[CJinCA]

bad bad Lickorish! Last night she scratched on her scratching post, then moved two feet to the leather sofa and started scratching on that! We told her not to do that, but from the looks of it she has been using the sofa as scratching post for some time hubby is not happy! He wants Lickorish to stay out of the living room now, but there's no real way to keep her out short of locking her in a bedroom.

She has multiple scratching posts in the living room that she seems to like using. Why is she doing this to our couch and how do we get her to stop?

anyone know a good way to cover / hide scratches on a black leather sofa?

 

[cinderflower]

that is the main reason i won't buy a leather sofa. my daytimer, a bomber jacket and a tumi leather bag were my first collateral damages so i learned the hard way that nothing leather can be left out or i might as well throw it away. my first two cats were declawed when i got them from shelters (i'm sure the shelters didn't do it, the first owners did) and i was totally spoiled. i had no idea what cats with claws do.

i have no idea how to cover scratches in black leather, but maybe you could get a slipcover. (i know, what's the point?) but it's just one of those things cats love to claw on.

 

[CJinCA]

We had the sofa for about 2 years before we got the cats. Ours have their claws and its going to stay that way. I may have to get Lickorish claw caps, but would prefer to get her to stop scratching the sofa!

 

[MowMow]

Do you trim her claws? Keeping them quite short can help with this.

 

[cinderflower]

i considered those claw caps but you have to glue them on and . . . i don't know. it just seemed easier for me not to have anything they wanted to rip apart. they leave the furniture alone but neither one of the clawed cats really wants his nails trimmed. i do it occasionally but it's a big ordeal.

i'd get slip cover if i were you.

i did babysit a cat with claws about 20 years ago before i got any cats, a big black tom cat named ozzie. but he didn't go after anything leather. the owner told me, "he won't scratch your sofa if you cover it with a sheet." so i did, and a week later i was changing the sheet and the back of the sofa was destroyed. it was so bad i had to throw it away so i charged the guy for a sofa lol. (he paid it too.) he also left the cat for two months, i can't even remember why. i still have a scar on my arm because i was lying in bed and the cat jumped on my forearm and wouldn't let go. eric said, "did you have your hand under the covers?" and i was like, "i don't really remember, probably, i was watching tv," and he goes, "oh yeah, he HATES that." thank you for telling me.

 

[MowMow]

/shrug I do my guys every two weeks with no issues. It just takes teaching them to tolerate it.

 

[BroganMc]

We cover our one and only leather lounge chair with a heavy blanket. Seems to keep the kitties off it. They only scratch when their claws are too long. Best answer is to trim them often. The longer a cat's claws are the more they want to file them down with scratching.

There are leather repair kits available to cover small holes. (Like Leather Repair Kits - Do it yourself leather repair products for furniture auto just about anything leather or vinyl) Depends how much damage you have. Ours is not too bad. We stopped the kitties before they could really make a mess of it.

You can also try spraying citrus or Feliway on the sofa to keep them away. We had good success just chastising them when they went for the chair, covering it and redirecting them to their tree. Also trimming their claws keeps them from damaging the house. It also seems to calm them down. I notice when their nails are long they seem to get more wild and rough in their play. Long claws accentuates their animal instincts.

 

[dweamgoil]

We do nail trimmings every other week as well. We started the cats with routine trimmings as soon as they moved in and in time, they got used to it.

I have a sofa and loveseat set in pleather. Could not afford real leather then I put slipcovers on them to protect them for when company came over. 2 years later the slipcovers were ready to be changed, and when I removed the old ones, I found the furniture itself had tiny pin pricks all over it. I decided to buy new slipcovers and move on. It's just not worth the aggravation. I decided to see it as a blessing in disguise. Varied slipcovers and an assortment of throw pillows allow me to redecorate my living room without spending a lot of money.

I have found the cats prefer the loveseat since it's closest to the cat shelves. They don't really scratch it per se, but use it as a springboard so I got one of those pet covers you thrown on top for the loveseat, and so far, the new slipcovers have been on for over a month and no snags or tears.

 

[CJinCA]

Do you trim her claws? Keeping them quite short can help with this.

we had been, but got lazy about it lately. She went about 5 weeks without a trim and her claws were getting quite long and sharp. We trimmed them again a few days ago. She doesn't like it, but is getting better, she didn't seem quite so upset this time.

for now we've put a blanket hanging down over where she's been scratching. i haven't seen her try to scratch it again, but we can't always be in the living room to watch.

oh, and thanks, BroganMC, for the link to the leather repair. It looks like all shallow scratches, not deep tears so I'm hoping we can get it back to new looking.

 

[cinderflower]

my first two cats never minded having their back claws clipped. these second two, good luck. i get to occasionally, other times, no way. they're both moody and stubborn cats. (sweet, but it's their way or their way.)

i wouldn't spray citrus on any kind of furniture, it will discolor it. i've used feliway but it didn't work at all and i'm not sure what i'd spray it on. probably not leather.

i have several sea of tranquility afghans that i made, they're white and have a lot of open space so mostly the uphostery shows through, they aren't like a chevron or other grandma-type (lol well i don't know what else to call it) afghan. i've never seen one for sale though. but if you know someone who knits, they're easy to make.

 

[Penny135]

Cats love to scratch. It takes the outer layer of their nails off. My cat even scratches a cat scratcher (the kind that lays on the floor, a mat) and shes declawed. Its just a bilt in instinct. Some cats like the kind that hang on a door knob or a post as well. I have been lucky to have never had a cat scratch furniture but I'm sure its quite frustrating.

 

[BroganMc]

for now we've put a blanket hanging down over where she's been scratching. i haven't seen her try to scratch it again, but we can't always be in the living room to watch.

Our blanket has the effect of being a deterrent because it slips off the leather chair when pulled. So if kitty tries to scratch, kitty gets a large fuzzy blanket pulled on herself. It's one of those plush microfleece blankets. Far too warm for kitty to cuddle on and not very fun to have dumped all over you. It also matches the chair in color so doesn't look too odd.

Since we started covering the chair, the cats have mostly left it alone. They don't even bother sitting on it. Most we see is they'll hide under the blanket where it drapes off the back. It makes a nice curtain hiding place.