Hobbes is chewing holes in the couch!!

Hey guys...

Our darling meanie, Hobbes, has decided that our current couch is great for chewing holes in (mind you, where there hadn't been even a loose thread before).

Does anyone have any creative ideas they can give me to repair the damage done, and also try to prevent anymore holes from being chewed?

I know he didn't scratch the holes because both of our babies have Soft Claws, so they just don't have the ability.

So.....any ideas? Anything would be great!

Thanks, guys!

Oh dear that sounds horrible! How big are these holes? If they aren't that big you can sew them up yourself. If they're pretty large there are special repair kits and also patches that you can buy that match most fabrics so you can fix it that way. It'll never look perfect, but it won't be a big hole either.

As for making him stop... Well, since he's chewing them all you need to do is make the couch taste bad. (Although I can't imagine why it tastes good now!) You could try any of those deterent sprays, but my Zissou likes citrus ones, so maybe try a bitter apple?

If it gets too bad perhaps cayenne pepper you could put on the furniture? I know cayenne pepper, just like the spice, will keep cats out of flowerbeds and such, and since you're not trying to keep him off the couch, just stop chewing it, that might be drastic.

Thank you so much for your ideas, Zissou's Mom! I'll try the bitter apple...will it harm the color of the couch at all?

I'd thought about getting heavy denim patches and sewing them into the area he seems to be most interested in chewing in the hopes of preventing any more holes. He's done it so far on the edge of one of the couch's arms, so if I patch each arm in that place, maybe that combined with the bitter apple will handle it. Hmm...

Honestly, I'm not terribly worried about the look of the couch. Heck, we got the thing for $10 at the Salvation Army, but the thing that bothers me more is the fact that when we got it, it looked quite nice still.

I'll try those ideas, and let you know how it works.

Thanks again!

My cat was scratching on one end of the couch- I'm assuming it is a fabric couch here, since you said "sewing"- I put clear packing tape over the spot she was scratching on, and she has left it alone since. Maybe that would help discourage him, if it is only those spots he's interested in. You could repair them and tape them and maybe he would lose interest? Has anything been spilled/wiped on those spots that he might like? (and you could tape them until you have time to repair them )

Originally Posted by catsallover

My cat was scratching on one end of the couch- I'm assuming it is a fabric couch here, since you said "sewing"- I put clear packing tape over the spot she was scratching on, and she has left it alone since. Maybe that would help discourage him, if it is only those spots he's interested in. You could repair them and tape them and maybe he would lose interest? Has anything been spilled/wiped on those spots that he might like? (and you could tape them until you have time to repair them

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Yes, you're right that it is a fabric couch. There hasn't been anything spilled on that section of the couch, but that's great thinking! Thanks for asking!

I was thinking of the packing tape idea...until I can find a more permanent covering. Will I be able to take it back off later on? It's a rather old couch (that we got over a month ago at the Salvation Army, and he's only done this just in the last week), so it could use a slip cover. I would go with the idea of a cover, too, except that it happens to be made of the exact same fabric as a couch we had in my family home when I was little, so I have such fond memories attached to the pattern.

Thanks so much for your idea!

I'd try it first in an area you can't see(if I could spell inconspicuous?, that's what I mean! ) if you're concerned. It comes off my couch very easily, but mine has a slightly fuzzy fabric. It doesn't even leave any residue, and takes a very small amount of fuzz with it. I use the clear packing tape. I hope it works and it makes him lose interest soon.

What a find! I love shopping the thrift stores and garage sales !