Yes, I have a leather sofa, easy chair, and ottoman and six leather
dining room chairs. My three cats are fully clawed, and they ignore the
leather furniture. The leather furniture has a slick, hard finish, so
it probably isn't good for scratching. If it were suede, they might
react differently. They also ignore a cotton satin chair and a velvet
chair.

I would place a cat tree right beside the affected area and bet that this is
an improvement.

Carola

La di da Limey at drbryant@blueyonder.co.uk wrote on1/3/05 5:52 AM:

Yes, as others have replied, leather and any smooth, polished fabrics are
much less appealing.  But if you put your new leather sofa in the exact same
location as the old favorite scratching sofa, you are asking for trouble
nonetheless.  Many cats tend to be "positional" as to where they scratch.
Do get other items that are inviting to scratch (someone suggested a cat
tree -- I use those corrugated cardboard thingers, as they are more easily
moved around) and put them where the cats like to scratch, making sure that
they are a bit in the way of getting to the furniture.

I happen to be getting some new leather furniture as well, and for the same
reason.  Hope we both succeed in keeping it intact!

If you get the thicker, baggy, relaxed, distressed leather, it should be no
problem. You might get tiny scuff marks when they jump off of it. If you get
thin, tight leather, their claws could leave tiny holes when they jump off of
it. I've had both and learned my lesson.

In an earlier thread someone had a problem with a cat peeing on the leather
sofa. Perhaps it was because of the smell of the cow skin? If you get a new
couch, only let the cats around it at first when you are right there watching.
If they try to scratch or pee, yell NO then chase them away. If they try to
scratch, put double sided sticky tape on it. You could also scotch gaurd the
couch just to be safe.

My cat hasn't touched the leather chair yet.

A tip: My previous cat hated the smell of oranges or grapefruit. If she
jumped on my lap and found me with a bowl of citrus, she'd be out of there
like lightning. You might try hanging some peels in some sort of mesh
containers, like knee-high nylons. Or, pieces of paper dabbed with orange
extract. Not a great addition to the decorating scheme, but neither is a
shredded piece of furniture.

My current cat and I had a "discussion" about clawing the sofa last night,
especially since I built him a scratching structure that's a work of art,
and doused it with loads of catnip.  I told him that the cost of having the
upholstery fixed would eliminate the possibility of my buying extra salmon
for him twice a week.  He went out the door later and I haven't seen him
since.

I have leather a sofa and recliners. They don't care about them. However, an
old rough fabric chair is a favorite along with the many scratching posts
and pads. I have heard of folks with problems, but when questioned more
fully they don't have good scratching posts/pads for the cats. I run a
rescue group and have had over 150 cats in the last 3 years go through the
house without any problem. Just make sure you have good scratching posts.
For some ideas go to
http://www.rescuinganimalsinneed.org/scratching_alternatives.htm
Joe