Anyone own kitties AND a leather couch?

[Reenie]

DH and I need new living room furniture! We both really want to get leather furniture, but we're worried about our cats. Both are front-declawed, and they are really good cats- the little girl likes to chew on plastic (think grocery bags), but we've never had any shoe problems with her...

Can we do it? Have you done it? Do their back claws scratch the furniture?

[kristin9903]

We have a leather chair with 2 cats and 3 dogs in the house and haven't had any problems at all. In fact, the leather has stood up to the pets better than our fabric covered couches. We keep the leather well conditioned with some stuff the furniture store gave us, so it's really soft and has no scratches in it at all. Good luck!

[seattleguamgirl]

I have two leather sofas and the cats haven't touched it.

[PookiePrincess]

We have a set of leather furniture, and the cats' claws aren't a problem.

We have an 8 year old who is declawed and we just got a new kitten (soon to be declawed) who runs all over and the furniture is fine.

As far as your cat that eats plastic, my brother's cat does the same thing...he's crazy, but he's fine with leather furniture.

I say go for it!

[SingleWhiteFemale]

I don't have leather, because my animals aren't careful ;) I have holes in my shirts because when kitty was being held, he jumps down, with his back claws extended.

We were looking at purchasing a new living room set the other month. They make a microfiber (looks like suede, but its not) that holds up against cat claws, but also is stainguarded (for those oh-so-wonderful kitty hairballs and puke).

[eli1126]

We have leather and kittens. The kittens have scratched the furniture while playing, BUT they are not interested in clawing at it or sharpening their nails on it at all...the futon in the guest room however, that's a different story :rolleyes: We now discourage playing on the leather sofa because of the accidental scratches and we just got them a carpet scratching post that is the same texture as the futon and they love it. Now when the try to claw at the futon, I 'll move them to the post and tell them to do their business there :D I also want to second the leather conditioner for making the leather smooth after they have put little scratches in it. Good Luck!!

Beth

[Reenie]

Thanks ladies! I really appreciate your answers. Our kitties are fully grown, and they really don't do anything wild except chase each other around, which doesn't happen on the couches. :) Thank you so much... looks like we'll be going leather!

[Cookie777]

I have two leather couches, a leather chair & ottoman. My male cat isn't declawed either. He hasn't messed with them. He likes to scratch on his scratching board or his carpeted kitty condo.

[Sabriel]

We used to have 2 leather couches with 4 kitties. 3 were front declawed, one wasn't declawed at all. They never scratched at the couches, but when they jumped on or off of them they left little holes all over the leather. They almost ruined the couches before we found soft paws (http://www.softpaws.com). We stared putting them on all of the cats, which saved them couches from anymore holes!

[manda_kate]

We have a leather chair and couch, and when my Coal was little he scratched the heck out of it, but now he is declawed and he leaves it completely alone.

[Kanga]

We have a "leather" computer chair. I doubt it's real leather, but the cats (all of which are front declawed) LOVE to sit on the back of it. It has tons of holes and scratches from them jumping up on it. I assume the same would be true if we had leather couches and such, so we will be staying with fabric. Mine also constantly chase each other around (including on the furniture) so i can see it being scratched up within the week. But since you said your cats don't really do that, it probably wouldn't be a problem for you.

[Sarah051504]

we have a leather recliner and both cats jump on, sit, sleep on it and it's in perfect condition. Neither on of them are declawed, however, I keep their claws cut short. My SIL doesn't trim her cats' claws and they are like needles. I can totally see them scratching and poking holes in leather.

[Little Angel '77]

hmm,this is not what I wanted to hear!!! DH and I are looking into doing some home improvements and buying new couches is top on the list. Hopefully we can find a nice couch. They don't scratch much at our current couches, as so much use them to grab on and get a good STRETCH.... but I am worried...... hmmmmmm

[steviem]

Hi Ladies,

I am hoping I can get some advice/suggestions from some of the kitty owners out there.

My couch has been destroyed by our kitties :( I suppose it is partially my fault, considering I did not put a ton of effort into training them not to scratch the couch. I did put sticky paws on the corners but that didn't really work. I also have a giant scatching post for them, but of course, they prefer the couch :rolleyes:

So.... I am trying to convince DH that we need a new couch as I am sick and tired of having to "hide" the damage by draping throw blankets over the arms. My DS loves to pull the blankets off, especially when guests are over which is oh-so-lovely.

I am not a huge fan of leather couches, but, I was thinking that it might not "feel" as good to the kitties and perhaps they wouldn't use the arms as a scatching post any longer. Am I way off base, or, would a leather couch actually be the answer to my problem? Any thoughts?

Many thanks for your input :)

steviem

[Asha]

my cat very rarely scratches our leather couches. only when she is stretching and has her claws out does she sometimes get her claws in but she doesn't scratch the couches on purpose. she is pretty good about not scratching, but about once a day she will try to scratch our rugs.

[jajacobsen]

I congratulate you on not declawing your cats!

I would not mix cats and leather couches. We have an old leather couch inherited from DH father. It now has cat scratches. Less so than our cloth upholstered furniture - but still - they're there. Evene if teh cats decide that they don't like the texture of leather, during the learning process tehy are likely to inflict some damage.

We now have slipcovers on our family room couch (cloth upholstery - somewhat shredded). Next time I'll invest in these BEFORE teh daage is done. So maybe you can get a nice sofa but keep it slipcovered most of the time (as in except for when you have company).

Just an idea.

[MLA]

I had the same problem w/my old chenille couch. My scratcher kitty (I have two -- only one's a real scratcher) loved the nubbiness of the material. I was worried about getting leather when we replaced our couch because if they get a claw stuck in it when jumping, or something, you'll have permanent damage. So I got a very good quality microsuede. I love it. It's very easy to keep clean, and my cats have absolutely no interest in scratching it at all.

I just recently bought two leather chairs and have had no problems with those either, though, like I said, if an accident happens, it's permanent.

So, I'd highly recommend microfiber -- especially if you're not gung-ho about a leather sofa.

[PookiePrincess]

Here's another thread (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1366&highlight=Leather) about cats and leather couches.

[diam124]

My sister has leather furniture and up until a few months ago she had 2 cats. While they totally destroyed the regular cloth couch they used to have, the cats have never purposely scratched the leather. There are occasional scratches from them jumping on or off but there are no huge gashes or anything. The leather has a worn look to it anyway so you barely notice the scratches. Could you get a large swatch of leather just to see if your cats are interested in it? I know it's not the same as the full upright couch, but you might get a sense for whether they like how it feels on their paws.

[steviem]

Thank you for your input ladies. Much appreciated!

[Jennifer]

It's a mixed thing in our house - one cat scratches ONLY on her scratching posts (good kitty ;)) the other will only scratch the carpet and my big leather chair (the arms are like couch arms)...she never touches the fabric couch - just the leather chair - frustrating as can be - and the chair looks horrible!

I think, as in everything else cat related, it all depends on your cats surface preferences for things...when I was growing up we had NO trouble with cats and leather furniture - but with our kitty now I know our next couch (we are currently shopping for one) can't be leather...

[MLA]

Could you get a large swatch of leather just to see if your cats are interested in it? I know it's not the same as the full upright couch, but you might get a sense for whether they like how it feels on their paws.


We did something similar for testing out microfiber -- we bought an ottomon to see if the kitties were interested in scratching it. When they left that alone, we felt safe buying the couch.