at kitten level.  She stayed well away from the
tree 'cause she hated how it smelled.

Now that I think of it, the lack of tree-climbing might be more of an
issue of her conformation.  She's never been a climber, or much of a
jumper.  She's terribly cowhocked behind, enough that she swings her
hocks around each other as she walks.  X-rays show that the bones of her
lower legs are quite bowed.  She's never seemed 'handicapped', and can
long-jump horizontally with the best.

jmc