Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Two years ago we bought a new couch, the only piece of furniture either of us have ever owned that wasn't thrifted or a castoff from parents, and the cats promptly shredded it. We're now saving up to get a new couch that is more kitty-proof. We had a chair once that was kind of a fuzzy corduroy, and they couldn't destroy it, but it was ugly and collected hair like crazy. Any suggestions for fabrics that can stand up to scratching?

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sorry. that wasn't helpful.

i'm not entirely sure that the laws of physics allow for the manufacture of such a material.

I have seen it! With my own eyes! We had that ugly asparagus corduroy chair for two years and they scratched the shiitake out of it all the time, and it never did a thing. I guess I was hoping there were other fabrics like that. Like microsuede! Does that hold up?

No. Mine is a barely scratchy cat and she's done some damage. I couldn't imagine what would happen if she really went after it.

My MIL has a pet proof couch! It was ridic expensive, but it has held up to what must be the world's most insane dog. She destroyed the earlier couch with her nails and this one is 2 years old and going strong.

I think its microsuede, but don't know for sure.

What about a mission-style couch?

I have always ruled those out as being not as comfy but it just occurred to me that you can put big fat throw pillows on them, doy. You are a genius.

That's always been my plan for whenever I can afford grown-up furniture...for now I have an Ikea couch I got for free and I buy a new slipcover when the old one is totally destroyed.

that would work actually. better than an upholstered couch.

to be fair, i have an upholstered couch that my cats haven't destroyed, but that's only because the matching ottoman is so much more satisfying to rake the hell out of. that poor ottoman.

Microsuede does not hold up well to bird beaks. Holds up well to bird "presents" and cleaning, but, eventually, small or large picky beaks and claws can do some damage, so I'd imagine constant cat claws would be as bad or worse. We solve this by having enticing throw pillows that get replaced every 4-5 months, but I doubt that works for cats. I'm not sure how much longer it will work on the macaw either; I think he is on to us.

My cats are equal opportunity fabric shredders. Microfiber is not safe here. The only thing I have found that they don't like to shred is faux leather. That couch, loveseat, and chair are still mostly ok. They do damage it with their back claws when they hop off of it however. Luckily I found fake leather furniture fairly cheap.

If you can find cat scratching furniture that your cats prefer, you can get any couch you want! :)

I have a lotus cat tree with sisal, a vertical post with sisal, and a horizontal cardboard scratcher. My cat never touches the furniture because she prefers her stuff.

Although great advice, my cats have cardboard scratchers, sisal rope scratching posts, and two huge cat trees, yet some fabrics they just can't resist. Crazy little monkeys...

Did the cats scratch it up that badly? I've never noticed. When you're ready to get a new couch let us know because we might be interested in buying your current one off of you, cat shreds and all. I don't love our couch and the dogs, who are not usually the least bit destructive, ripped a hole in the slip cover somehow, and I'm not going to bother to replace it because I'd rather just get a new couch at some point anyway.

Yeah...my cat Agnes has access to a wide variety of things to scratch on...cardboard, rope, carpet material... she has NEVER scratched any of them. Or at least I've never seen her do it. The couch is the only thing she will scratch.

Yeah, we always have a blanket over the arm, and now we have to have one over the other arm too. It's down to the stuffing, so I wouldn't even feel right selling it. If we get a new one, you can have it (if you'd still want it)!

Our cats love their scratch lounge, but that doesn't seem to deter them from the couch at all. Variety is the spice of life and all that shiitake.

Oh man, let me know when you find this elusive fabric. All of our furniture is covered in blankets to cover up the bald spots our two precious darlings have scratched into them... ugh, our living room looks so sad.

My couch is made of something called "dream fibre" a type of microsuede and so far the cats have not done any damage to it. It's hard for them to get their claws into the fabric so I don't think they are too interested. I also have a chair I recovered with upholstery velvet which they also have no interest in scratching.
Look for fabrics that are tightly woven...if you can pull at the surface fibres, then that fabric will be toast in no time.
We also have cardboard scratchers and a cat tree with sisal rope that they absolutely love. For a while I was worried about the berber carpet here. One of them pulled up a corner in the stairs, but it appears that they have lost interest so I'm relieved about that.

My grandma has a mission style couch and I hate it. I have so many bruises from hitting the ends of it. She ended up putting on bumpers because of the grandkids (not me, the young ones).

My cats don't claw our furniture so I guess we are lucky? I trim their nails and I'll make a noise if they are clawing something they shouldn't. They generally stick to their scratching posts, and sometimes the carpet.

Just buy a toy for your cat to scratch on and also cut your cat nails.

Maybe the cat will stop scratching if you take her to a trainer.

So, we actually have chairs that our cats are always scratching at but that never shred. They're second-hand, so I don't know exactly what kind of fabric they are, but it seems like a very dense, thick fabric.

Oh, if only it were that easy! One of my cats would shred ME if I tried to cut his nails. They both love the scratching post perch thing (about 5 feet tall), but it hasn't distracted them from the furniture. They don't scratch the couch while I'm around, only when I'm not here.

You must have magic cats.

We have a couch made of that rough, sturdy, thick chenille weave type fabric, so although the cats like to hook their claws into it, you can't really tell. Sometimes they'll pull a string loose and we'll just snip it off and it's no worse for the wear. It does collect fur like crazy, though, but since it's a very light bluish-green, it doesn't show up that much. We just make sure to vacuum it pretty frequently with the brush attachment so it rakes the hair up.