Laminate Flooring and cats?

[chissus]

My husband and I want to get rid of our carpet and install laminate flooring.....for obvious reasons. Good idea? Bad idea? Are there any brands better than the rest as far as being cat proof? Any advice?

Thanks
joan

 

[halfpint]

We had pergo awhile back, We had a basset hound and 2 kitties, the floor was great. I think the pergo is pretty hard to damage

 

[shengmei]

I have laminate in my kitchen and dining room. I always feel better in there. It seems it cuts down allergens considerably.

Speaking of which, I need to get my laminate refinished. The previous tenant used some kind of caustic cleaner on the floor.

 

[momof3rugratz]

I have it and I had cats and a bassethound... I love it...

 

[captiva]

I have real hardwood. My dog (RIP) and cats have scratched it pretty badly (and it was not the cheapest brand). I think Pergo-type flooring would hold up better.

 

[goldenkitty45]

I like the Pergo flooring too - nice looking and hard to damage and easy to clean

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

In my other house, we had laminate flooring in the dining room and kitchen. It was the kind that was 15 inch squares and looked like marble. The only thing I had to do to the floor was mop with a barely damp mop. I had two cats that lived on it all the time. They never scratched it with their toenails.
It was a beautiful floor and I wish I had put it in my new house instead of the vinyl we now have. My advice GO FOr IT. You won't be sorry.

 

[annasmom]

We just bought a house and we have laminate flooring in our dining room, foyer and hallways. I've seen Ruby claw it and she has left no damage. Our builder told us that, unless you took an x-acto knife to it, it will not scratch. Lamite flooring's worst enemy is standing water (always wring out your mop completely before mopping) and certain chemicals.

 

[jcat]

We've had laminate in the bedrooms for about 12 years - it's fabulous, and you certainly don't have to worry about cats or dogs scratching it up. I wish I could say the same about parquet, which we have in the living room and hallway.

 

[icklemiss21]

Our laminate has been mopre scratched by heavy furniture than the cats, although the people that lived here before us had a dog that did some damage to it but by the looks of things something was there like food because the scratches are different depths and directions and it wasn't done all at once... but water is definitely more of a worry than animal claws!

 

[madpiano]

Ikea Laminate is very good and quite cheap. For easier installing, I would go for the old-fashioned Tonge-and-groove-glue floor. I just installed one of the Snap-and-Click floors and it was a nightmare !

Laminate is very tough, and if you go for light wood (beech or maple), you can's see the scratches. Go for medium grade quality (hallways and kids rooms) rather than Bedroom quality and you are going to be fine. If you can afford it, go for Heavy-Traffic/Office-use quality, they are pretty much indestructible. And try and choose one which has a semi-gloss, rather than a gloss-finish.

The funniest thing on Laminate is cats running and not being able to move from the spot or not being able to make it round a corner and sliding into a wall instead....

 

[sibohan2005]

since cats typically don't walk with their claws extended there is very little chance of scratching unless your can thinks there is cat nip under the floor I think you are safe

 

[godiva]

Our laminate has suffered 0 damage from kitty claws... and I agree, standing water is more "dangerous."

If you get laminate, though... beware, you'll be in a hilarious time when your kitties chase eachother on it and end up looking like the cartoons of animals running in place. Very entertaining! They have a hard time stopping on it too, if they are running at full speed.

 

[trouts mom]

Originally Posted by Godiva

Our laminate has suffered 0 damage from kitty claws... and I agree, standing water is more "dangerous."

If you get laminate, though... beware, you'll be in a hilarious time when your kitties chase eachother on it and end up looking like the cartoons of animals running in place. Very entertaining! They have a hard time stopping on it too, if they are running at full speed.

Thats what I was thinking..I just picture kitties running around a corner and their legs are still going but they are just sliding.

 

[gattina]

Originally Posted by Sibohan2005

since cats typically don't walk with their claws extended there is very little chance of scratching unless your can thinks there is cat nip under the floor I think you are safe

We have 4 cats and in all rooms lamina except bath, kitchen and living room and had never ever a scratch on it. It's very solid and cats are not heavy.

 

[catnip surprise]

Originally Posted by Sibohan2005

since cats typically don't walk with their claws extended there is very little chance of scratching unless your can thinks there is cat nip under the floor I think you are safe

You'd be surprised. I recently discovered a hole in my hardwood floor that my cat had made to hunt roaches and other bugs. The wood was warped anyway and it was in a corner, so I didn't notice; he just worried away at it until he could get in there (although I think the parrot helped too).

I came home one day to find him with his head in the hole. I yanked him out and he was chewing on a roach the size of a silver dollar.

Now, I have a lot of bugs in my apartment. But this corner had really collected them because some food had fallen in there; an old banana, I think.

So moral of the story? Pets will get into anyplace you don't want them to go. Good luck with it!

 

[ruthiesmom]

We have laminate flooring in all rooms but the master bathroom. We absolutely love it!

My "girls" love to run as fast as they can and then slide to a stop. Another game for them is to run fast and try to turn a corner. Their back paws spin just like in the cartoons!

It's very easy to care for as already mentioned. I usually use a Swiffer, but do have a small vacuum cleaner for those really "hairy" days. A damp mop is all that is needed to keep it clean.

 

[katkisses]

LOL!!!

I love when they do that! Silly cats act like their butt is on fire and go tearing though the house, slide across the floor and slide right into a wall, of course they are fine and keep hauling butt!

We had laminate and had no probs with it.

 

[rolltide rt]

We had hardwoods and it would scratch when our big boy decided to  "dig in and take off." It was not a good choice but we found a product that was great....SoftPaws. They were small, vinyl nails that would glue on....I wouldn't recommend this for all 4 paws but our boy only had them on the back. I checked with the vet and there was no danger...in fact the glue was the same gals use on fake fingernails. We used them for 5 or 6 years. They wold usually last about 2months and by that time, the nail had grown and would fall off. We would then put on another. You have to be able to handle the paws to put these on but they were little or no problem.

 

[goonie]

i had wanted to put in laminate flooring but when the guy at Lumber Liquidators found out i had cats he advised against it. not so much scratching but if one of them pees on it. we picked out a vinyl that looks just like the laminate and i love it. it's very easy to clean. and i installed it myself. it's the click together strips.