Cat scratches on leather sofa - help!

[GingerKitCat]

Also posted in Home Decoration but I remembered I might find help here!

Has anyone had any success restoring their leather sofas from cat scratches?

I've looked up the kits on Amazon and watched some Youtube videos but I'm not convinced I'd be able to recreate the results.

The sofas are tan, matt (nubuck?) leather. The damage is in specific areas such as the sides/ back and particularly the front at floor level where the monster has hauled himself along on his back

The damage is lots of fairly deep plucks where he's been gleefully sharpening his claws. No long scratches or threads. He's now banned from the living room since I discovered the extent of the damage.

In honesty I'm not expecting miracles but it would be nice to remove some of the more visible damage to the sides and front (the back is against the wall).

ps I love him really. He's allowed in the living room under close supervision! He has the run of the rest of the house which he somehow manages not to shred

On nubuck, I'm not sure there's much you can do. It's easier on shiny leather to cover scratches. You could try gently buffing with a fine wire brush to blend it in a bit

If I were you I would give up and I honestly thaught I could save it, I would call a car dealer. There are people specialised in restoring leather seats with pretty amazing results and car dealers tend to have names. They cancome to your home.

but (and here lies my doubts) you have to be sure you can protect your sofa from your cat.

We have had a chair repaired the route Qwebec suggests. It wasn't cheap, and it only lasted until the b*stard cat did it again.... But it did look nice for a couple of months or so.

Very interesting, thank you!

I'm reasonably confident I have the situation under control as he's simply shut out the living room when I'm not in there (I live alone). He has the kitchen (food, bed, cat flap, cat tree) and garden as his domain

I'm in there he'll sit nicely on the sofa. He'll try to scratch the arm of my chair if he wants letting out or feeding (cat flap and food freely available in the kitchen hmm) but at least I can stop him immediately.

The main damage was done when he had free reign in the lounge when I was out. I didn't realise the extent of the damage

If I'm in there

My cats have their own sofa in the dining room that I got off ebay, it's a horrible thing but covered in cosy blankets and toys and I have taught them to scratch that - it's scratched to death and my leather sofa is untouched.
I had to lock them in there with it before they got the idea and now they always scratch their own sofa.
The stairs carpet is still an issue sigh.

P.S My cats are not allowed in the living room when I am not there, can you shut that room off?

I used this company (leathercareandrepair.co.uk) to repair my sofa which had been living with PIL who had multiple pets. It came up like new. Buying all the right stuff and doing myself would have cost almost as much, and I'm sure I wouldn't have made the same great job of it. They were really great!

Tall scratch post by the sofa. Our sofa isn't touched but the scratch post is. Sadly some of our other chairs (less fancy) get it instead .

Thanks all! Off to google that company Ivory

Radishal I inherited him from a neighbour at approx. 7yrs old and the behaviour seems ingrained. He has plenty of toys and is pretty spoilt but has little interest in his scratching tower except for sleeping on the various levels and using it as a lookout! He sometimes gives it a cursory scratch to humour me. Although now I type it it's more of a wake up stretch There are at least ten areas of the furniture he's fond of scratching if I don't intervene. I'd need that many scratching posts and I know he'd stare me right in the eye and merrily scratch the adjacent leather

He has the strongest/ thickest claws of any cat I've known. I watch him scratching various wooden things in the garden with joyful abandon but it doesn't seem to do anything to keep his claws in check! I'm reluctant to trim them as he used to be quite timid and wobbly when climbing/ balancing. The neighbour said he had some issues with his legs as a kitten. Since he's been with me his confidence has soared and his balance has improved loads. I don't want to risk trimming his claws as he loves being outdoors. I do check them regularly and they're not causing him problems.

Mermaids I love that the solution is to have another sofa

It's not bothering me too much but it's nice to know that there are options out there to restore it