Furniture - mini rant and advice sought

When I took in my foster cats, my place wasn't exactly kitty friendly. I have some very nice wood furniture and an expensive leather sofa. Well... 8 months into playing foster mom has taken a toll on my stuff.

Some things I don't mind so much. The wood furniture - some of the scratches can be sanded and restained. The livingroom chairs.. well they were old.

But my sofa. My leather sofa.

I did put a couple of throws and blankets on it... but it wasn't enough. The cushions in particular are now terribly scratched and little bits of leather pulled up. It looks really bad.

I am upset.. not mad at the cats. They are CATS. I am mad at myself for not taking better precautions with this. I could have gotten slip covers, but the ones I saw were $$$$ and made of lightweight material. A cat claw would go right through it. So not much protection. ( we trim their nails every 2-3 weeks, just FYI.)

Anyone have any suggestions? Can this leather be reconditioned in any way? What can I put on or over it to protect it from further harm?

In the meantime I am going to use heavier wool blankets.. I have some really dense ones... and see if that helps.

Wanna know what my fancy couch slipcovers are made of?

Sheets! I put a heavier blanket over the couch, then put the sheets (slipcovers) over that. The sheets were bought clearance dirt cheap somewhere. I use the "under layer" of blankets because inevitably someone will puke & it soaks through the sheet fast, the blanket slows things down.

I have a slipcover on my couch that is very thick and heavy... so far no damage on my couch whatsoever... It was not expensive either... got it on deal at linens and things I think.

I have no idea about fixing/reconditioning.... but if you're able to, it may be worth the investment to find someone to custom-make a microfiber cover for it, and put a tight-knit wool blanket down inbetween to help protect it, just in case. Microfiber is made of such a tight weave that our couches survived four years of Tuxie using the arms as a scratching post without any scratches, rips or punctures of any kind.

What about a heavy blanket/cover such as those used for moving furniture? They're loosely fitted/couch shaped. Since you're not that it wouldn't be as important that it be something really showy.

I don't know whether you could repair the leather. If it's bad it would probably mean reupholstering it altogether.

I have a microfiber slip cover on my couch, too. More to keep it clean than to guard against the cats - I'm really lucky that none of them show any interest in scratching furniture (other than their own).

Leather couches here too and they are scratched up despite using soft paws..
Also the wood furniture is all chewed. Jake loves to chew on wood
Since I started to notice scratches I started to be much stricter on reapplying soft paws as soon as one is missing, and the damange is not being done as much anymore.

We were considering leather furniture when we get some when the living room is renovated, but from your experiences, I'm beginning to think maybe its NOT the right kind to get.

I love leather, but if its gonna be a problem in the cats scratching it, then maybe we would do better to stick to cloth couches in what we like.

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

We were considering leather furniture when we get some when the living room is renovated, but from your experiences, I'm beginning to think maybe its NOT the right kind to get.

I love leather, but if its gonna be a problem in the cats scratching it, then maybe we would do better to stick to cloth couches in what we like.

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Maybe look into suede or a faux suede/microfiber?

I know one of the appeals of leather and vinyl is that it's easy to clean. I've had problems with people having stuff in their pockets or on their jeans and having them sort of drag their butt instead of standing straight up - leaving some damage. The other reason is because in the summer it's HOT and winter cold, you either stick or are sitting on something cold! (that and I always slide off leather ).

is it just the bit you sit on that is damamged? if it is could you not get a small/thin quilt and cover to put on

believe it or not i had 2 leather sofas and both cats didnt scratch at them, i just assumed it was because when they we kittens before they came to us they had only known leather and previous owner put them straight to a scratching poll

i did have a thicker blanket and big cushions just incase

Hi, guys. Thanks for the advice. They are not using the sofa as a scratching post... most of those marks, and the ones on the tables in the livingroom, have launching and landing scratches on them.

They HAVE used my LR chairs for scratching, but since I put doubled sided tape on their favorite parts and placed a scratching post in back of each chair, it has gotten better.

It's the leather that I am so upset about. Sick to my stomach. I always wanted a leather sofa and this is a beautiful one. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
I will keep looking around for a slip cover. I didn't know they made them in microsuede... that would be good. Lightweight and tough.

I am still wondering if there is some way to recondition the leather....

I'd pop into a furniture store to ask - can't hurt.

Originally Posted by AddieBee

I am still wondering if there is some way to recondition the leather....

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You make it sound like the cushions are in bad shape - you might be able to repair other parts but likely not those. If it's a common leather color you may be able to easily just have the cushions redone.

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

We were considering leather furniture when we get some when the living room is renovated, but from your experiences, I'm beginning to think maybe its NOT the right kind to get.

I love leather, but if its gonna be a problem in the cats scratching it, then maybe we would do better to stick to cloth couches in what we like.

Click to expand...

I'm with you on that; we recently bought a chair, and although there were beautiful leather options, I passed them by and went straight for the microfiber.

I love my cats, and they aren't particularly destructive, but they've left marks all over one of our dressers from leaping to the top and scrabbling with their hind legs to get a better foothold.

Good luck with finding a solution, AddieBee!

I hope you can find an answer to your leather problem.

We have an old desk that my great-grandmother bought for my mom when she adopted her (my mom's mom was killed in a car accident when Mom was 7). The desk was given to me and, unfortunately, the cats think everything in the house belongs to them and it has some nasty scratches on it now; they used it as a landing pad when they were younger. I have to get a furniture guy to come in and give me an estimate on how much it's going to take to repair it. The repair will kill any antique value of the desk, but such is life with cats.

We always tell our friends that our house is decorated in Early Ameri-Cat.