# Will Christmas tree water kill my cat?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-christmas-tree-water-kill-my-cat/336574
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 21, 2005, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-christmas-tree-water-kill-my-cat/336574 "2005-12-21T03:10:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 17
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2005, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-christmas-tree-water-kill-my-cat/336574/1 "2005-12-21T03:10:48Z")
My cat’s been lapping at the water in the Christmas tree stand all night because I overfilled it a little. There’s no very easy way for me to empty the thing, so I’ve been chasing him away from the tree every half hour. His water bowl is perfectly full - I think he’s just enjoying the novelty, the taste, or the forbidden factor. But can the tree water make him sick at all? There’s nothing added, it’s just tap water and a tree stump in a metal can.
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### Author:  [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2005, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-christmas-tree-water-kill-my-cat/336574/2 "2005-12-21T03:27:02Z")
What is there about it that could possibly harm a cat? I’m not really understanding what it is you fear about it.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2005, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-christmas-tree-water-kill-my-cat/336574/3 "2005-12-21T03:44:00Z")
Given what cats normally drink, I’m not seeing a problem here.
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### Author:  [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2005, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-christmas-tree-water-kill-my-cat/336574/4 "2005-12-21T04:11:04Z")
I think the water goes one way… into the tree. What is wrong with the water ?
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### Author:  [@lonesome\_loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lonesome_loser)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2005, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-christmas-tree-water-kill-my-cat/336574/5 "2005-12-21T04:20:44Z")
Your cat, given the chance, would eat dead, festering road kill. And you think water with a tree in it would hurt it?
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### Author:  [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2005, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-christmas-tree-water-kill-my-cat/336574/6 "2005-12-21T04:24:54Z")
Ok, ok, so I’m paranoid.
I just figured that the tree would be leaking treeish things into the water and maybe they’d be not so great for kitty to drink.
But yeah, he does lick his own ass, so… guess he’s gonna live.
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### Author:  [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2005, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-christmas-tree-water-kill-my-cat/336574/7 "2005-12-21T04:31:43Z")
> [@Antigen](#):
>
> I just figured that the tree would be leaking treeish things into the water…
Sure, it makes the water taste piney.
People drink [Retsina](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retsina), and live to talk about it, yet we’re not nearly as tough as cats.
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### Author:  [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2005, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-christmas-tree-water-kill-my-cat/336574/8 "2005-12-21T07:40:45Z")
A quick google search of “tree water” + “cats” turns up [several](http://www.newyorktails.com/animcare.htm) [recommendations](http://www.petplace.com/article.aspx?id=4002) [not to let](http://www.wtvr.com/Global/story.asp?S=4223007) pets drink water from the base of the Christmas tree — not that I’m positive how you’d completely secure it against the little buggers.
The excuse these sites give is that the tree water may contain fertilizers, and stagnant water can be a breeding ground for bacteria.
I dunno about bacteria, myself — seems that cats are pretty hardy when it comes to naturally occurring food problems. The fertilizer is a more serious objection. Dunno how much actual fertilizer one would find in the water, really.
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### Author:  [@Kiminy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiminy)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2005, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-christmas-tree-water-kill-my-cat/336574/9 "2005-12-21T13:39:38Z")
If you’re using plain water, as others have said, I wouldn’t worry about it. If you’re using water with “Christmas tree chemicals” in it, though, you should probably keep them out of it.
We got [this](http://www.brookstone.com/bs_assets/files/pdf/product/354621.pdf) this year at the stand where we bought our tree. It was all of 6 bucks, and lets us wrap the tree stand completely in plastic to keep the cats out of the water. (Our cats are more likely to play with it and splash it all over the place than to drink it!)
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### Author:  [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2005, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-christmas-tree-water-kill-my-cat/336574/10 "2005-12-21T16:32:15Z")
One of our cats loves drinking the tree water to no adverse effects. But she’s a few cards short a deck anyways. The only time she’s had a ‘problem’ is from the needles poking her.
When I put the tree up, I put it on a large plastic tablecloth. Center the tree, then wrap the tablecloth around the stand. Cover it with a tree skirt and _ta-da!_ no access for kitty. Now she just hovers when I fill the stand, hoping I’ll forget to cover it back up.
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### Author:  [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2005, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-christmas-tree-water-kill-my-cat/336574/11 "2005-12-21T18:22:23Z")
> [@Antigen](#):
>
> Ok, ok, so I’m paranoid.
>
> I just figured that the tree would be leaking treeish things into the water and maybe they’d be not so great for kitty to drink.
>
> .
Treeish things are probably fine. Now _Entish_ things…that’s another matter. Remember what happened to Merry and Pippin.
We decided not to do the tree thing this year, as there are only the two of us, but last year our four cats slurped down tree water constantly, to no ill effect, other than our having to refill it continually.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2005, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-christmas-tree-water-kill-my-cat/336574/12 "2005-12-21T21:13:06Z")
> [@lonesome loser](#):
>
> Your cat, given the chance, would eat dead, festering road kill. And you think water with a tree in it would hurt it?
There are plants that are poisonous to animals-poinsettas come to mind.
As for the OP, I think it’s more likely the tree might be harmed from Kitty drinking all of its water. Hell, my cats drink water out of the bathtub drain (which might have soap residue) to no ill effects.
😉
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### Author:  [@festiva76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/festiva76)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2005, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-christmas-tree-water-kill-my-cat/336574/13 "2005-12-21T21:15:20Z")
We couldn’t keep our cat away from the tree water last year. Of course, she’s a few bricks shy of a full load anyway. She drinks her water by dipping her paw in and licking it from her cupped paw.
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### Author:  [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2005, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-christmas-tree-water-kill-my-cat/336574/14 "2005-12-21T21:16:50Z")
If you’ve added aspirin or anything else to the water to help preserve the tree, that could be dangerous to your cat. In particular, it’s easy for cats to overdose on aspirin, because they [metabolize it very slowly](http://www.vetinfo.com/catpain.html#Aspirin%20or%20Acetaminophen).
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### Author:  [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2005, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-christmas-tree-water-kill-my-cat/336574/15 "2005-12-21T21:21:21Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#):
>
> There are plants that are poisonous to animals-poinsettas come to mind.
>
> .
>
> 😉
I heard that it is not poisonous to animals
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-christmas-tree-water-kill-my-cat/336574/16 "2005-12-23T02:50:39Z")
> [@BluePitbull](#):
>
> I heard that it is not poisonous to animals
I’ve been told otherwise-every list of household plants not safe for pets usually includes poinsettas.
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### Author:  [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2005, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-christmas-tree-water-kill-my-cat/336574/17 "2005-12-23T14:26:28Z")
There is always the risk of your dummy cat trying to drink the tree water, somehow knocking over the tree, the wires on the lights get frayed, burns your house down…
AND your cat dies all because YOU thought it was safe for the tabby to guzzle down the tree juice.
Shame, shame, shame.