HELP Kitten and Leather Chairs

[Scbchl]

Hi, we got a lovely new (expensive) dining set then got a kitten not long after. The dining table is in the livingroom and she is ripping the seat to shreds and the sides and tops of it by jumping up and climbing on or running round the tops of the chairs with her claws dug in.

We need a solution. So I have tried tin foil which she just plays with and pulls off and it encourages her on to them more. Iv sat cushions on them and she just climbs round the backs with her nails dug in. I was thinking chair covers but her little nails will likely go straight through the material into the leather still. Is there a spray or something I can use anyone can recommend?

Shes 14 weeks now and is suddenly so wild. I think what she really needs is to be let out but she doesnt weigh enough to be spayed now and is still pretty small.

If anyone has any advice my chairs would really appreciate it.

Attached some pics of the rascal!

[Fluffycloudland77]

I’d buy some thick chair covers made of thick corduroy & grit your teeth while she grows out of it. They don’t seem able to do this as much as adults.

Does she have a really tall cat tower?. I think she’d like one & if you sprinkle catnip on it (Tesco’s sell it in the pet aisle, the shelf says “we saw you coming 😭) it might be more appealing than mums boring catnip free chairs.

[Gingaaarghpussy]

We had a leather chair that had soft cushions on it. By the time I inherited it, the stuffing was coming out of the arms, due to successive cats using it as a scratch post.
Your chair is dooooomed.

[roxisolerenshaw]

Agree with PP sadly. Our cat is 9 and we got the leather sofas when she was 4. We tried foil and a cat post but there was no stopping her! The leather has been torn to shreds with the constant clawing over the years.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Ours never bothered with the leather sofa.

The velvet duresta on the other hand 😭

[Bargebill19]

Train a cat 🤣

[Scbchl]

I tried to look for clear pvc dining chair covers that were scratch proof but no such thing exists 😒 I have a tub of cat nip it's like herbs that I was to sprinkle in a toy should i try rubbing it on her cat post or is it like a spray cat nip youd use?

It's not so much she wants to scratch them, more shes using them as play things and climbing and running round them. Thick corduroy covers seems like possibly a good solution as the other covers I looked at were too thin. Hadnt considered cordoruoy. Have also purchased some clippers to trim her nails weekly and if I can find thick covers will spray them with a citrus scented spray 🤞

[Fluffycloudland77]

If the post has a place to sit put catnip on it. Clipping claws is an excellent idea, you just snip the tip off.

She’s gorgeous though and it’s hard to be cross with their little faces looking up at you.

[Scbchl]

Yeah I cant be cross just in despair 😂 I moved the chairs out the room to another room till I found a solution and she started meowing in anger trying to climb the table legs then ran to her water bowl and started hitting it and knocking the water out all over the floor and dipping her paws in for the first time. I think we are going to have our hands full 😂 Have put catnip on the posts. She had a sniff and walked away.

[Gingaaarghpussy]

I dont think my cat's right in the head. She's not interested in catnip. Plus she has a thing for my curtains, when the sun shines through them its like I've got tiny constellations all over them.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Ours used to knock high-ball glasses over. We had plastic picnic ones for a few years.

Maybe she’s too young for catnip.

[Bargebill19]

Not all cats like catnip.

[BigBigPumpkin]

Yeah, your chairs are kinda doomed. Sorry. Good luck. Hope the clipping and covers work.

[BigBigPumpkin]

@Bargebill19

Not all cats like catnip.

I've never owned a cat that likes catnip.

[Bargebill19]

Of the current 8 cats, we appear to have a 50/50 split on catnip. 8/8 on felix and go cat and chilled milk. 6/8 on water chilled or warmed. 7/8 on webbox. 1/8 likes water straight from the tap or washing up bowl.
Totally non scientific experiment on cats ranging from 6months to 13 years.
I am allowed to live with them as I can open packets and empty litter trays. 🤣

[Scbchl]

We are going to wrap the chairs all thickly in clingfilm and then cover them with the covers which are arriving today and hoping her little claws wont penetrate it all. Il spray the covers when a citrus spray which they "apparently" dont like. I'm guessing the citrus spray will have no effect either 😂 Nail clippers are arriving today also. Have no idea how Il manage that either as you really only get to touch her on her terms, obviously!

[Scbchl]

Have managed to trim her nails much to her anger and got the chair covers on
She jumped up on the edge of the back of the dining room chair and had her claws out and they havent pierced the leather. So hopefully the nail clipping and covers will work.

[LemonBreeland]

She is absolutely gorgeous. We have a kitten who is only a few weeks older, but he seems to have now learned to run around and jump without putting his claws out all the time, so hopefully she will grow out of it

[YetAnotherSpartacus]

Oh My! What a sweetie!