Safe Christmas Traditions to Celebrate with Your Cat
Sharing holiday memories with your furry family members is a great idea, but not all winter wonderlands are safe for kitties. Many of our favorite Christmas plants pose serious threats to cats and so do fragile decorations and dangerous holiday ingredients. But all is not lost! There are plenty of safe Christmas traditions you can share with your cat—please just keep them all away from the Christmas tree.
Take a holiday photo
If you have human children, there’s a good chance you’re already doing this for them, so why not do it for your favorite, too? Whether you use this festive photo for a holiday card, social media, or your own private stash is up to you, but it can be a fun experience for both you . . . at least if treats are involved. (Check out our stocking suggestion below for another possible use of this fab new photo!)
You can easily set up a safe photo studio for your cat with holiday-themed plush characters, wintry pillows, and cozy Christmas blankets. Most cats love exploring new textures, so this should also encourage your photo shoot participant to be a little more willing to cooperate. Set up your entire studio in a separate room, and don’t let your cat see it until your camera is ready—the first time your fickle friend explores, it could be your only chance to snap photos.
If your cat is willing to dress up, feel free to add a kitty-size ugly Christmas sweater or something like a Santa hat, but please don’t force him if he’s not used to this. This should be a good time for everyone! Speaking of which, don’t forget to use treat rewards to keep the mood fun (use them to lure him to set and to direct his attention toward the camera for the best photos!).
Hang a stocking for your cat
It’s important to keep cats away from your Christmas tree for many reasons, so you won’t be able to decorate that one together, but there’s no reason your kitty can’t share in the Christmas fun of stocking stuffers. Hang an extra stocking for your cat right beside your own and decorate it just as you would for any other family member. Fill your cat’s stocking with Christmas goodies like new toys, favorite treats, catnip, and new accessories if your furball is a fashionista.
To keep your cat from attacking the stocking ahead of schedule, you might not want to stuff this one until Christmas morning (or whenever you open stockings at your house), especially if you’re including gifts they might be able to smell. Cats love wrapping paper, and many will be willing to help you dig into loosely wrapped gifts once they realize what’s inside, but you may be encouraging them to go after your own presents in the future if you go this route, so proceed at your own risk.
If you want to add an extra annual tradition to the stocking experience, you can also pin your cat’s new holiday photo to the front of her stocking each year for added cuteness. (Remove the photo and pins before giving the stocking to him if you’re going to let him explore it at his own pace.)
Bake cookies together
Okay, don’t actually bake cookies together, but do bake some cat-safe holiday treats! Traditional cookies are full of ingredients that range from unsafe to full-on toxic for cats, so don’t encourage them to participate when making those, but you can certainly get them involved in some kitty treat baking for the holidays. The internet is full of easy cat treat recipes—here’s one for tuna catnip “cookies” we love and approve.
It’s not the best idea to involve your cat in the prep or encourage any more kitchen time than necessary in general, but using the baking time to play with your kitty is a great way to make this experience even more about her.
Watch Christmas movies together
There’s no shortage of holiday movies, including dozens of new titles dropped every year. The even better news is that there are many featuring cats! Whether you make this a one-time thing every year or a weekly tradition through December, look for titles like Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever, A Very Caticorn Christmas, The Cat Who Saved Christmas, and Santa Claws for nights of cozy Christmas cuddles with your kitty.
Switch up the blankets and pillows on the sofa to encourage your cat to join you there, and feel free to serve some of those kitty “cookies” you baked earlier. If you’re not a baker, you can just shred some cooked white meat chicken or turkey to offer your special guest instead. Regular cat treats work fine, too—they’re not quite as festive, but your cat probably isn’t going to tell anyone.