All that glitters isn’t good. During the fun and festivities over the holidays, be sure to keep your pets safe from harm.

Cats, being the inquisitive creatures that they are, appreciate things that are new and different. Because the holidays bring an array of novel and interesting stimuli into the home, the curious kitty can certainly get into trouble.

While a child may wait for Santa Claus to come down the chimney, a cat may also wait for the perfect moment to climb up the tree. For the climbing kitty, a holiday tree offers the excitement of the outdoors inside the home, and even an undecorated tree is not without risk. Unless the tree is anchored, the results can be devastating. “I’ve heard many stories about Christmas trees coming down,” says Pamela Perry, DVM, lecturer in farm-animal behavior at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

A married couple who were Dr. Perry’s clients had tried repeatedly to keep their tree standing in spite of their cat. After several unsuccessful attempts, the wife gave up and left the house. “When she returned, her husband had hung the tree upside down from the ceiling,” says Dr. Perry. Although hanging a tree upside down may be extreme, anchoring it to the ceiling with a cup hook and some wire or string may keep your tree from coming to harm.

If your cat enjoys chewing on greens, he may dine on the tree’s needles, and having an artificial tree may not discourage a persistent feline from choosing the branches as a midnight buffet. A light coating of something distasteful on the lower branches may keep kitty from snacking on them. “Peppermint or other pungent oils may dissuade your cat from eating your tree,” says Dr. Perry. “Cats’ noses are sensitive, so mix it in a spray bottle and spray the areas you don’t want your cat to attack.” Not all cats dislike the same things, so you may need to experiment. Light applications of wasabi paste, Tabasco sauce or citrus may also do the trick.

Decorations Aren’t Toys!

A decorated tree can become a new play station for the cat looking to increase her gaming quotient. Many tree ornaments are made of materials such as glass or ceramics that can easily shatter. Rather than risking the favorite heirloom as well as the cat, hang ornaments of cloth, straw, wood, or other non-breakable materials at a cat’s eye level. “Place cat-friendly ornaments at the bottom of the tree,” says Dr. Perry, “and tie them to the tree with cloth loops rather than hooks.”

If you have a live tree, keep your cat away from the water used to keep the tree fresh. “Use plain water that has no chemicals added,” says Dr. Perry.

To a cat intrigued by the apparent movement of shiny metallic tinsel, all that glitters is not good. While Dr. Perry was a veterinary student, her cat, Chester, gobbled some tinsel from her Christmas tree. “Some cats like shiny things,” says Dr. Perry. The giveaway that Chester had eaten the tinsel was that hevomitedup much of it. For other cats, tinsel may work its way into the digestive tract and become lodged in the intestines. Some of it may make it all the way through to be expelled through the anus, but other material may requiresurgeryto remove. “If a piece of tinsel gets wrapped around the base of the tongue before being fully swallowed, it acts like a piano wire as the cat is digesting and perforates the intestines,” says Dr. Perry. “It’s very life-threatening.”

Other holiday decorations can pose problems as well. “Chewing on things like little bulbs, wires, phone cords and electrical cords – especially when they are plugged in – is all dangerous to your pet,” says Dr. Perry. To keep cats away from cords of any kind, tie up the cords or place them in a heavy plastic cord protector, available at hardware stores. Cord protectors can be cut to any length desired and some can attach to the wall or baseboard.

If you have a party, make certain that your cat is safely tucked away so he doesn’t run out the door. Many cats, however, avoid strangers and prefer to hide when guests arrive. “If you have that many people for a party, your cat probably won’t want to interact;” says Dr. Perry. “Some like to wait till everyone is settled in before coming out from hiding.”

When wrapping presents, avoid long ribbon ties, especially if you place them under a tree. “Cats like to chew novel things, so make sure it’s safe,” says Dr. Perry. “If it’s not safe for a child, it’s not safe for a cat.”