Cats and leather furniture

muppet_man

Hi all,

I would like to get a nice set of leather furniture but am worried about my cat scratching at them.
He doesn't scratch anywhere else in the house as he uses the decking and trees outside for that. Its just that I don't want to fork out loads for him to reck them.
If seen some naff solutions (http://www.softpaws.com/) and wouldn't even consider declawing :eek:.
I think he would be ok but just wanted to see if others have had a similar situation or what you think.

Thanks

star-pants

We have dogs, we have leather couches.... our couch seats are now covered in a throw tucked in tightly.
They like to rub their faces/scratch around after being outside or having their eyes cleaned or general spaz attack and they've marked the couches, not badly mind, but enough to notice. Do you currently have couches? Do they touch them at all?

Hellrazer

All our couches are leather and even though the cat tries to scratch them theres never been any damage done to them.
Leather is a bit tougher than you think.

peasant

Hellrazer wrote: »

All our couches are leather and even though the cat tries to scratch them theres never been any damage done to them.
Leather is a bit tougher than you think.

Depends on the leather though. We've got a cheapo leather office chair that the cats like to lie on. They've never used it to sharpen their claws, they've just jumped on and off, still the thing looks like suede now in places.

muppet_man

star-pants wrote: »

Do you currently have couches? Do they touch them at all?

No doesn't use any of my furniture as a scratching post but as I type he's kneading a throw to get comfey before he sleeps. If he does this on leather will it mark?

All our couches are leather and even though the cat tries to scratch them theres never been any damage done to them.
Leather is a bit tougher than you think.

Good to know that leather is tough. I've seen leather look-a-like chairs, aka plastic, badly damaged from cats. It was on the tops of them and I think the cat was kneading too.

star-pants

Well Hellrazer says his cats don't mark his leather so maybe kneading doesn't?
Our dogs have marked our leather n it's real leather afaik, hence the throw we put down. You could put a throw over your couch just incase?

Sigma Force

It does depend on the leather, we've got a cheapish leather couch and out puppy (might as well be a cat he acts like one) has it scratched from jumping up and down so a cat would easily damage it. Perhaps a more expensive thicker leather might not become as marked.

BrigR

We've had the leather sofa and the cat for over three years now. Not a mark on the sofa and he would be home alone during the day. What certainly helps is that our cat likes his comfort and prefers the feel of his fleece blanket to the cold leather, so we have his blanket on his favourite spot. he left a few claw marks on the kitchen chairs, leather not as sturdy. What I reckon happens is, falls asleep, moves, falls off the chair and tries to hold on to something.

loopy83

Our very expensive leather sofa is covered in scratch marks from the cat. She doesn't sharpen her claws on it, they just happen from her jumping up and down on it. I think the leather is quiet soft though. We've put black fleece throws on it to try and prevent the scratches. The kitchen chairs are cheap leather and people laugh when they see them, she has them in bits. And yes, this cat has numerous scratching posts!

Heroditas

loopy83 wrote: »

Our very expensive leather sofa is covered in scratch marks from the cat. She doesn't sharpen her claws on it, they just happen from her jumping up and down on it. I think the leather is quiet soft though. We've put black fleece throws on it to try and prevent the scratches. [...] And yes, this cat has numerous scratching posts!

Same here. Our two absolutely destroyed the sofas and arm chair - again, soft leather.

They've grown out of it but the front of the chairs are in bits. I must try and fix them at some stage - trim the little bit of fluff hanging out.

And yes, the monsters had a scratching post.

October

My leather couch is the most expensive scratching post I've ever bought:D

muppet_man

Thanks all,

Couple of mixed reports there but I've learned a few things.
Quality of leather is important. Cheaper leather is a no no and softer leather may be more prone to scrapes.
Training I think is the key factor. My lad never used indoor scratchers and he has always went outside to do it so I think should be ok.
BrigR gave me a good idea. Instead of him jumping up on couch to sleep I could set aside a "comfy" area where he would like better.

So now it's off to the shops i go