This is a clever, albeit slightly unattractive method 😒 for deterring either your dog or cat from interfering with the Christmas tree. The ‘genius hack’ as it is described or as I have called it is based on the near universal fear of the dreaded vacuum cleaner by dogs and cats. They associate it with a nasty noise and therefore as a dangerous but incomprehensible predator. Well, that is how the cats that I have lived with see vacuum cleaners. I am unsure if dogs react in the same way but many probably do.
As you can see in the video you place the vacuum near the tree. Yeh, it looks crap but it protects the tree like a guard outside Buckingham Palace protecting the King of England ✔️😎. You might add a little bit of Christmas decoration to make it more attractive but not so much that it weakens the visual impact of this alien monster (to pets).
You could turn it on for a second or two if your cat approaches the Christmas tree looking as if they want to climb it and destroy all your hard work in setting it up. That would be a small and timely reminder to admire the tree but stay away. I’ll return to the King’s Guard at the palace. They are often on horses. If you are a tourist and you touch the horse the guard shouts at you. The idea is to terrify you into staying back. Same thing. A deterrent.
There are a quite a few things about the human world that confuse cats. It is a reminder that the domestic cat lives in a strange world to which they have adapted out of necessity. The wild cat within, just below the surface, finds a lot of human behaviour and possessions incomprehensible. Take cars for instance. How do they perceive them? Certainly not as something friendly when the engine is running and they are moving.
When they are stationary, they might become cautiously inquisitive and get into a van or car. But when moving they become predators to a watching cat. And if they are inside a vehicle cats are often very stressed. They get hot and start panting. It is an unnatural place to be in. The whole experience is confusing.
Of course, cats can learn to get used to cars and other human objects, even vacuum cleaners. Some cats enjoy being vacuumed. It is in general that they hate the damnable things. It is mainly due to the noise they make.
It is interesting that cats don’t seem to see and understand that their friendly human caregiver and provider is pushing the vacuum cleaner around. This does not seem to have any ameliorating effect. They see the monster predator moving of its own accord. Strange.
Below are some articles on cat deterrents.
Hahaha! Great idea, but probably wouldn’t work with my dogs. They love barking at the vacuum as it growls and moves back and forth over the floor.