Velvet sofas - Will they be destroyed?

[TheThreeHeadedBeast]

Not sure if this should be in property, but I think I need cat owners.
We are looking to replace the sofa, add an armchair or two, basically complete redecoration of the living room.
Children are at Uni so less likely to destroy soft furnishings, so it is just the cats...

We definately want fabric sofas, ideally I want a gorgeous ruby red. Just worried about the cats, they have a scratching post which they use, they have outdoors, they only scratch the rug a bit and the carpet outside the bathroom if I am in there.

Has anyone had velvet sofas which have not been destroyed?

Yes! I have a gorgeous red velvet sofa and 5 cats. When we first got it, I misted it with an orange oil suspension - not sure if that helps, but worth a try!

We put cardboard scratching pads (our cats prefer these to posts) at either end, so they had something close to scratch.

I also NEVER give them unsupervised access to the room. We even have an extra latch on the door because they can open it.

I trained ( persuaded ) my two Siamese not to scratch anything indoors. They had a scratch pad on one of the stairs ( their choice) .

the only exception was our antique white velvet sofa which had a high back on a wooden frame, so the fabric was stretched tight. It was impossible to dissuade them for going at it like demons. We had to cover the back with a loose throw, but even then , they would tug it off.

I think it was the little loops, and the resistance ( also maybe identification of white furry things?)

Yes. Shredded!

Thanks for the replies and the honesty. Damn, looks like DH was right - it's very annoying, as he usually is right.

One of my cats liked to scratch at my footstool. Because it's velvet it's not hanging with pulled threads but it's definitely scratched and looking thread bare. Such a pest!!

Yes!

Velvet is one of the few fabrics my cat doesn’t scratch! They’re all so different, aren’t they?

When I knew we had to move into a rental I trained our cats not to scratch furniture. Since kittens they’d stretched up and stretched their backs by digging their claws into an IKEA armchair in the kitchen. I’d told them off for it but not consistently. So step 1) I got a tiny spray bottle of water and kept it on the side near the chair they always went for. Spray spray spray combined with firm no or clapping hands. Step 2) got them something they were allowed to scratch. I found those posts useless so got a scratching boards made of cardboard (Amazon have loads) and dotted them about the place. Eventually I won!

I adopted a beautiful 12 year old boy last year. He refused to use his various scratch posts, but loved sharpening his nails on my brand new velvet sofa. Not a single mark anywhere! I was more than happy to let him scratch away knowing that no damage was being done.

Mine scratches everything except the velvet sofa, which she doesn't touch. She did wee on it the moment we brought it into the house though. She'd never done that before either. There was some swearing.

Nope. No scratching here at all from any of them. Velvet sofa is like new. They don't even sit on it (as if they don't like the texture of it!)

Our two cats don't scratch the velvet sofa.

I confess I never thought about it when we bought the suite.

They both scratch the fuck out of the carpets though.

What about anti scratch tape for it? I replaced my sofa and armchairs I'm March as they were falling apart and tore to shreds. I got the tape on Amazon and taped the most likely scratch points. The tape doesn't hurt a human or mark your furniture. They tried scratching and immediately retreated from the stickiness, tiny bits of fur remained. I kept this up for the first month and now they ignore it totally. It's a no scratch zone.

I had a red velvet sofa. You could really see the dust on it! Needed hoovering far more regularly that I would have wanted.

You have given me hope, as well as all the other positive comments. we may go shopping on Sunday, so will see what the options are

The thing is, you won't know whether your cat will destroy it until you bring it home and then it's too late 😂

PetIsay Anti-Scratch Cat Scratching Deterrent Tape(4 inches x 16 yards), Scratch Control Aid | Double Sided Cat Training Sticky Strips | Stop Cat Scratching Furniture Protector, Clear(Single Roll) amzn.eu/d/awMuv58
We use this to stop them scratching carpet - definitely worth a try!

none of my cats have ever scratched furniture - but they have entirely taken over our velvet loveseat 😄 in their eyes, it belongs to them, and they get very put out when DH moves them to go on the PlayStation!

No sadly my velvet sofas were toast so I've got new fabric ones but they have to be covered up with blankets.

Velvet is better than many fabrics because it doesn’t have loops so doesn’t get damaged in the same way by scratching / they can’t get their claws in.

Our cat has never scratched the velvet sofas but the fabric ones were destroyed.

@LilacpointMummy it's great stuff that tape. 5*

I only needed to use for the first month or so. I like the fact it doesn't hurt humans against it, won't hurt pets either but makes them uncomfortable with it so avoiding it.

Same here - never touched it.

Thank you all so much, we will be getting the velvet sofa and chairs etc

We have 3 cats and one room has a chenille sofa the other is velvet, they're intact still! We chase them off when scratching anything except the posts / cat tree - good luck

Mine never scratches sofas. But he does destroy the stair carpet