leather furniture...do cats scratch that too?

I wouldnt get my 3 kitties declawed and even though ive used soft claws and highly recomend them, they have somehow still caught their softclaws under the fabric on the side of my couch and have ruined it somewhat. The thing is that we are thinking of getting new leather furniture, nothing fancy but i wondered if that "fabric" is something that cats arent too fond of? i will get the extended warantee just in case i just wondered other than them jumping on it do they still have the urge to scratch leather?they do have a scratching post which they all use but sometimes the fabric couch is much closer lol!

They'll scratch whatever they can (as we found out) and leather can show scratches worse than fabric any day. A good tight weave chintz or microfiber (believe it or not) will do a better job of hiding scratches.

Mine have badly damaged a leather armchair, not by scratching on it (they never do that) but by jumping onto it - they use their claws to prevent slipping. It is their favourite chair, so I have just kind of given it to them as it prevents the same thing happening elsewhere. so I would keep at least a throw over leather furniture.

I read somewhere not sure where that there is a kind of suede that is best in a house with cats and is really durable. And stain resistant too. Not sure what kind of suede it was but I would consider reading up on it. Before getting the regular leather. And suede couches are really comfy.

I can definately say our 3 cats LOVE leather-- we've unfortunately had 2 leather recliners that have been used as scratching posts by them. Whats funny is they don't bother our chenille/like couch anywhere (corners, underneath etc), but instead concentrate on the arms and 2 ends of the recliners seat--where they not so much scratch, but knead into. They have a large cat scratch post very nearby (that they do use as well), but I think once they get their scent onto the leather they keep going back to it. We've used sprays, covers etc but to no avail. So my advice to you is BE CAREFUL!

I refer to my formerly beautiful leather arm chair as a 400.00 scratching post.

Tavia's Mom - The 'suede' you're referring to IS the microfiber I mentioned and it's apparently great for scratchy cats (but I would think that's 'within reason', all things considered!).

We got new leather furniture a couple of months ago and they were gonna scratch on it, but, after alittle correction, they no longer bother it!! I keep their favorite blankets on one end of the sofa where they like to lay and on the overstuffed chair. The other sofa that has no blanket on it, they don't ever even bother, unless it has a throw or blanket left lying on it where I took a nap. Then they will get on it and lay.

We just bought new leather furniture and had it delivered on Saturday. We also moved into a new place that same day. Our three cats seemed ok but on Monday morning I awoke to find claw marks and a nice steaming pile of cat poop on one of the couches. This was odd because our cats have never had litter problems, except for a bit of training issues when they were kittens.

So last night we got some SoftClaws, trimmed their nails and put the covers on, and also put contact paper on the furniture. the contact paper seemed to keep them off but my wife just called and said the back of one of the couches has been completely ripped apart. Luckily we have an extended warranty but i found it odd that they could do that amount of damage even with the softClaws.

How can I keep them away from the furniture and stop the scratching?

All of our furniture is leather and, yes, they will still have the urge to scratch it.

They pooped because of the smells. Leather has natural odors, plus if you got some stuff put on it to keep it clean, or colorfast or whatever, that will smell too (to a cat, anyway), and because it was a new 'invader' in the house that smelled like it was once alive, they expressed themselves in the best way they knew how!

I receintly did some redecorating for a guy who`s girlfriend and her cat lived with him for only a few months and I wittnessed the destruction of a white leather couch, love seat and chair. Leather is NOT the type of "fabric " to have with cats.
We have a fairly tighty woven upholstry fabric that has a soft , fuzzy feel to it and it hides the accidental scratches fairly well.
I have been pretty consistant with catching our cats as soon as they attempt to scratch something they are not supposed to by firmly saying "NO!"...then going and picking up the cat and taking him to the scratching post, and make his front claws make a scratching motion , while i praise him for being a "good boy!'. They get the idea pretty fast.
Linda

Originally Posted by jennyranson

Mine have badly damaged a leather armchair, not by scratching on it (they never do that) but by jumping onto it - they use their claws to prevent slipping. It is their favourite chair, so I have just kind of given it to them as it prevents the same thing happening elsewhere. so I would keep at least a throw over leather furniture.

Click to expand...

I have the same thing.

I have a leather sofa and a leather loveseat that survived a decade of three Irish Wolfhounds stomping all over and laying on them. Now six months after getting kitties they have marks on them from the cats playing on them and launching off them.
They have never shown any inclination to scratch them, it's just from playing underneath the pillows and leaping around.

Next leather will be of the distressed variety.

My cat's have never scratched the leather furniture on purpose, or by accident. I was worried about them jumping off, mostly, but it was never an issue. My legs on the other hand...

They do like mesh furniture, like office chairs. I've found leather to be forgiving, and if they do puncture it, I can't tell. And they'd have to be pretty strong to rip it!

I have a very expensive brushed suede sectional couch, and her claws don't bother it one bit! I do have the soft claws on her front claws as well, but that is for a different reason. Even the back claws don't hurt it when she jumps from the floor onto the back of the couch...

This is an old post but I thought I'd chime in. When we bought our house it came with 2 leather couches, so they were pre-cat. We've had her a week and just tonight I found a few tiny puncture marks. I've only caught her scratching a few times but only this last time did I notice any puncture marks. Because she usually doesn't get on the couch and doesn't scratch much, a puncture mark here and there doesn't concern me that much especially because I know that her scratching doesn't always produce them. I feel confident that she's not going to rip or tear the couch.

I figure that if worse comes to worse we either put a slip cover over both or we get a new set. Apparently they were only $1200 for both, not too bad. They're replaceable, the cat isn't.

I figure the worst

Hey thanks for that link. I sent it to our foster coordinator about possibly using those in the foster kitten program. it may help keep them from sucking on each other...

Well, leather is very very tempting. Its sturdy, durable, and perfect to race over, foot-ball shoes style, if you catch my drift.
I would cover them with some quilts, and I would use my old couch and feliway spray and a scrathing post from heaven, to retrain my cats while i dont have my new furniture yet.

Put the scratching post right next to the couch, and rub catnip on it, spray feliway spray on the couch daily, so they do not feel the need to mark the couch, and realize that even if you can keep them from scratching, they will walk over your new furniture and it will leave marks, especially in leather.

You can also try and cover up your couch right now with a material they dont like, like Sticky Paws, when you aint there, so they associate the couch with unpleasant stuff. Keep your waterbottle close for when you are in the room. Now pray. Couches are one of their fav furniture peaces, since its in the middle of the most important room, and it has several levels. Cant go better than that. Also consider keeping your old couch, put a trow over it and making that one the 'kittycouch'. The attractive couch that does not stick to your paws, and that does allow marking.

Good luck though

We have a leather sofa and loveseat and they have been amazingly durable. Our cats did a few attempted scratches on the sofa when we first got it, but then they gave up. I think it was too difficult to shred (we do trim their nails). I got a marker to match the leather and touched up the first scratches and it looked perfect.

We bought sofas with very thick leather... the most expensive leather sofas have a very thin leather covering. That might have made the difference.

Eight years, one child, and many spills later, the leather looks more beautiful than when it was new! I can't imagine that fabric would look this good after all this time and so much wear.

Cheers, from
SwampWitch