I'm thinking of buying a new leather sofa (to cut down on the cat hairs that plague my old draylon suite!) Trouble is, I'm wondering whether my cat might scratch it and ruin it. (Our current sofa has been scratched to ribbons). Do cats tend to scratch leather as much as normal fabric materials? Any advice or tips would be most welcomed!!!
We bought a leather sofa and chair for the exact same reasons. None of my 3 cats claw the leather, HOWEVER, a word of caution. When they run around the house and chase each other, they often jump on the furniture and their claws do scratch or get caught. They are not intentionally clawing. We now have armrests and throws covering the leather which eliminated the problem. (We remove them when company comes over.) So while the clawing problem is alleviated, you will still have the shedding problems, as they hair now goes onto the throws, etc.
My husband saw an ad for SCAT MATS. So far I haven't agreed to purchase these. Does anyone have any feedback on these devices? I need them for an upholstered chair.
Sorry but I think this is going to fall into the "no two cats are the same" file. We have leather recliners, and Dolly has clawed mine terribly, but mostly on the back so it doesn't show. She has not clawed hubby's though, she knows he'd get her,lol. She mostly claws mine when she's upset with me for some reason, or wants attention, cause she knows she'll definitely get it. She hasn't done it in awhile but could at any given moment. I would hope yours wouldn't, but a good chance they will unless you can teach them a better thing to do. My problem as everyone knows on this board is Dolly is spoiled and I tend to let her by. Sometimes she'll just reach up like she's going to just to get me to pick her up. Wanda
My 5 first cats never scretched furniture. My secret?... I trained them. Every time one of them would go over the sofa to scratch it, I would pick them up and put them at the scratchimg post get their paws and with it in my hands I made the motions of scratching. I had done that ten thousand times a day for a month or two. They finally got it. They never scratched a furniture again. They just knew the scratching post was there to be scratched.
You can (with lots of paciency) teach your cat anything.
Jane..I agree completely.. My cats scratch NOTHING but thier scratching post (still training the new kitten though). It took a long time to get there, but they learned. The thing was then Patches had a litter of kittens....and SHE trained them I never had to do a thing LOL..she knew
Thanks for your replies to my msg. I have tried to educate my cat in the ways of the scratching post, and although she uses it if she has to, she'd rather rip the sofa! The problem is that we leave her in the living room overnight and although she doesn't tend to do it when we're around - she obviously has a sneaky scratch at night!!! Not sure what can be done about this .... maybe I need to buy a less expensive leather sofa!!!!
Paula wrote:The problem is that we leave her in the living room overnight and although she doesn't tend to do it when we're around - she obviously has a sneaky scratch at night!!!
hmm., well...if you are able to catch her at some point, i would make haste to pick her up and place her in time-out for 20-30 minutes in a small room or bathroom (with essentials of course).
i too agree no two cats are alike... but i just recently got a leather set and he doesn't scratch it at all- unlike my previous set, which was shredded. but it is true, when he runs around, or just jumps on or off, there are little nicks and scratches. good luck!
mcrucillo wrote:but it is true, when he runs around, or just jumps on or off, there are little nicks and scratches. good luck!
Oh no! I hadn't thought about that one!!! Are the nicks and scratches really noticeable????, Thinking about it, my cat does tend to have at least 6 mad moments a day, so that definitely could be a problem! Might have to rethink this one!!! But its comforting to know that some cats aren't interested in leather! Thanks for your advice and experiences!
Paula x
the nicks and scratches are only noticeable to my husband and me- but they are starting to add up... when the cat gets playful we try to keep him off by distracting him with toys on the floor, but for those days when i lounge on the sofa and my kitty wants to cuddle or nap with me, a few scratches are worth it!
Hi there!
Might have to rethink this one!!! But its comforting to know that some cats aren't interested in leather! Thanks for your advice and experiences!