So I have a neighbor cat that comes over in my yard almost every day and she climbs on everything, which makes me kinda mad as she has sharp claws and sometimes she will scratch things. Overall it’s been manageable though tonight I noticed a bunch of scratches and gouges in my young autumn blaze maple. It is maybe 4-5” in diameter (got it 2 years ago) and 20 feet tall. Growing well and healthy though I’m not sure if the scratches will hurt the trunk as they are all over from about 2 feet up to about 5 feet up. Honestly I’m not even sure if they’re from the cat, but they look like they would be. Question is will they heal and cause no problems for the growth of the tree or should I wrap the tree in something? Some sites say aluminum foil or plastic wrap but I don’t want to damage the tree.

Tree should be fine unless the scratches are deep enough (through the bark and into the cambium) and circumferential.

I can't imagine a house cat doing enough damage to a tree of 5" diameter to be concerned about. I suspect it's another critter.

But...you can get tree wraps that'll work or even some welded wire around it and up a few feet. I've got an autumn blaze maple that I put in this year that's about 12' high now and I just put a cylinder of welded wire around it to protect it from rubbing deer. That's what I've done with all of my trees that I've planted and it's worked well so far.

If you're worried about the exposed wood, I've been told you can patch it with a special 'tree patch' spray or that plain black spray paint works about as well.

When some kids climbing in a cherry tree broke off a major limb, I was able to use a long bolt to attach it back to the tree and spray the exposed area. It recovered completely.

When I was growing up we had an inside/outside cat. We had 2 elm trees in our back yard that we planted when my dad built the house. My cat constantly scratched the bark. I distinctly remember marks from 18" - 36" or so. It was visually noticeable, but the tree didn't seem to mind.

Commercial landscape supply, and Arborist supply houses have various forms of tree trunk protection- plastic dipped wire, plastic mesh, wraps,etc.Try A. M. Leonard, Forest Products, others, including County agricultural extenion services.

Good luck.
Blackhorse4

Thanks for the comments this far.

Pretty substantial scratches it seems from a small cat. Maybe it is another animal though what animal wants to climb straight up a 5” trunk with a dense limb and leaf pattern once up?

I really doubt that is a house cat. Something bigger or much smaller (grubs or bugs of some kind).

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SBrooks, May 24, 2018 11:37 AM

Pretty substantial scratches it seems from a small cat. Maybe it is another animal though what animal wants to climb straight up a 5” trunk with a dense limb and leaf pattern once up?

Only if this is the "cat"

https://www.greenmax.eu/en/biteprotect/

trees that young can suffer from a lot of wounds ,
try this or something similar.

the bark also requires direct sunlight if its a very wet season.

perhaps your corner family owned hardware store would cut you a 14 inch piece of 1/2 inch hardware cloth thats 36 inches wide,

to put around the trunk and fasten together the ends

Could it be a raccoon?

Think its time to have a chat with the neighbor. You need to make your property off limits to their cat. My deal with my neighbors...I'll keep my dogs at home so they don't mess in their yards or disrupt their lives, and they do the same with their dogs and cats. Routinely breaking this deal results in a call to animal control.

A friend of mine who is an arborist told me that tree paint is not a good idea. The bark will heal on its own.

Looks like a fairly soft wooded tree. It could be that the bark is splitting as the tree grows.

The wounds will heal themselves.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
Think its time to have a chat with the neighbor. You need to make your property off limits to their cat. My deal with my neighbors...I'll keep my dogs at home so they don't mess in their yards or disrupt their lives, and they do the same with their dogs and cats. Routinely breaking this deal results in a call to animal control.

A cat is not a dog, they don't do a limited territory very well. I think you could solve the problem a number of ways by protecting the tree or even given the cat a better scratching post. There are also I think chemicals you can put around the tree that will deter the cat.

Had a specialist look at it. He wrapped it and said it will be fine. Didn’t say how it happened he wasn’t sure, which I found interesting as he is a tree guy. I’m thinking now maybe it was sort of natural as the tree is growing. I asked my cat about it and he vouched for the neighbor cat that it wasn’t her.

In retrospect and now actually looking at the picture, that does not look like normal cat damage.... usually a cat sharping its claws just claws down low multiple times. If those single deep scratches are from a cat I think you need to start carrying a 30-06.

Those marks are not consistent with an animal scratching. I think there is probably something else going on with the tree and I would not worry.

quote:

Had a specialist look at it. He wrapped it

good job "calling the man"

quote:

Originally posted by LincolnSixEcho:
I asked my cat about it and he vouched for the neighbor cat that it wasn’t her.

That's always the best bet, but ensure the cat makes eye contact and uses direct responses; otherwise, the cat may be lying.