Velvet sofas and cat

[Nat3kids]

We are finally replacing our sofas after they were almost completely destroyed by rough toddlers plus a cat who insists on using them as a scratching post! My husband is keen to go for leather since we had one on the past and the cat ignored it. It should also be good for cleaning toddler spills. I find leather sofas quite cold and clinical and would love a velvet sofa in a bright colour. I have read that cats don’t tend to scratch velvet sofas as the fabric has short threads that they can’t dig their claws into. But I don’t know if that’s wishful thinking on my part! Our current sofa has a tweed like fabric and was a big mistake as she has loved digging her claws into it!

ime cats scratch whatever teh hell they like for no good reason.

I have a leather sofa they haven't bothered at all just now...occasional scratch marks as they are old and bad at judging distances now, but no persistent raking

They have ruined a leather chesterfield, a leather chair...one arm only. and back in the day a chintzy cotton sofa. wee shites

My cats scratched a leather sofa we had to bits so I think you're taking a risk with whatever you get. I've just got a velvet sofa, I don't have a cat anymore but my dog jumps up on it and hasn't harmed it at all.

One of my cats is a scratcher but she does not go for sofas - she generally sticks to the stair spindles & an old shelving unit. Does like sleeping on velvet though!

My cat doesn't touch the velvet sofa, he likes the linen one and the pure wool one - I had no idea before I read it on here and realised that he never touches the velvet one.

Also have a leather armchair that he hasn't bothered with.

Our cat destroyed our leather sofa

Our cat occasionally does stick his claws in to ours but he hasn’t made a mark and there are other things he prefers to scratch!

Neither of mine scratch the sofa but fuck me the hair that covers it is ridiculous. Honestly I could hoover it daily and it would still look like it hadn’t been done in moths. It’s a disaster.

Ours is velvet, should have said, sorry!

Velvet patchwork here, they've scratched the sides when they were kittens but don't touch it now :)

My cats don’t mither my velvet furniture either, I think it’s true about the pile not catching their claws, so it’s not interesting to them.

Leather on the other hand - we had a cat when I was a kid that pulled an old leather chair to bits.

Mine don't scratch the velvet sofas. Veeery occasionally one of them tries, but there's no pile to grip so they give up quickly.

I have a velvet one for two weeks and they spent one night in the room and the little buggers scratched it. Only it doesn’t scratch as such it kickers into tiny holes. Needless to say cats aren’t allowed in that room anymore.

Thanks everyone for sharing you experiences, it looks like it’s going to be a risk whatever we get (can’t keep her out the room due to kids running about plus it is the route to the kitchen). Maybe I’ll buy a velvet pouffe to start off with and see if it survives her claws!

We have a velvet armchair and unfortunately the cats regularly try to scratch it. Gentle dissuasion, when attempted, is only partially effective...

I have velvet too. Dcat not interested in clawing but she does sometimes wee on it 😡