For those worried about their furniture...

I ordered a leather desk chair right after Christmas, which was delivered today. Thus far, Jamie (not declawed - that's illegal in Germany) has managed to destroy two desk chairs - one by jumping on it and revolving (the seat finally broke under his weight), and the other with his claws. My husband is just waiting for him to attack the new chair. Well, it's been set up for the past nine hours, sniffed at, and basically ignored - the box it came in is much more interesting! We've always had dogs, cats, and other pets, and my advice is - buy leather and wood.

We bought a simulated leather couch and big hug (wide recliner) and none of the cats bothered it until we got KoKo. We have had it for at least 3 yrs.
KoKo has managed to tear it in a couple of small places and one of the back corners is bad but I bought some "Pet Organics - No Scratch" and I think it has slowed them down or maybe stopped.
The 3 domestics I have all have their claws, and so does everyone else but Molly.

Actually cats do scratch leather and wood. Though not all cats.

Leather has far more interesting smells than fabric, not only that it does come from another animal. For the moment, I suspect that Jamie is distracted by the box as it's new and I bet it smells of the chair strongly.

You may be lucky if it is true that your cat doesn't prefer leather.

Good luck

You are fortunate he is not interested. We had a leather chair that was absolutely shredded by cats- they couldn't stay off of it. Wood isn't safe either, unless it's manzinita! The hardest wood known to man~

Ohhh I know wood isn't safe. My daughter's cat's fav scratch area is the door jam to the garage. lol

Good luck with the kitty not attacking the chair. Maybe you can purchase some "Soft Paws". These are nail coverings that you glue to the kitties nails so they cannot destroy things. They come in many colors and sizes. I ope tis helps.

I found a leather toy mouse and all three of my cats take turns carrying it through the house and chewing on it. You may have lucked out with Jamie, he might not have a thing for leather. I let my boys have the computer chair (an old wingback) to destroy, and they pretty much leave the rest of the house alone... Merlin does like to scratch the wall behind my door, though. Thank goodness for plaster walls.

Actually, cats do like leather as well - it has a nice 'resistance' to their claws. The good thing about leather furniture, however, is that small clawmarks and scratches can often be readily repaired. There are leather conditioners available that are more of a paste formula. Clean up any strings or interior 'stuff' with scissors or a razor blade, realign any 'flapping' edges, then use the absolute finest grit sandpaper you can find - nothing less than 200 - and very lightly go over the surface of the claw mark or scratch. Then, using your finger, put on the paste, and use your finger and the hard edge of your fingernails to work over the surface back and forth, working the conditioner into the leather. As it softens the edges of the scratch or small hole, your fingernails will draw the edges together and basically 'repair' the damage. Be careful not to go too deep with the sandpaper as it can also remove the dye. Take your time doing this and take 'small' steps as too rigourous a treatment can make the damage worse.

We have a dark green leather couch that one of my cats found very attractive for a while and I have had to use this technique to effect the repairs. Fortunately, leather is pliable and you can get good results for small damage. Big damage will require a professional, however.

Hope this is of use to someone.

Kathryn

I have a nice $1600 scratching post aka a tapestry print wing chair & matching ottoman (that's baker's favorite place to scratch!!). Any ideas on what type of scratchproof fabric I should use to re upholster (yes making it more expensive!!)

I bought a sofa I always wanted (a sectional with a pull-out sofa). I thought for sure Hammie wouldn't scratch on the thing, because, his lovely floor-to-ceiling cat tree is right next to this sofa. Wrooong!!! He for some reason is preferring the nice, new sofa next to his catnip-covered cat tree. I have yelled and threatened (never, ever hit my baby tho) but still the Hammie boy prefers the sofa. it's starting to get thready on me.

Leather is a no-no in my house... I know what would happen. With six cats and so many claws among all of them, it'd be the hole-iest piece of furniture on earth. Lil clawmarks everywhere!

I've also had good luck with leather. My parents got it when Smokey & I lived there & she wouldn't even sit on it (not that it mattered she was declawed by my parents when we got her). Then when they moved they gave me the leather couch because they didn't like it & I was terrified my three trouble makers, who have all their claws, would tear it appart as they did my previous couch. They have not once tried to scratch it on purpose. There is some incidental scratching when they run across it, but I have it slip covered to reduce that.

I've come to two conclusions, one when you have a cat with claws pick out furniture that is not a texture they can really get their claws into. Second, the truth is just like kids, you make a choice to have pets or nice things, rarely do the two go hand in hand & I will choose my boys EVERY time.

honestly, my kitty pretty much leaves the leather alone too. We have a leather sofa, and for the most part she wont even stand on just the leather. We have a throw on the back of it, and she will hop straight from the ground to the throw, or from the ground to a table to the throw, or from the ground to a human to the throw, etc.

If you pick her up and put her on the leather she hops down???

I had a sofa cover already picked out, but turns out I didn't need it

Update: The leather chair has now been here for well over 48 hours, and Jamie has judged it to be absolutely boring! He's actually complaining about it, meaning he jumps up on it, sniffs around, and then gives us his "tale of woe" that it's not something he wants to sink his claws into.