Of Couches and Cats
October 29, 2022 5:17 PM Subscribe
We have finally saved up enough for a new couch, but we have cats. Cat scratch details inside!
Our current couch is one that came with the marriage (his side), which is a well-made piece of furniture that we got reupholstered once. But the time has come for a new couch. The resident cats do not claw the current couch, but seem to prefer wood surfaces (there are a couple endtables that one should not look at too closely), one weird chair in our lounge, and the rugs.
But if we buy a new couch, preferably a costly nice couch that we would like to own close to forever, are we going to regret dropping money like that? Or should we go get the nicest approximation for IKEA to err on the side of caution?
tl;dr: do we deserve a nice couch when we have cats who might be bad?
Cat tax here.
Our current couch is one that came with the marriage (his side), which is a well-made piece of furniture that we got reupholstered once. But the time has come for a new couch. The resident cats do not claw the current couch, but seem to prefer wood surfaces (there are a couple endtables that one should not look at too closely), one weird chair in our lounge, and the rugs.
But if we buy a new couch, preferably a costly nice couch that we would like to own close to forever, are we going to regret dropping money like that? Or should we go get the nicest approximation for IKEA to err on the side of caution?
tl;dr: do we deserve a nice couch when we have cats who might be bad?
Cat tax here.
Best answer: A DIY enthusiast and interior designer I follow recently posted this review of her couch, which shows no claw damage after four months. In summary, she writes, "Every time I bring a piece of furniture into the house that’s upholstered in velvet, our cat loses interest in trying to scratch it. High performance velvet is such a tightly woven fabric that, as long as you keep their claws trimmed, cats have a very hard time getting their claws into it. And if they try to scratch and can’t get any resistance, they lose interest."
posted by carmicha at 6:24 PM on October 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by carmicha at 6:24 PM on October 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
Also, please leave an exact price range if you want specific recommendations since expensive can mean so many things to so many people.
posted by smorgasbord at 6:25 PM on October 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by smorgasbord at 6:25 PM on October 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
Best answer: My experience matches what carmicha quoted: there are certain fabrics that my cats have liked to scratch, and others that they don't. Generally we've had better luck with smooth and tight fabrics. I basically think of it as, the less it is like a scratching post, the better. Leather has been great for us with no issues, but tight smooth fabric has also generally been good.
posted by primethyme at 7:40 PM on October 29, 2022
posted by primethyme at 7:40 PM on October 29, 2022
I've had quite good luck with leather as well. My cat will occasionally scratch at the cushion corners of my couch and ottoman from Burrow and yet after 3 years they still have no visible wear at all.
posted by platinum at 7:46 PM on October 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by platinum at 7:46 PM on October 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Best answer: OMG, from kitteh, I'm dying 🐈🐈⬛🐈⬛
posted by kate4914 at 8:29 PM on October 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by kate4914 at 8:29 PM on October 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
P.S., my sister had the opposite experience with leather. She got a dark leather loveseat that ended up with little white polkadots all over it where the filling poked though claw holes. :(
posted by kate4914 at 8:32 PM on October 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by kate4914 at 8:32 PM on October 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
Best answer: Yes you deserve to have furniture you like even though it may not always stay perfectly preserved. Life happens; don’t live apart from surroundings you love, just to preserve them.
One of three cats does scratch our puchased-because-we-loved-it couch. We found it effective to wrap her favorite spots in aluminum foil but that wasn’t so nice for us humans. So eventually she got to make her marks and the couch won’t ever be the same. Then we moved and much worse things happened to the couch and it’s still fine for us and now I’m glad I didn’t stress too much about the cat.
That said, we do give her alternate targets in her great scratching posts and I’m sure that’s why her marks on the couch are limited. Also she and our other cats do not bother the microfiber or leather furniture that we have just the tweed upholstered couch.
posted by Tandem Affinity at 8:39 PM on October 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
One of three cats does scratch our puchased-because-we-loved-it couch. We found it effective to wrap her favorite spots in aluminum foil but that wasn’t so nice for us humans. So eventually she got to make her marks and the couch won’t ever be the same. Then we moved and much worse things happened to the couch and it’s still fine for us and now I’m glad I didn’t stress too much about the cat.
That said, we do give her alternate targets in her great scratching posts and I’m sure that’s why her marks on the couch are limited. Also she and our other cats do not bother the microfiber or leather furniture that we have just the tweed upholstered couch.
posted by Tandem Affinity at 8:39 PM on October 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I'll second the recommendation for Burrow seating. Our cats destroyed our last couch. This time we opted for the Charcoal woven fabric with the Burrow Nomad and our cats have tried, but haven't been able to get that satisfying feeling of the fabric catching on their very sharp claws. I am happy to report that in 8 months, there hasn't been any damage.
posted by oxisos at 9:09 PM on October 29, 2022
posted by oxisos at 9:09 PM on October 29, 2022
I hope you like velvet because it takes cats like a champ! I have a velvet sofa from Joybird (love the piece, a little expensive for me, some frustrating delivery issues.) I purchased an insurance plan anticipating constant upkeep, but haven’t needed it. My very scratchy kitty just can’t get purchase into the fabric—she sometimes tries and there isn’t even a pinhole! She absolutely shredded my previous woven fabric sofa to bits.
posted by kapers at 11:39 PM on October 29, 2022
posted by kapers at 11:39 PM on October 29, 2022
Best answer: I will just say that I got a velvet couch from Ikea partly because of reading comments like the ones above and my cat scratches it with great pleasure and enjoyment. He has plenty of other things to scratch, he just likes the couch too. These days he mostly scratches the couch when he feels I am not paying sufficient attention to him, but when he was younger it was one of his favourite things to scratch.
I personally am of the opinion that if your furniture is important to you, don't have cats. If your cats are important to you, you will not have "nice" furniture.
posted by Athanassiel at 5:16 AM on October 30, 2022 [3 favorites]
I personally am of the opinion that if your furniture is important to you, don't have cats. If your cats are important to you, you will not have "nice" furniture.
posted by Athanassiel at 5:16 AM on October 30, 2022 [3 favorites]
as a counter point for Burrow, I have a fabric Burrow (bought in 2018) and although one cat did not enjoy scratching it the other did and unfortunately has damaged one arm pretty badly. it did take a while, like over a year, before showing any wear, but eventually has torn and then gotten worse. the fabric is quite close knit compared to others so maybe it depends on how tenacious they are or how sharp they're able to get their claws elsewhere.
will just add, although unrelated to your question, I've found the Burrow fabric also to be a fur magnet that is hard to keep clean (short hair cats)
posted by okonomichiyaki at 5:47 AM on October 30, 2022
will just add, although unrelated to your question, I've found the Burrow fabric also to be a fur magnet that is hard to keep clean (short hair cats)
posted by okonomichiyaki at 5:47 AM on October 30, 2022
We have a velvet sofa and a chenille chair (both from Joybird, if it matters) and the cats have been great about not scratching either - however, we have a huge cat tree, a cardboard scratchy circle, and lots of rugs they do like to scratch so I'm not sure if it's the fabric choices or just that they have other things they've decided they like better. One cat will try the chenille chair now and then but doesn't seem to really enjoy scratching it.
When I had a different cat years ago, she was terrible about scratching everything I brought into the house. But I'm not sure if that was lack of cat trees (I was poorer and lived in smaller spaces), or boredom as an only cat, or just her personality.
posted by misskaz at 6:02 AM on October 30, 2022
When I had a different cat years ago, she was terrible about scratching everything I brought into the house. But I'm not sure if that was lack of cat trees (I was poorer and lived in smaller spaces), or boredom as an only cat, or just her personality.
posted by misskaz at 6:02 AM on October 30, 2022
I put up double stick tape in the places my cat wanted to scratch, eventually he stopped trying and I could take it down. It only took about a month. But yes, I also have a lot of cardboard scratchers which is absolute fave to scratch on.
Agree with the above that if he feels like I'm not paying enough attention he uses that to get my attention, but he knows he isn't supposed to so stops as soon as I look at him.
posted by magnetsphere at 7:01 AM on October 30, 2022
Agree with the above that if he feels like I'm not paying enough attention he uses that to get my attention, but he knows he isn't supposed to so stops as soon as I look at him.
posted by magnetsphere at 7:01 AM on October 30, 2022
So, for fancy expensive couches, not only do you select the couch, but you also select the upholstery fabric. When I decided to buy a nice couch, I carefully inspected everything that my cats liked scratching, and then scratched at the materials myself to get a good feel for what felt good for them. So then when I went around looking at couches, or ordering fabric swatches, I had at least some idea from scratching at the fabric myself which ones would be tempting and which ones the cats wouldn’t be interested in. This worked very well until the introduction of a new cat, but the couch had been lived-in for several years by then, so the picks it has now aren’t quite as upsetting as they would have been on a brand new couch.
If you don’t trust your own sense of what your cats will scratch, just bring home fabric samples you’re considering and lay them out where the cats can get at them/staple them to a temporary scratching post to test out in real at-home conditions.
posted by eviemath at 7:40 AM on October 30, 2022
If you don’t trust your own sense of what your cats will scratch, just bring home fabric samples you’re considering and lay them out where the cats can get at them/staple them to a temporary scratching post to test out in real at-home conditions.
posted by eviemath at 7:40 AM on October 30, 2022
Also, furniture can be reupholstered, so one option is to add to your couch budget a little bit of money to set aside in savings for future reupholstering costs; should help with the worry to have a plan for fixing any cat damage.
You can also get whole couch covers that are easier to wash and/or replace, or fitted arm covers. I don’t much like the look of whole couch covers, myself, but a hand-me-down wingback chair from my grandparents had arm covers and some fabric over the top (where your head rests against when sitting in the chair) in the same upholstery as the rest of the chair, pinned firmly with upholstery pins, and they looked okay. The arm covers have gotten worn out now (which is the point - they’re much easier to replace than the non-removable upholstery), but if you had two sets made for your couch, you could switch them out as needed. Based on the scratch locations from the newer cat on my couch, arm covers and something along the back top (if the couch you get has a solid enough back for cats to walk along) would be the key spots to protect.
Quality furniture that lasts a lifetime and is very comfortable to use really does improve quality of life (especially getting a good mattress for sleeping on, and ergonomic office furniture; but couches/chairs too), so if you’re in a position where you can afford a nice couch, I’d say go for it!
posted by eviemath at 7:53 AM on October 30, 2022
You can also get whole couch covers that are easier to wash and/or replace, or fitted arm covers. I don’t much like the look of whole couch covers, myself, but a hand-me-down wingback chair from my grandparents had arm covers and some fabric over the top (where your head rests against when sitting in the chair) in the same upholstery as the rest of the chair, pinned firmly with upholstery pins, and they looked okay. The arm covers have gotten worn out now (which is the point - they’re much easier to replace than the non-removable upholstery), but if you had two sets made for your couch, you could switch them out as needed. Based on the scratch locations from the newer cat on my couch, arm covers and something along the back top (if the couch you get has a solid enough back for cats to walk along) would be the key spots to protect.
Quality furniture that lasts a lifetime and is very comfortable to use really does improve quality of life (especially getting a good mattress for sleeping on, and ergonomic office furniture; but couches/chairs too), so if you’re in a position where you can afford a nice couch, I’d say go for it!
posted by eviemath at 7:53 AM on October 30, 2022
Response by poster: Couch was purchased for a modest sum (less than 2K because we found one we really liked in the clearance section of the store we chose) and will be delivered Tuesday. The fabric feels almost denim-y but softer. I think we will see if the kitties even care, and if they do, we will buy a couch cover!
At the end of the day, I take to heart from you all that kitties are gonna kitty, and go from there.
posted by Kitteh at 12:38 PM on October 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
At the end of the day, I take to heart from you all that kitties are gonna kitty, and go from there.
posted by Kitteh at 12:38 PM on October 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
Cats are gonna cat. That's why I have matching flat sheets thrown over the couch and chairs.
posted by kathrynm at 2:40 PM on October 30, 2022
posted by kathrynm at 2:40 PM on October 30, 2022
one thing i learned on metafilter is you can do a lot of recovery with loose threads on upholstery (like the type that can come from a my cat, for example) by poking the loose threads back in with felting needles! i was ready to throw away some jonathan adler pillows that look as good as new after a needling. i wish i had learned about felting needles before trimming any loose threads off my couch arm. They work wonders!
posted by wowenthusiast at 5:07 PM on October 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by wowenthusiast at 5:07 PM on October 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
We had this problem for years and we finally bought a nice set of patio furniture for use in the living room. It looks like a modern couch and chair but it's made of steel except for the cushions. Impervious to cats and even if one of them throws up on it or something we can replace cushions.
posted by mmoncur at 7:15 PM on October 31, 2022
posted by mmoncur at 7:15 PM on October 31, 2022
Cats are gonna cat: our youngest cat has destroyed our leather couch and leather-seat-covered dining chairs, which are full of little puncture holes. The older cat prefers to ruin our fabric chair. The fake-suede couch and fake-suede recliner have been left alone by both. So far. A previous cat loved to lick two microfiber fake suede chairs we used to own.
We have plenty of scratching posts and items of cat furniture, but people furniture is much preferred for marking purposes.
posted by telophase at 12:15 PM on November 1, 2022
We have plenty of scratching posts and items of cat furniture, but people furniture is much preferred for marking purposes.
posted by telophase at 12:15 PM on November 1, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by smorgasbord at 6:24 PM on October 29, 2022 [1 favorite]