Cat Eating Christmas Tree

Question
I have a male 11-year-old indoor cat. He will not stop eating our artificial tree. He doesn't climb it, and I don't have ornaments on it yet. He just wants to chew on the branches. A few years ago I tried spraying it with some sort of "cat away" spray I found, but this did not deter him. We haven't put it up for a few years because of this., but since then we bought a house, and he does go outside with my supervision, so he know what grass is. Last night we put it up, and this morning he acted like he had a hairball and coughed up plastic pine needles. I gave him hairball remedy last night hoping he would pass them if he ingested them. Are the plastic pine needles harmful for our cat? No one I've talked to has ever heard of a cat doing this, and his sister doesn't do it either. Thanks in advance.

Answer
When an animal (or person) eats non-food items it is called pica.  If he is ingesting the plastic needles, then I would definitely be concerned since he can't digest the plastic and it could possibly cause an obstruction.  If you cant' find a some way to deter him from eating it then I would suggest either taking down the tree or limiting his access to it so you can supervise him.  If he starts vomiting his food and water then I would take him in to your vet as soon as possible.

Amanda