Tips for Getting Your Furniture and Cat’s to Happily Coexist

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If you are like most consumers, look at luxurious sofas can become an agonizing decision-making process. Trying to find a piece that matches your decor, is comfortable, is easy to clean, affordable and can handle your pets is no easy task!

Harley is declawed so we never had to worry about him scratching the furniture. When we first brought Jewel home we were terrified that she was going to scratch all our furniture. Lucky for us, she never scratched any of it! Her previous owners must have taught her to only use scratching posts.  Oliver was a different story, since he was a stray, he scratched everything when we first brought him in. The microfiber Buffalo Bills couch and matching recliner in the man cave, as well as our textured fabric couch with matching recliner in the living room were some of his favorite scratching places. Luckily I had applied clear two sided tape to put over the spots he was scratching before he could do any real damage. He quickly stopped trying to scratch and became fascinated with scratching our door mats which we didn’t mind at all.

Having cat’s does not mean you can’t have luxurious sofas! Here are some tips to help you find the right furniture:

  • Cas on luxurious sofasLeather makes it easy to wipe pet hair (or any other present your cat has left behind) off, but you would have to know that your cat wasn’t going to claw at it. Some cats do not like the feel of leather on their paws, some do.
  • Microfiber can be a good choice as well because there are no loops in the fabric that your cats claws could get stuck in. The fibers are also very close together so pet hair won’t get embedded in the fabric, making it easy to vacuum up. I have also heard that you can spray your Microfiber furniture with anti-static spray to help repel hair. Since it is soft, most cats won’t want to scratch it, but some will, like my Oliver.
  • Textured fabrics tend to trap cat hair, and may be very appealing to cats that like to scratch.
  • Couch cushions that have removable covers that you can throw in the wash are also another easy option you could look for.

Once you have the furniture in your home, here are some tips to help keep it looking new:

  • Having lots of acceptable scratching options for your cat will make them less likely to scratch your furniture. Every cat likes different textures so experiment to see which your cat prefers.  My Jewel only likes cardboard flat scratchers or sisal wrapped vertical posts to scratch. Oliver prefers carpet scratchers (the tight weave you find in offices)  and really rough door mats.
  • Before you bring home your new furniture, make sure you pick up some double sided sticky tape – I got mine from the pet store.  You might want to put it on the corners as soon as the new furniture arrives, or you could take the wait and see approach and just have it ready in case you cat decides to scratch.  The tape is designed to leave your fabric unharmed.  We left it on for months in a few places and was still able to remove it easily, and it left no residue behind.
  • You could also apply soft paws to your cat’s nails . Soft paws are rounded nail caps that slide right over your cats nails. They fall off as your cats nails grow. I was able to apply them to Jewels nails without any problem, but I know that a lot of cats simply will not sit still that long to let you apply them.
  • Our cats love to lay on the couch so we placed a folded fleece blanket on one cushion on each of our couches. The cats would rather lay on the softer fleece blanket.  Their hair stays on the blanket which can be easily washed as needed.
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10 thoughts on “Tips for Getting Your Furniture and Cat’s to Happily Coexist

  1. Beth

    Great tips on keeping your furniture safe from your cats. My cats are declawed but I do find the microfiber couch and my cat don’t mix because she has such long hair! I hate cleaning the hair off of the couch.

    Reply
  2. Anne Dovel

    We have been fortunate in that our cats choose to scratch a post in the basement on their way up the steps instead of our furniture. We love the leather for the reasons you mentioned! less cat and dog hair accumulating. However, even though our cats don’t scratch the furniture, when they sailing across the room in a wild chase they sometimes don’t gauge the distance well and end up grabbing onto the leather in order to get up!
    I’m told I can get some stuff at the saddle store to rub over the claw marks. After awhile, I don’t notice them.
    I love our cats in the house! it looks like you love your cats too!
    Anne

    Reply
  3. Wendy Bottrell

    Good tips if you have cats in the house. Didn’t realize they could be such a challenge for the furniture. Thanks for sharing. Best Regards, Wendy {Ultimate Blog Challenge}

    Reply
  4. Nanette Levin

    Too funny – fake nails for cats. Really? I’ve never heard of such a thing. What will they think of next. Great tips on furniture care with pets. Your cats must have an opinion about the performance of the Bills since Jim Kelly’s departure. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
    1. Diane Post author

      Yes I only tried them because I felt bad that Harley was declawed and we brought home Jewel who had her nails. It was safer to introduce them with a more level playing field. They come in all sorts of “designer” colors! The cats are getting pretty sick and tired of us yelling at the tv on sundays watching football!

      Reply
  5. Karren Haller

    I have tired those cat claw covers when we first got our second cat, I liked the idea I could play with him without getting scratched, but I didnt like the fact than when he sued the scratching post that it seems to pull more of his nail off when they grew out. Thanks for your caty-tips.

    Reply

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