The 11 Best Cat Christmas Costumes 2021 [Jingle Bells!]

If you want your cat to have a sweet Christmas hat and a beard this is your best choice! Super easy to get onto your cat and it will immediately make your cat look like Santa Claus!  

Now all you need to do is feed your kitty a lot of treats and some cat specific milk and they’ll be on their way to being the real Santa Claus!

Ho ho ho, who wouldn’t go? Ho ho ho, who wouldn’t go? Up on the house top…Sorry, I got carried away.

A couple of other key items worth noting here:

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Planning on turning your cat into a full on Santa Claus this year for pictures? If so, this is the right choice for you and your feline friend! This one piece costume is made by Namsam.

This outfit will make your cat look just like Jolly Old Saint Nick and they’ll be meowing in tune while you sing Jingle Bells with the carolers.  Ok ok, I might have gotten a little ambitious, but it is an awesome costume!

Key features worth calling out:

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If you’re looking for a classic set of antlers then this is a great go to. It is less impactful than the full on helmet style that often bothers a lot of cats due to covering their ears, but it still gives you that nice wintery feeling when you see your kitty running around with it on.

These antlers have a few features worth noting:

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This sits somewhere between the simple hat and bears and the full one onesie that I noted above. This particular costume is made by Wiz and  has three parts: a hat, a bow tie and a cloak.  

Each of the pieces attach separately, so even if your cat happens to dislike one you can drop it and still get some adorable shots!

If you love three piece costumes then these items are worth noting too:

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This is an awesome combination of a scarf a necktie and a hat that will quickly transform your feline friend into a holly jolly Christmas cat! this is another product made by Wiz.

This is one of my favorites because the scarf is simply awesome and it makes any cat look totally dapper within seconds.  In fact, if this thing was big enough I’d put it on myself. Alas, my head and neck are just too large.

A few additional items worth calling out:

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Simplifying things a little bit, this is an excellent two piece combo for your cat to get into the holiday spirit and get ready for Christmas day. You’ve got a wonderful looking hat and a sharp looking scarf to accompany it.

This one you’ll want to make sure you measure up front because it only comes in a single size. That being said, if it looks like it will fit then you should move ahead with it because your cat will like adorable in this costume made by Pet Leso! 

You'll want to take note of the following:

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If you're looking for an outfit that will make your kitty look as close to Santa Claus as possible then this is definitely your go to choice! It has the cute little red suit and even a big black belt!

While this one doesn't come equipped with a hat you could easily pair it with the first costume in the list to make yourself a full on Santa Suit!

This Santa Suit also features the following:

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Are you a unique snowflake that always needs to be different? Santa Claus isn’t good enough for you, you want to step it up an additional notch? Then the Elf Costume is right where you want to be and is made by ZTL. 

Your cat will immediately become docile and listen to your every request and help out around the house. It’ll be just like you’re Santa and you have an army of elves to help you with whatever you want. Well, maybe…

This is really the only elf suit on the market, it has these key features:

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These might be better described as Christmas sweaters for cats than as costumes, but still very nice! Bolbove didn't design these specifically for hairless cats, but if you’ve got a hairless cat then a sweater might be a both festive and practical item for you to get for your kitty. 

Not only will they look quite stylish for the holidays, but it’ll also do an awesome job of keeping your cat extra warm and cuddly during the cold winter months!

By far one of the best single piece costumes out there, it is worth noting that:

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If your goal is to turn your cat into a miniature reindeer with strangely red antlers then you’ve found the right choice! This is another high quality product made by Wiz.

These antlers are easy to get onto your cat and give her the wonderful look of apathy (as you can see in the picture to the side).

If you like antlers, but you don't want brown ones, then this is a great choice. It is worth calling out that:

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If you’re looking for a way to make your cat look just like Bullwinkle from Rocky and Bullwinkle then you’re on the right track. These antlers have that wonderful lighter tint to them that is similar to our cartoon friend.

Taking you back to more naturally colored antlers is this awesome hat. Be sure to note the following:

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Additional Information

It is kind of silly, but a lot of these costumes come with a measuring tape. Not terribly useful once you’ve already placed your order. Fortunately it is super easy to measure your cat’s neck with just a piece of string and a ruler or a tape measure.

If you so happen to have a flexible tap measure that’s even better. See this quick video below for details, you’ll only really care about the neck for most of the cat Christmas costumes.

Do be sure to measure your cat for any costume before you actually make a purchase. Several of the costumes ship from long distances and if they don't fit you might lose quite a few days of photo opportunities waiting for a new size to arrive!

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Getting cat clothes for cats onto cats can be quite an effort, believe me, I know.  If you’ve ever tried to put a harness on a cat you’ll have some good experience already.

Putting on a full one piece or a multi piece costume can take some time and patience. If you can find some assistance that will certainly help things along as well. Key things that will help:

• As noted above, be sure you measure your cat first and buy a size appropriate costume
• The simpler the costume the easier it is going to be to get on and off
• Avoid anything with a mask as covering your cat's face causes all sorts of havoc
• Buy your costume early and introduce your cat to it over several days:
  • Let her sniff it
  • Feed her treats while it is nearby
  • Drape it over her and feed her treats
  • You may even want to put it in her bed and let her sleep on top of it
• Always put on the easiest pieces first to see how your cat reacts, take it slow and don’t force it
• Be patient, it may take a few attempts to get the costume on to your cat
• If your main purpose is to take pictures, plan ahead and have everything ready to go the second you get the costume on

A few other things may help you along. You may want to consider spraying the costume with traditional Feliway as it should help your cat be more comfortable around the costume.

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If your cat has never worn a costume before then it is hard to say how they will react, but you can use other objects as a proxy. The best two items to consider as proxies are:

• Harnesses: The harness is probably the best proxy out there because it usually loops around both the neck and the chest of your cat and if you're putting it on right you've got it on snug. If your cat moves around normally with a harness on then you should be in great shape!
• Collars: Most of these costumes will attach to your cat around the neck just like a collar. If your cat does well with collars then they should be more comfortable with an outfit like this.

If you've never tried a a costume before then you should check out the video below to see what you might encounter. The most common behaviors are probably broken down into 3 categories:

• "Breaking" which just means they simply fall over and don't know what to do. They aren't injured or hurt in any way. They simply aren't used to the feeling.
• Running off and hiding. My cats typically do this, they aim for under the bed.
• Pawing at the costume and biting at it to get it off.

Last but not least you may want to consider a few of the tips from the Humane Society and the ASPCA that are useful for dressing up your cats in costumes in general:

• American Humane Society Costume Tips
• The ASPCA Tips on Costumes for Pets

Both of these articles give some great advice on how to ensure your kitty has a safe Christmas even if fully outfitted in a costume!

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As you can see there are a bunch of options out there to make your feline friend as festive as possible! You’ve got sweaters for cats, costumes for cats and everything in between! 

There are so many choices you could even try them all out and see which one your cat likes the best (or maybe doesn’t immediately attempt to shake off!).

The most important thing to keep in mind when choosing cat Christmas costumes is that you’ll have to be patient with your cat to get them to try the costume on. 

Cats generally would prefer to not be wearing a costume so you’ll have to have some patience! Also, be sure to have your camera handy the minute you get a costume onto your cat so you can snap pictures before they run off and hide!

Please leave a comment below or email me directly at Craig@StuffCatsWant.com if you have any thoughts to add to this article. If you also have adorable pictures of your cats in any of these outfits then please do send them along and I’ll post them up!

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