Recommendations for cat-safe furniture for people

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Betty - 16 Mar 2004 21:55 GMT

Greetings,
I'm considering buying new living room furniture and would like to
know what materials are safest when there are two active kitties in
the house. The cats like to tear around the house with their nails
out, and I've heard them scratching up the back of our existing
couches while climbing. Naughty!

I would prefer leather for my allergies, but from what I've read:
leather + cats = REALLY BAD and EXPENSIVE IDEA.

So, something easy to clean (the cats are super furry) would be great.
I've heard that some people use washable slipcovers that are
removable. I am a fan of twill or microfiber/suede stuff, however,
I'm not an expert so maybe there are tons of other neat materials out
there. Hopefully you can help with your ideas.

Declawing is *not* an option for these precious kitties, so please
don't turn this thread into a pro/con argument (I think we have enough
of those!). :)

Thanks much,
Betty

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PawsForThought - 17 Mar 2004 04:53 GMT

>From: sybil_vane@hotmail.com (Betty)

>I'm considering buying new living room furniture and would like to
>know what materials are safest when there are two active kitties in
>the house.

Any smooth material is preferable over knobby scratchy material since it's the
scratchy stuff cats like. I would recommend also getting some cat furniture
like a floor to ceiling cat tree so your cats have somewhere to scratch. I
have a leather sofa and my cats never touch it.

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

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IBen Getiner - 17 Mar 2004 07:41 GMT

> Greetings,
> I'm considering buying new living room furniture and would like to
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
> Thanks much,
> Betty

I should think that a few casing bricks and a stack of 2x12's will do
very nicely, Betty.

You're welcome
IBen Getiner

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Barb - 17 Mar 2004 17:55 GMT

I love my leather sofas. I learned to put some scratch boards vertically
and some flat as cats have preferences. A leather sofa may occasionally get
a puncture or tear but nothing like the destruction I used to get with
fabric sofas. Leather is also much easier to keep clean. My cats love to
lie around on the back part!

Barb

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PawsForThought - 17 Mar 2004 19:17 GMT

>From: "Barb" bguzzino@suffolk.lib.ny.us

>I love my leather sofas. I learned to put some scratch boards vertically
>and some flat as cats have preferences. A leather sofa may occasionally get
>a puncture or tear but nothing like the destruction I used to get with
>fabric sofas. Leather is also much easier to keep clean. My cats love to
>lie around on the back part!

Also, keeping claws trimmed should minimize any damage. My cats just don't
seem interested in my leather sofa. They have run across it while playing and
only left a slight scratch on one of the arms. But you can't even see it
unless you really look hard. Good point about leather being easier to keep
clean, Barb.

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

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Steve G - 17 Mar 2004 18:24 GMT

> Greetings,
> I'm considering buying new living room furniture and would like to
> know what materials are safest when there are two active kitties in
> the house.

(...)

> I'm not an expert so maybe there are tons of other neat materials out
> there.

Kevlar.

http://www.nfgsales.com/kevlar1.htm

HTH,
Steve.

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Betty - 19 Mar 2004 19:32 GMT

Thanks for the tips. I'm happy to hear that some of you have leather
furniture with minimal damage.

The cats have scratching posts, but they are probably not placed too
well strategically! We'll probably get more when we move into our
house.

We discussed nail clipping, but we were bad with doing it for Pico
when he was a kitten and now it's just a "situation" (involving blood
and bactine and antibiotic ointment and bandages) when we try to clip
his nails. I suppose we can try to make it a habit of taking him to
the vet every other week for nail clipping. I can clip Disa's nails
while he's sleeping. ;)

It's really up to me and how much I want to do, because I'm the one
that's allergic to cats and dust! And, I'm feelin' kinda lazy.

Thanks again,

> Greetings,
> I'm considering buying new living room furniture and would like to
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
> Thanks much,
> Betty

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