What is the best kind of Christmas tree for the cat and cat owner: real or artificial?

Our two cats are very curious, playful, and occasionally even a bit mischievous - and they're not even that young!





My wife and I were thinking about getting a real Christmas tree this year. Is this a bad idea with two cats? Will they be too interested in the tree and its smell?





What has been the experience of folks here with real trees and cats?





A could of years ago we had an artificial one and the cats knocked it over somehow.





But I am still wondering if a real tree would be even worse in terms of eliciting unwanted behaviors from them.





Thanks|||I've always had real trees and always had cats around. There has never been any major problems. Sometimes the cats like to swat the ornaments off if they're low on the tree, but mostly my cats just sit under the tree and occasionally drink some of the water out of the bottom....|||a real tree is harmful to them if eaten,and a artifical one can also be but the odds of them eating a fake tree versus and real is weird,i have a bengal cat and i cant have any tree this year they will not only eat my tree but also climb it like a damn pole.go with the fake for your cats sake,lol|||It has not hurt my cat to have a real tree. He sleeps under it and when I used an artificial tree he hated it.|||with cats they climb the tree.... and when u have a real one sthe pine needles come off. and with artificial ones they dont fall off.....|||A real tree is the best. One note don't put any round bulb decorations near the bottom of tree. They like to play with the round ones and take them off the tree. If you put them higher up don't seem to bother those there.|||I would say get it. I mean I have a Cat ( I had her for like 4 or 5 yrs now :O ) I ALWAYS got a "real" tree and all she did was go under it and broke maybe 1...2... ornament's off of it besides all that , shes fine with it.|||I would stay with the artificial, because eating pine or fir needles could be very harmful for your cat, and they are likely to do it.|||eat it|||I don't think it really matters to the cats they will sniff and climb it regardless if it is real or not the only drawback to using a real one is finding the needles (leaves) stuck in your carpet for months afterwards.