Cat-proof sofa?

Is there such a thing as a cat-proof sofa which is also comfortable and stylish? We wondered about getting a leather one or do they scratch those too?

I used tio have the litter tray inside for years… kind of thinking poor moggies having to go outside… well a few months ago, I chucked it out due to lack of space and low and behold, no problems and one chore less!
I also seem to remember some stick on plastic sheets, that would discourage cats from scratching, if you like I’ll dig out the details.
Claudia

It’s all to do with marking territory Wendy. Cats, when they scratch release scent from glands in their paws, so they just saying, this is mine KEEP OFF! and the house is their one safe haven from other cats and animals so they do like to mark it a lot.
One cheap solution is to put a carpet square or home made scratch post in the area where you don’t want them to scratch - i.e. the corner of the sofa - to encourage them to scratch the obstacle rather than the sofa.

Thanks Lynn and Claudia, they’ve got a garden full of trees to scratch and they do, but I presume they get a better grip on the sofa…one of them even comes in from the garden to use the litter tray…

I may add, that a scratch tree needs to be sturdy! What you commonly see in the shops isn’t quite the type your cat would need. The best scratch tree I ever had, was a big chunk of branch, screwed into quite a large MDF base, and part of it covered with a heavy cord. Worked a treat.
My last sofa was scratched to bits. Funnily enough, the new ones, made of cotton, they leave alone. Now they look for their scratching needs outside…
Good luck
Claudia

Hi Wendy and welcome to our cat mad group!
We have a leather sofa which is about 16 years old now and still going strong! It is easy to clean and resistant to cat claws BUT I have to say that it’s not the sofa that’s the problem, it’s educating the cat not to scratch it! Always have plenty of other areas and specific cat scratch posts available and we’ve found that in general they leave the sofa alone. With a leather sofa, if they come in with mucky paws etc, you can just wipe it clean with a damp cloth.
As for cat scratch posts, they need to be quite tall, some are too short for cats to stretch and mark their territory(this is what scratching is about after all) We have a multi-level cat ‘tree’ which they love.
Best of luck!
Lynn

Thanks Lindsay…the dog’s started using ours as a bed too, even though he’s got his own sofa…ho hum

Dear Wendy…in my experience, the only fabric which resists/repels cats is fake suede, called ultrasuede. They don’t get good traction on it, although eventually (fifteen years later) they have finally trashed an ultrasuede covered wing chair. It is great for fitted chair covers but doesn’t work so well for slip covers.

I look forward to other suggestions as I’ll need to recover the wing chair!! Lindsay