If you’re a cat owner on the hunt for a new sofa, finding the right one can be a pretty difficult task.
While you may be extremely picky about the aesthetics of your furnishings, at the back of your mind, you probably realize even if you find the ideal couch for you – it may not be the perfect fit for the daily challenges of life with a cat.
That’s why I personally find it’s easier to start by figuring out which couch materials fit your specific needs as a cat owner best, then looking within those constraints for an ideal couch aesthetically.
While there’s obviously no such thing as a completely cat proof couch, there are, in my opinion, four really solid options when it comes to couch material choice, and this is typically the most important factor in durability and longevity of furniture when you’ve got a clawed furry under your roof.
Unfortunately, the best materials for withstanding cat scratches are not the same materials that will do best at withstanding washroom or sensitive stomach related accidents that may take place.
The top materials for repelling fur, similarly, don’t do the absolute best job at holding up if cats are aggressive around sofas and likely to claw up human furniture.
Each and every cat is different – and the struggles you’re likely to face day to day will reflect that – so it’s important for you to figure out which benefits you prefer to reap from the material choice you’re going to make.
One thing to keep in mind: you can do a lot to minimize the chance your cat will scratch up furniture, but in my opinion it’s a lot harder to prevent accidents, spills, and general clean up from taking place.
I’ll get more into how you can minimize furniture scratching later in case this is something you’re interested in trying to tackle. If you do manage to succeed, at that point you have a lot less to worry about, and two solid top picks for material choice, but more on that in a bit.
Again, while there’s no perfectly cat proof couch, there’s a lot you can do to minimize the amount of wear and tear you’ll get from a healthy dose of whiskered shenanigans over the years.
The 4 Best Couch Materials for Cat Owners
1. Leather
Leather is probably the best overall material to grab a sofa in if you’ve got a cat who scratches, spills, and produces a lot of furry tumbleweed (as all cats with hair do, even the short hair kinds like my Avery; let’s be frank, they’re basically fur-making machines!).
Leather is excellent at not holding on to fur, is really easy to clean, and is not too shabby when it comes to cat scratches either.
It’s not ideal when it comes to handling scratches (that award goes to the material in spot #3 on this list), but it’s nowhere near the worst, and for the most part, cats don’t prefer to scratch up leather over other materials, so that may help your sofa stay safe in and of itself.
The potential downsides to leather besides not holding up the best to scratches?
It takes a bit of maintaining (ideally, you’d condition the sofa every year or so), and while it’s easy to clean, you also have to be a little careful with what you use to clean it, seeing as how if you dry out leather you’re increasing the likelihood it’s going to crack, and that is not ideal for the sofa’s longevity.
Leather’s also not an ideal couch material to have if you want to place your furniture in sunny spots, as sun damage is it’s kryptonite to leather.
But so long as you’re willing to put the effort in, and work around its limitations, leather is an amazingly resilient material for cat owners.
To Summarize, Leather Is
- Best at: Repelling fur, Being easy to clean, Being less desirable for cats to want to claw
- Not bad at: Holding up to scratches
2. Pleather (Faux Leather)
Pleather is incredibly easy to clean, even easier than leather (since you don’t have to be so picky about what you clean pleather with – there’s no need to worry about drying out plastic!). It’s just like leather when it comes to repelling cat fur – plain doesn’t hold on to the fluffy stuff.
The one downfall it has that results in leather being one spot ahead in the lead? Cat scratches are pretty much the death of even an excellent faux leather.
But if your cat has no interest in scratching up furniture, or if pleather just isn’t his or her thing to take your claws to – pleather is almost certainly the best bet.
Another benefit? Overall durability of faux leather is higher than leather. This is up for debate on the net, as many people insist the durability of leather is much greater than fake leather’s durability.
To my knowledge, if you end up grabbing a high quality pleather sofa, it has to be much more durable in terms of wear and tear over time than real leather (again, it’s plastic after all, and plastic if nothing if not durable), but with a cheap quality faux leather on your hands, leather will likely win the battle.
Lots of reason to choose between one of these two options, but if you’re only fixated on kicking the couch shredding via cat scratches, you’re going to want to choose option #3.
To Summarize, Pleather Is
- Best at: Repelling fur, Being easy to clean, Being less desirable for cats to want to claw
- Not very good at: Holding up to scratches
3. Velvet
When Thomas and I first took Avery in, we had a red velvet sofa in our house that Avery loved to take his claws to (yes, it’s the one in all these pictures).
The thing is, I absolutely never noticed any scratch marks or damage afterward.
I’m not sure if this is the magic of all velvet, or if only high quality velvets can withstand this kind of clawing, but either way, my experience left me plenty impressed with the stuff.
I can’t promise velvet will withstand all scratching with no damage. I’ve only ever had one cat (thus far!) and maybe if I had 5-6 for around a decade, I’d see a lot more of the material’s true colours, but I’m pretty convinced if it isn’t completely scratch-proof, it’s at least one of the best or the outright best sofa material when it comes to weathering cat scratches.
Please let me know if you have any firsthand experience with velvet + cat claws in the comments down below, and how you feel it does on the scratch-resistance scale.
When it comes to repelling cat fur – velvet is also quite good in my eyes.
It does get a little hairy, but not quite as often as other fabric sofas, and it’s from my experience much easier to remove fur from velvet when it does accumulate.
You know those red lint remover brushes that are crazy good at removing pet hair? They’re made of velour, which is a mass produced, cheaper to create alternative to velvet.
I find it pretty easy to slide the hair off of those, and the same was true of my velvet couch. Pretty neat if you ask me.
To Summarize, Velvet Is
- Best at: Holding up to scratches
- Not bad at: Repelling fur
- Not very good at: Being easy to clean, Being less desirable for cats to want to claw
4. Microfiber
If you absolutely want a fabric couch and either don’t want velvet or can’t seem to find one made of velvet that’s in a size or style you want, opt for a microfiber couch for an option that will hold up well to scratches.
The higher quality the microfiber, the better it should hold up to scratches, but unfortunately, my guess is it won’t be very easy to tell which microfibers are better than others (I know I can’t tell!).
Still, I have a feeling any microfiber is better than most fabric options besides velvet, so at least there’s that. Please correct me in the comments down below if I am wrong.
Microfiber isn’t the greatest at repelling fur, being easy to clean, or being less desirable for cats to want to claw up in comparison to the other options on this list.
Hence, in my opinion, while it still makes the cut, it does just barely, and the other three couch materials are by far superior and in a way higher league than microfiber when it comes to fending off the cat owner daily struggles.
To Summarize, Microfiber Is
- Not bad at: Holding up to scratches
- Not very good at: Being easy to clean, Repelling fur, Being less desirable for cats to want to claw
How to Minimize Cat Scratches on Furniture
I promised I’d touch on this topic back in the intro, so here’s my advice. It is possible to train cats to stop scratching furniture – but it takes time and effort on your part to do.
Worth it? In my opinion, absolutely. And if you need one, here’s a full how-to guide to training cats to stop clawing furniture.
Besides that? The ideal is to have a scratching post, scratch pad, or cat tree in every room your cat frequents.
That way, when he or she gets the itch, there’s a cat-appropriate object to take nails to immediately within the vicinity.
Top choices include these inexpensive cat trees, as well as small cat tree varieties that are much cheaper than taller trees.
My favourites in terms of what I own? The AmazonBasics cat tree that’s currently in my bedroom, and the Go Pet Club Faux Fur Cat Tree that’s in my office.
They are like scratch posts on steroids, yes, but they’re also simultaneously cat beds, and in terms of being used as cat beds, these two cat trees get use from all my cats, for many, many hours in the day and night. Often being used by multiple cats at once.
Space an issue, even though you’d love to go big? Try narrow cat trees, or if you’re in a really small apartment, try a floor-to-ceiling variety.
Though you have to drill into the ceiling and the floor to get one of those up, they’re really affordable and look super sleek and modern as well.
Hate seeing cat stuff everywhere? There’s a fix – have a bunch of scratch-approved human objects like these around for your kitty to claw on.
Some examples? Rugs – because let’s be honest, those are a lot easier and cheaper to replace than couches.
Want to protect your sofa from the get go or even make old, scratched up furniture look like new? There are a slew of cat scratch furniture protectors on the market.
Of the many types, if you go the couch protector cover route, you’re sure to find at least one that will do the trick for you no matter how picky you are aesthetically. Cat only care for scratching up specific parts of the couch?
Don’t want to fight the itch to scratch? Try a couch cat scratcher instead.
Or if you’d rather go the training route, but in the meantime, want to protect specific parts of your sofa from kitty claws, best temporary solution is likely grabbing a scratch protector guard like this pin on one for fabric sofas from Furniture Defender or this self-adhesive tape for leather sofas from Sofisti-Cat. They work like a charm for their intended purpose.
Your Thoughts on Couch Materials for Cat Owners?
What furniture materials do you think are ideal for cat owners? Do you prefer to have materials that are fur repellent? Ones that makes accidents easy to clean up? Ones that hold up to scratches best?
Is there a type of fabric you would never entertain getting? One you’ve been using that you think does what you need it to do flawlessly?
In your opinion – is there a cat proof couch out there? What do you think comes the closest?
Would love to hear your thoughts on this topic in the comments down below!
Microfiber is what I have. My cat’s claws have not yet damaged it. He’s been digging his claws into it for a few months now.
Hi,
Thanks for all info except for the snarky exchange. Why do some people get off subject so much. Suddenly, every venue is a forum.
Anyway, really appreciate all comments. It looks to me like a tough canvas like cotton might be what has been basically agreed upon. Or possibly velvet. I have a velvet day bed which has held up but the cat doesn’t spend too much time there.
I did not go through all postings, I did not notice anyone mentioning to avoid any space under the couch. I now sit on 3 pillows since my cat has torn apart the bottom of the sofa. Hahahaha. So that is another consideration for me.
Thanks again for all the helpful comments.
please help, I recently ordered a new sofa and chose polyester so now am horribly afraid I made a terrible mistake (I have 2 cats). A friend had told me just to put the sticky tape on it and place a tall cat scratcher next to it, apparently worked for her as she has a polyester sofa so I thought it would be a good idea to order one. Now I am concerned I should have ordered microfiber 🙁
I’m curious, I feel velvet would have cat hair stick to it like crazy, am I wrong?
(Mom of a very destructive but incredibly sweet ginger tabby, when he was a kitten he scratched a hole in the sofa and would run around inside of it)🙄
Reading through these comments, I feel as lost as I did when I read the article.
Literally every material that is recommended is then discouraged by people later on.
Get Leather! DON’T get leather!
Microfiber is great! Microfiber doesn’t work!
Velvet works great! Velvet doesn’t work great!
And so on.
I guess the best answer is, “these are suggestions, but if your cat wants to scratch your furniture, it doesn’t matter what material it is”.
Should probably just invest in good covers that can be removed, washed and replaced regardless of what material the couch itself is.
Dear Mike
Well I have a micro-fibre couch has held up great. Cushion covers un -zip and wash like a dream.. My Cat does not scratch the sofa but her little claws have made a few small pulls,, but not bad for a 700,00 sofa over 10 years old now.. She did however love my pleather computer chair,,, did not hold up well 🙂 Personally i will always opt for the microfibre.
Good Luck
My cat doesn’t scratch on furniture but her back claws dig in when she spring boards from sofa to sofa causing scratches on leather. So I’m considering microfiber HOPING her claws won’t scratch fabric as she’s leaping from sofa to sofa.
I have four cats and a tropical wicker & rattan couch with individual pillows and cushions. Right now, I’ve covered each one with an inexpensive bath towel (and taped in place with packaging tape in the back). That way they’re easy to take off to wash whenever they get dirty. However, the cat’s claws pull threads on the towels. And, it’s not very attractive. I don’t like the look of traditional pet covers and microfiber. I’m looking for a sturdy dense material to have each pillow and cushion covered that I can easily take off and launder, maybe sewn with elastic all around (something like a shower cap) for the cushions and a zippered pillow case for the pillows. They have to be easy to get on and take off and machine washable. This will be the look all the time, not something I remove for company. I was thinking of a white canvas material but not sure how it washes and dries. (White so I can use bleach if needed.)
I looked at this thread before I got a couch and had some grave (possibly irrational) concerns with my cats causing severe couch damage. Here’s my experience.
I got the couch. As it turns out my fears were, to a large extent, very unfounded. The couch I got was a fabric something like corderoy, but a little heavier. It’s not a delicate fabric. Under normal wear, the cat does zero damage.
I was concerned the cats would use it as a scratching post. They don’t. At all. I’m not 100% sure why, they just don’t. Even if they did, it would take quite a while to get through the fabric. They’ve certainly used claws on it to climb up the cushions of the couch etc. They rarely do it. They’d have to continuously climb with the claws for years to see any results.
Both my cats are outdoor cats, meaning they’re outside about half of their time or more (not half a 12-hour day, half a week). My male cat is outside about 90% of the time right now. I think if they weren’t outdoor cats, they would probably start to go stir crazy after a few days/week and scratch everything in sight. I know that if they start to get a little scratch crazy, I let them outside and when they come back, they are fine again.
There is a caveat to what I said. My female cat is 100% fine with the couch. My male cat, having not been “fixed” is not allowed inside the main part of the house and certainly not on the couch (he stays in the 4-season porch). He sprayed once inside the main part of the house (fortunately on a wood surface) and that was the last time he was allowed anywhere near the couch. However, after seeing him on and near the couch, prior to the spraying, I wasn’t at all concerned with him causing scratch damage.
At this point, that’s my really only concern for the couch. Otherwise, I really can’t see my cats ruining it. I highly recommend people let their cats outside as much as possible to mitigate the damage caused to furniture. I think when they go outside, they expend their outside energy and come back much more relaxed and at peace and not needing to scratch anything.
Please get your outdoor male cat neutered! Lots and lots of low cost options, I foster and there are so many homeless kittens already 🙁
Uh, I did.
Lady, I don’t take your orders.
I only adopt strays/pound cats too. Coincidentally, I just found two stray male kittens and am currently taking care of them. They very well may end up neutered, but not by me. All the females I have previously adopted have been spayed before adoption by someone else. The rest I leave to a higher power.
The only reason I allow myself to take responsibility for cats is to allow them to live as freely and naturally as possible. It’s only for mercy. Otherwise, if I wasn’t doing that, I would just kill them.
It is my opinion that life isn’t worth living as a prisoner, a slave, or a female/male eunuch. I will minimize doing that to all other life. I’m not responsible for the idiot enslavers/breeders of non-wild cats/animals in history, and I will minimize corrupting my soul by cooperating with the evils of others. I help where I can.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Wow, what a crappy response. You realize that with your cats being outdoors, they terrorize the natural bird and small rodent population, so your position on the matter is completely contradictory. By leaving your intact male cat out all of the time, you are no better than “idiot enslavers/breeders”. You are causing undue pain, suffering, and death to the female cats and kittens that he impregnants. Shame on you.
Wow, you sound like a real piece of work. People like you shouldn’t be in charge of other living beings.
agree with others. pls dont let unaltered cats run free. they reproduce and increase the pet population. i know you dont take orders from me or anyone, but if more people would do the right thing, we wouldn’t have to put down so many for lack of homes.
i donate thousands to help shelters as well as foster and volunteer. so pls excuse if i have a well educated opinion on the matter
Wow! How dare you imply that keeping cats indoors is “enslavement”! I have two beautiful cats and they are “fixed” and strictly indoors. They are my babies, and they get the love and attention they need. Outside, they would be subject to harsh weather, potential abuse by strangers, fights with other cats/animals, being stolen, and the very real risk of being severely injured or killed by motor vehicles, or through some other means. Would you leave your 3 year old outside alone? My cats are family and my furkids, and they get treated as such. What YOU’RE doing is just plain IRRESPONSIBLE!!
Folks,
I’m sorry for calling anyone an idiot. I don’t think that’s productive, and I don’t think I’m anyone to talk. I don’t think it was my place to do so. I think I need to take a bit of my own wisdom to heart and realize that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
What I wrote was overly harsh, blunt, and jaded.
I appreciate all of your responses. I trust that you are all coming from a good place in your hearts. To those it may concern, I am not in charge of any other living beings.
Taking responsibility for those in your charge is a helpful thing to do, and we are all better off for everyone doing their best to take good care of others. I encourage you all to continue doing what you see is best.
The only thing I ask is you put yourself in the shoes of those you feel responsible for.
Take care.
We have a corduroy type couch too- very soft and velvet like, in that corduroy fashion. Zero damage. Pleather chairs were destroyed. Material with a tapestry print was awful. I think the velvety corduroy material seems to make them less sense they can sharpen claws. Maybe it feels like fur and they use one another more as target practice than scratching posts when they get feisty. When they did get claws in it to climb up or just because they decided to chase a light, the material doesn’t show.
Yes, shedding occurs. But I got a fur wizard and have even just put my vacuum on the coach. It cleans up fast and easy, no mess. Years later it has survived cats, teens, and toddlers. I’ve been impressed.
yeah or depending on where you live they get eaten by a coyote, hawk, or other predator, hit by a vehicle, used as bait animals in dog fighting rings, get lost, get attacked by a dog or other cats, join a local cat colony, or get adopted by a family who actually loves them enough to keep them indoors or in some sort of enclosure that ensures their safety while still allowing them to have time outdoors (a catio). I live in Las Vegas and every one of these scenarios is a very real possibility for anyone stupid or negligent enough to allow their cats to be indoor/outdoor cats.
Lastly, are you so out of touch with reality that you don’t understand the importance getting your cat neutered. I bet the female isn’t spayed either, so in a likeliness you have had multiple litters of kittens, and/or your male cat (intact and free roaming=average lifespan of 2 years) is dead.
From what I got from reading all the comments – leather bad. Velvet best choice and microfiber runner up. I know the loveseat I bought just three months ago looks terrible because the cat’s claws snag it. I have one big hunk of a scratching post next to it. Sorry but know the fabric type my current loveseat is made from
Thank you so much for this!! I’m a semi-new cat owner, we’ve had our kitten Ludo since he was a few months old (now he is almost a year old!) But it’s been a huge adjustment & our couch has been ruined in the process, We really did try to get him to stop scratching on it but he is very stubborn. I love him so much & now that we are in the market for a couch he is definitely our main consideration about material & this article very much helped, as well as the comments on it! Thank you for helping fellow cat owners with your personal experience, it really helps navigate the strange situations cats can put you in!
My Velvet couch has held up Very Well and doesn’t show any claw marks from my cat. He doesn’t try to scratch it all the time- but the does scratch it. And- it looks great!
Microfiber all the way. Not one visible scratch and very little hair with two active male cats. Sticky roller brush used when needed does the job removing cat hair.
The fabric Amana was referring to is Luke. That wasn’t a typo. Google Luke fabric, or Luke upholstery, to have a better idea about what she was referring to.
I have had a microfiber sofa for about 4 years. My cat has never touched it and it has held up well. It does attract hair though.
Leather…..very bad idea!
I have two darling cats….but one of them loves to claw at anything other than the cat tree.
However, we have a velvet headboard and bed base, and for some reason although she tried clawing it when it was new, not only did I discover that claw marks did not show, she also lost interest in trying!
I have two totally cat destroyed sofas, which I will be replacing with new velvet ones.
Our new bonded leather recliner sofas were so shredded that the leather “coating” has almost all peeled off in the areas where you sit and recline. It is TERRIBLE! I have little bits of leather pieces all over the house because it ends up on the floor and getting tracked around. We vacuum constantly but it never ends!! The sofas are so embarrassing I don’t have people over much. They are very large so I had to buy several cal king sized sheets to cover them. I very recently decided to buy a high quality velvet sofa off the Nextdoor app that was second hand. It is amazing what you can find on these new local marketplace apps like Facebook, Letgo and Nextdoor. Many people are selling sofas that are less than a year old for half-price or less. Some were brand new with tags still. I get my new sofa in about a week, it looks new (came from a house with no kids or pets or smoke) and I am hopeful that it will hold up much better and if it doesn’t? Well if it doesn’t I won’t fret because it cost me only a fraction of what a brand new sofa would!
I think leather especially faux leather is not good because there are many cats that will destroy it, shoes also. A few of my cats never bothered with my shoes but one cat is obsessed and he has ruined many of my shoes so I have to hide them.
From my experience, cats will scratch on velvet, they love it and you will see many holes in your velvet chair. They will shred any thin or loose type of woven sofa material.
Microfibre is okay and they won’t destroy it as much but microfibre furniture looks cheap to me.
One type of fabric that is amazing and cats will not be too interested in using as a scratch post is a very thick chenille type, where you can’t see the woven threads. This is by far the best anti-scratch material and sofa looks good too.
Chenille fabric sofa around a cat?? Absolutely not!! My beautiful chenille fabric sofa is completely shredded! My cats love to use this as their main scratching post. And they have lots of other things to scratch on. I am going to purchase a wooden couch with microsuede fabric this week. No more chenille couches for this household!
My microfiber has held up very well (I do remember this was quality furniture some 10+ years ago). No holes. Car is 3. he jumps on it, his claws will not puncture. Leather, not a chance, two nice leather chairs show lots of claw scratches on top and arms and legs. Don’t know about faux leather – my sense it would be better, I was also wondering about a very tight woven material as mentioned above. Milo (the cat) is my buddy now I was never a cat person, he was brought in from the back yard (not by me), but when the girlfriend moved out, she left the cat. Well he’s great, but this furniture thing is a hard one to take.
My faux leather 3 0
Piece set has puncture holes and scratches in it..after3years it’s time:to shop for a better option I Am looking at microfiber ,chenille or velvet.
Any feedback on the fabrics Joybird sells as “pet friendly”? Curious if those seem worth it
I have no experience with them personally – please if anybody else has tried Joybird, do let us know what you think!
I have a “pet friendly” Joybird couch. While it’s super easy to clean, the cats LOVE to scratch it and the scratches really show.
I am also wondering about the Sunbrella fabric. Has anyone had any experience with how it works with cats?
I just wanted to leave a reply for Amanda re: peeing…I had a problem with my Simon, and I started using “Cat Odor Off,” which you can find online, and it worked great on material or floors!! (I think it was because of the “outsiders”….)
Thanks for sharing your experience, Tobi!
My cat doesn’t have front claws, so scratching is not an issue. However, my leather sectional is still a complete mess due to all of the scratches caused by her back claws, as she runs and walks all over it. The plastic nail caps didn’t work for us, as she she had gotten them off in less than a week. I am definitely interested in replacing my destroyed sofa, but I am hesitant to waste my money, by having yet another couch destroyed over the next year or two. 🙁
I see on many sites that leather is great for cats. Whoever writes this does not have cats. I cannot imagine a worse material to have for a couch or chairs than leather. I have four cats and I once had leather seats on chairs that were totally destroyed in a matter of weeks. I might as well have just gotten them their own scratching mats!
I agree. Not leather! While some cats may not scratch the leather, they will definitely leave puncture holes from simply running around on the furniture.
Microfiber seems to be holding up better than all the others in my house. My cats don’t seem interested at all in scratching those areas. Of course, we all know each of our lovelies has their own personality! 😂
We have a bonded leather lazy boy couch that has held up very well to claw traffic. Although I don’t like using animal based materials, it has done fine. It is slightly textured. I think they might have a similar non leather fabric now. Would like a new couch but don’t know what other options are best to replace it with for 4 cats in the house. So many cats!
I have two now, and I’m getting used to closing the door on the new “regular” fabric couch we just bought, so I can monitor the cats’ use of it. The poor thing is not going to hold up to scratches, I can tell.
I think I’m going to stick to velvet fabrics at this point, as luckily the “accidents” in this household aren’t as frequent in number as I they were last month with the new fur baby (finally resolved the vomiting thankfully!), and I think velvet is probably still the best for potential scratching.
Good luck, and so glad your leather lazy boy couch held up!
The problem with leather is that it is extremely expensive and almost impossible to find a totally covered leather couch. Most companies put the leather in the areas that humans touch and use the leatherette on the rest. my cats love to scratch the arms and back and top edge and none of these are leather, only the sitting leaning and leg area. I paid 3900 for a couch and love seat, not expensive but not the cheapest either. no luck. need to replace after 2 years. I am considering trying outdoor furniture! not as comfortable for humans, but…..
Your point about the leather only being in areas humans touch, and leatherette being used on the rest is a really excellent point. I guess I didn’t think about it since most of the couches I’ve had Avery on/around have been really old ones, and I do think they were made differently back then.
Please let me know if you do manage to snag something that works – even if it’s outdoor furniture. I honestly wish they made more claw proof sofa options. IKEA needs to get on this, because a lot of us would buy them.
Any ideas for a cat pulling up threads of fine rugs? I have 2 very expensive rugs (one a Ushak that has larger weaves and another turkish wool rug. I can’t put tape all over them! HELP!
put toenail covers on the cat every 6 wks or so. If you can’t do it, ask your vet or groomer to do it for you. may be worth the money.
This is a really frustrating & tricky one. My mum’s cat Walker used to do it all the time, actually only stopped when he bit off all the threads on the ends. I suppose my only advice is to keep the expensive rugs in areas unfrequented by your cat? Though honestly he may go looking for them! Please anybody with tips for Ginger, chime in!
citrusy sprays! cat specific ones are great but cats hate citrus. boil off about 4 orange peels 2 lemons and 2 lime peels let it cool completely and spray onto rugs (after spot testing for discoloration) that’s what I do on all mine! but my entire home is black furniture and black area rugs so I never had any issues with discoloration- would be interested to know if that’s an issue for those with light rugs. also I do this on all my furniture and have used this method to train my cats not to scratch on furniture
This is such a good idea! Thank you so much for sharing this tip, I think I may actually give it a try, especially since I know one of my cats to absolutely dread the smell of citrus (especially oranges!) already.
I understand. I have microfiber furniture and my 2 cats have punctured the material with their back claws. So microfiber is not good to have with cats. I’m beginning to think that a tweed type material might be better. Snags hopefully can be repaired better than holes!
Currently I have covers on the top of my furniture to hide the holes and to prevent more damage. I was using towels or a blanket.
Good luck.
If you give tweed a try, let me know what you think! Would be happy to re-adjust this list if there’s anything out there that works better.
I would just like to say that the idea of leather being the number one choice is way off. I had a beautiful brown chocolate leather loveseat that was given to me, for free, that my cats ruined. The cushions have barely been set on because they over took it sleeping on that at night,with a cat bed, What they do is they play and chase each other and it pours on my furniture from their bed. I also have two expensive leather electric recliners that over the last six months have been slowly scratched upon by the cats. My cats are strictly indoors and do not go outside but the vests I have seen will not remove their back claws, which is fine, I understand that. When I’m saying is I refuse to keep buying furniture because my cats are destroying it. I’m trying to find another kind of material for just a small sheet to replace the loveseat that is resilienT compared to what I had. Please email me with any ideas of finding something locally.
It sounds to me like you ended up with cats that like to scratch leather. Not every cat is like this, though some definitely are. I don’t think you should risk buying new human furniture in case they do the same to fabric couches.
I’ve written up a guide with as much info as I could think up relevant to cats scratching leather sofas, it’s here. I do hope something (or a combination of things) in that guide can help.
(edit: just emailed!)
Hi there. I too disagree re leather. I have leather dining chairs which are wrecked and my last cat destroyed a leather sofa. If they scratch it there are pitt holes left and scratch marks tear the leather. Whether it’s real leather or faux cats love to scratch it in my opinion. I had my furniture made, I designed it, chose the fabric and it was cheaper than buying from a sofa store. The fabric is Luke a very tight chord… not velvet finish, more like a tight cotton. It is totally cat proof and because it’s not a light colour any stains are easily cleaned. Ive jut had a furniture cleaner come and clean them as my cats have decided to take up peeing, and they also came up beautiful. There is a product out there.
Hi Amanda! Could you give us some more information about the type of fabric you have – for example if there’s a product listing or maybe a shot of your fabric so anyone curious can look into what you mean? Really happy to update this list if there’s a better solution out there.
Hi Amanda, I too, would LOVE to know what you used for fabric? Thanks so much!
Why didn’t you tell us the name of the company? We would love to inquire.
I have to whole-heartedly agree with your statement about leather being a horrible idea. A cat actively clawing at the furniture is one thing, but just a cat jumping or walking (or running) on leather will cause punctures/damage. My leather furniture suffers most on the top and arms where the cats jump or run. I repeatedly see this factor disregarded in advise about materials for homes with cats.
Hi, My two babies destroyed my chenille diamond patn sofa. I replaced with a tighter woven cotton fabric. They started in on that one. I took 2 of my old sofa cushions,the chenille,left them on floor around sofa and and put down cardboard cat scratcher next to them. They love it. One uses the cushions, the other the cardboard. Once in a while they get defiant and go for sofa.
I have been researching and find that Lazyboy offeres a pet friendly fabric with a warranty. I haven’t checked into it yet, but will do so soon. Maybe someone else already has? Let me know.