Completely agreed about NOT declawing; we would never do that. Thanks for the suggestion! Out of curiosity, do you think microfiber is the best because the cats aren't interested in it?

I think they cant sink their claws in it as well so not interested; but we have had cats scratch it and it doesn’t show hardly at all!

Yikes...multiple cats and a puppy...

My cat clawed my microfiber couch but I bought some spray to keep her away from it, and it worked. Neither cat ever bothered our leather furniture.

Good luck!

Branson - PLEASE never ever advise an individual (joking or not) on declawing a cat.

Declawing a cat is equivalent to someone pulling out your nails from the nail bed.

It's not that cats aren't interested in Microfiber fabric, rather it's because their claws don't pose as much damage on microfiber as it does other fabrics.

Having said that, if you supply your love bug/s with multiple scratching posts, they will not be interested in scratching your furniture.

I had a microfiber sofa my cats destroyed easily, I wouldn’t recommend it. Best we had against it was a cotton duck slipcovered piece, we also have some 60s chairs with a strong kind of scratchy woven that has held up really well. Honestly since you don’t have cats yet, your best bet is when you do get them make sure you have plenty of scratching posts for them and apply catnip to encourage their use, praise them for using them, and gently correct them if they attempt to claw the furniture. You will also want to trim their nails regularly (once every week or two) to limit the amount of damage they can do while clawing (cats also claw to keep their nails healthy, so trimming them can discourage the need to claw). Please under no circumstances should you declaw a cat though, it is lifelong painful for them (removes whole first digit portion from their paws and causes poor weight distribution as they walk, among other problems) and tends to lead to worse behaviors like biting and not using the litterbox. If you can’t live with the occasional scratch on your furniture, just don’t get cats.

You provide a cat with alternative scratch areas from the GET GO. From the second the kitties come into the space. You keep their nails safely trimmed . Then get what you like in fabric. You buy a HUGE lint brush for the shedding. And you don't worry about it. Or you don't have cats.

I have 3 cats and I also foster kittens. I have had success with microfiber, some tight velvets, smooth polished cotton and fine wale corduroy fabrics. I have a sunbrella bench that (so far) seems to holding up well. And yes, provide lots of scratching alternatives. And be prepared to love your pets more than your furniture and rugs!

The TIGHT weave of microfibre does TWO things:

1. It makes it difficult for the claw to pierce the product therefore denying said cat the satisfaction of 'clawing' the furniture.

2. If the cat does claw it, the weave is such that it doesn't show.

You will notice #1 is FAR more important than #2. If the cat does NOT get satisfaction from the material it will give up! Remember: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure".

And getting cats their own posts situated in the same room but AWAY from the item you want to keep 'pretty' is very important. Cats LOVE to be with their humans but they also NEED to have a place to 'claw' their own. Kittens are easy to train. They require some patience (sigh....LOTS of patience...more patience than puppies) but a consistent loving approach to their shenanigans will pay off by the time their are fully mature adults (around 2 years old). I like to call cats that are less than 2 years old 'kitten in a cat' creatures! They are full of energy and become bored EASILY.

Boredom brings out the 'bad ass' in any cat. Make sure they have MANY ways to entertain themselves (which is why having TWO kittens can be a blessing...or an absolute sh!t show). Which means your furniture will NEVER become part of their infotainment system.

Get whatever fabric you like. The best thing is to train the cat. Get a scratching post for the cat. Also get a spray bootle filled with water and a little vinegar and spray the cat when it starts to scratch the furniture or jump on the counter. Cats hate it and very quickly learn it is unacceptable behavior. I have had cats my whole life and never had a cat ruin a piece of furniture.

Agreed on microfiber but note my kitten managed to pull and rip the edging/seam of the couch despite the microfiber. You just have to accept with pets (and kids) that damage is possible

Keep your cat's nails clipped, provide other things to scratch on, and get whatever fabric you want.

Branson...... Jora .... Declawing is mutilation -FYI- the process is equal to severing a human's hand at the first knuckles, not just a fingernail, as the bed that regenerates the claw is deep into the paw. The entire set of distal phalanges are amputated.

I get this question 10x a week (cats and dogs). The answer is - there isn't one. Every pet has a different personality and only you know what yours is like. If you have a pet that destroys furniture, then don't buy good pieces or take steps to keep it out of that room. I know you can train dogs to stay off upholstery (I have) but I have never owned cats. Several years ago we delivered $ 10,000 worth of new leather furniture to a home and by the next morning the cats had shredded it all, the customer was in tears. Leather is four times tougher than any fabric but even it can't stand up to cat claws.

Orange peel and or essential oil under the furniture. Add in some unpeeled garlic cloves. Refresh as needed. Use in addition to posts. This has worked for me with 5 cats.

A mixture of orange peel and garlic would keep me off the furniture! :)

What works for us with three cats is microfiber on the furniture and a big sturdy scratching post in the living room. Yeah, I’d rather not have the scratching post. It’s not what I consider decorative. But I love having cats, so this is the way it is!

NEVER EVER spray a cat with water, or anything similar. The cat does not understand what you're doing and the only thing it will accomplish, is for the cat to distrust, and not like, you!

As someone with residents and fosters, microfiber or any smooth fabric is the best way to go for furniture. One of our residents was relentless with ANY type of remotely textured fabric - linen, tight weaves, etc. - any texture and she went right to it. That was despite many (a ridiculous number, really) scratching posts and towers and pad alternatives to use, toys, windows to look out of, etc. She just loved to scratch that dang couch. And the nubby/linen like headboard/bed in one room. We redirected when we were home, but can’t be home and on watch 24/7 so we did what we could to try and mitigate the damage. We tried double stick tape to deter but she took that off since the backing wasn’t sticky enough to stay on and she was smart enough to figure out how to remove it to her to her target. In desperation, we tried adhering clear packing tape on the corners & bottom edges where she seemed to love hitting the most, and that was the most effective method even though not exactly decorative or attractive. I hated it but lived with it and with a coffee table in front it wasn’t that highly/immediately noticeable if you weren’t looking for it. Mostly we just lived with the fact that the couch in that room wouldn’t be perfect, or anywhere near that, and when it was finally time to replace we rejected any fabric option with any kind of even remotely raised/bumpy texture. Microfiber has been a winner, as has velvet (or velvet-ish on side/accent chairs); leather has also been fine. Sometimes even with plenty of options and doing all the things everyone and anyone will tell you to do, and which sometimes do actually work, the cat is just an a**h0le and won’t comply with your efforts. LOL. Or will give the appearance of compliance for a minute and then go back to doing as they damn well please. It’s part of being owned by cats lol. She’s a jerkface sometimes, but she’s our jerkface, and we love her - that’s all there is to it.

Keep their nails trimmed, and start as kittens so they are used to it as they get older. Provide scratch posts! My cats love them and use them every day. If they favor your new couches, which mine did at first, I put clear packing tape on the corners and along the bottom edges. The cats hated this, and it deterred them from scratching the couch. I left the tape on for a few months but took it off if company was coming! Good luck with your new fur family!

I can remember my Siamese who scratched nothing. Other than the tall and sturdy driftwood in a hallway corner. Which is why it was there. Over the years, she scratched until it was as smooth as glass. No, not kidding. Swept up a pile daily.

The reason a cat loves a couch, it's corners and sides particularly? The standing "push and pull", instinct for the cat, against an immovable textured object. Yup........One paw pushing, the other pulling. No carpet patch or crappy post can compete.

I too have used the 'clear packaging tape' on the edges of furniture to reduce the attack on soft pieces. It works very nicely. The cats HATE the feel (too smooth for them = no satisfaction) and if they do manage do pierce the tape, the adhesive 'grabs' their claws just enough to make them panic...just a snick. It is a double negative.

After owning several cats that never touched furniture and others that did (and yes, they will teach EACH OTHER that furniture is cool to scratch) the best 24/7 method is the clear packaging tape. A roll is $2 at Home Depot. Should last several years.

How about ultrasuede?

I think ultrasuede and microfiber are the same - or at least dang close to it. Honestly, given that it it’s smooth to the touch my instinct is to say it will be just fine, but it really depends on the cat.

Lisa did you ever figure this out? I’m also looking to get a couch at room and board and need something my cat won’t scratch to pieces!

We have two cats who destroyed a sofa when we got them as kittens. We have their claws trimmed once a month and have plenty of scratching posts. Recovered the sofa in Sensuede years ago and they tried at first to scratch at it but the weave is too smooth/tight. Similar to microfiber but I think it's stronger. I did my research at the time and it was highly recommended for cats and easy to spot clean. This summer I had a chenille chair recovered with Sensuede since they also destroyed it and started pulling out the stuffing, I think in protest of us working from home and disturbing their peace. So far so good!

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I bought the emerald green Heathfield sofa and loveseat at Wayfair (link below). It's made. of polyester velvet. While the cats like to sleep on it they don't. scratch it. Fur is easily removed by using. a dry dishwashing rubber glove and just "scooping" it up.

https://www.wayfair.com/Mercer41--Heathfield-Chesterfield-95-Rolled-Arm-Sofa-MCRF3261-L305-K~MCRF3261.html?refid=GX434552806212-MCRF3261&device=c&ptid=902416020139&network=g&targetid=pla-902416020139&channel=GooglePLA&ireid=47497438&fdid=1817&PiID%5B%5D=22373066&campaignid=398251723&gclid=CjwKCAjw5p_8BRBUEiwAPpJO62awAKSO_KSzO6mW6rMn_bGTp58xDoUyeAjDJXW6iHsNO671exVG5xoC1oYQAvD_BwE. .

This is an old thread, but for others that may come across it, here is my experience:

I've had 15 years experience with furniture and cats and recently did a bunch of cat scratch swatch tests on Room and Board and fabrics from a few other companies. I did my tests with two objects: a pointy wine bottle corkscrew and a serrated cheese knife.

First, think of the exercise as trying to find a fabric that is less attractive to your cats and results in less damage when they scratch it. If your couch is less fun than their other scratching options, they usually bother it less. We have a number of SmartCat Ultimate Scratching Posts in the house, which they find more interesting than the couches. And of the couches we have, they are in fabrics that tear less/repair easier than other fabric options. On one couch, we just have to trim the threads they manage to pull out and it looks fine.

Also, when you get your couch, I've found it useful to cover the corners in double sided sticky tape for a while so they don't immediately associate the couch with "fun."

Also, not every cat is a scratcher. We've had one that had no interest, one that is a couch annihilator, and one in the middle.

Ok, with that, here are my views on fabrics:

From my personal experience microsuede is the best. We have a microsuede couch in our basement that our scratch-happy cat completely ignores. They also ignore my leather chair, but if they jump on it their claws can leave some marks.

Sunbrella fabrics are a great option and are extremely strong. They can be a bit dull style wise, but they are coming out with new fabrics that look less like deck furniture. Pottery Barn stocks one Sunbrella called Sahara Weave that's kind of nice, although I don't know if Room and Board has this Sunbrella fabric.

Room and Board's Giza holds up really well to both the corkscrew and the cheese knife test. Its one of the best I've tested. The downside is that it comes in one pattern -- a diamond tweed -- that might not appeal to everyone. I do love their color choices though.

Room and Board's velvet called View is also very good. Its very hard to grab any threads with either the corkscrew or cheese knife. And if you do, they are easily snipped.

R&B has another velvet fabric called Banks which passes the cheese knife text but I can manage to pull a few threads out of with the corkscrew. The good news is, however, that Banks seems to repair well. You just cut the pulled threads down and blend them in. If you have a very determined cat, however, it might start to show over time.

Sumner Linen and Boyer Linen, (both identified as cat friendly fabrics), I'm on the fence about, but they are certainly more cat friendly than most fabrics.

I tried out a few other R&B fabrics, but don't remember what they were.

Pottery Barn has a fabric called Brushed Crossweave (polyester/nylon) that is very promising.

Here are a few general tips:

In general, avoid Boucle fabrics. They are very loopy and easy to snag.

Some fabrics look "more solid" on the back, like they have a glue or some substance on the back binding the threads. Those are generally pretty good. The threads move less if they are snagged when they have this adhesive or whatever it is on the back.

I've had the best luck with artificial fibers. Cotton and natural fabrics seem to really snag.

When looking for fabrics, don't automatically discount ones not labeled "cat friendly" or assume a "performance fabric" will be fine. Get a swatch. Do a test.

And just remember its about finding a "better" fabric, not necessarily an indestructible one.

With that, a little training, and some more attractive materials for your cat to scratch on, both you and your cats should be just fine.

Thanks for advice. I am now motivated to order swatches. I keep reading about leather and how it is fairly cat friendly? My cat has destroyed my 4 leather kitchen barstools along with a leather Pottery Barn recliner. Needless to say no more leather for me.

And here is a short update: we ordered Room and Board couches in the Flint fabric. The Flint is a tight weave and there is some kind of binder on the back of the fabric. So far, our cats have no interest in them. One dug his claws in when he was getting ready to jump on his sister. It left no marks. It’s not the softest fabric, but it seems that it will stand up to our cats.

Interesting about your experience with leather, Stacie. Ours ignore it. Try getting some SmartCat Ultimate Scratching Posts. Ours love that beyond anything else and they have less interest in the furniture when it’s out. We park it next to the couch.

In general, the less texture the better. Wovens are tricky, it must be really tight weave or the cats will destroy it.

Microsuede works great. Neither of my cats have ever scratched it.

@CindyR What is the spray you used?

I have 2 12 month old kittens that will be 1 year old next month and they love to use their claws in everything I would never declaw them even though they are indoor cats so I need help figuring out what kind of futon that they can't destroy they already ruined the back and underneath the one I have now

The most effective thing I have found to keep cats from clawing furniture and curtains is extract of cilantro spray. Apparently cats hate cilantro as much as I do. Unfortunately, I had to stop using it because you have to spray frequently enough that the scent remains fresh and *I* couldn't stand the smell. But if you like the smell of cilantro, it might work for you!

I won't preach. I just find it pathetic when I watch a kitty stretch those forward legs and go through the useless motion of scratching a vertical surface with no claws....ten years after being de clawed.

Perhaps I would be able to scratch my back with no nails, but I prefer not to . Has the kitty got a PTSD case from this? Maybe not. Plenty of humans live happily minus a limb, but given preference I bet they'd rather have what the lord gave them.

 just want to say this Old Post but I will say that cat scratching post or some kind of cat scratching item is good for where they like to rub so buy a lot of them so they can scratch and rub all they want

Some cats love sisal, some love carpet. Get the right material for the cat along with nail trimming and multiple scratch areas, at least one in each room they frequent and wherever there is furniture. Our cats never touched the leather. The posts need to be tall, not the tiny crap you find at big box pet stores.

I have two active cats who have destroyed every piece of upholstered furniture in the house--including the wood parts. My next attempt will be performance velvet on a swivel armchair draped on the seat and back, double-sided cat tape on the arms initially. Perhaps if the chair moves, it won't be so attractive--this has worked with my office chair. It's furry, but not destroyed. Bottom line, I love them more than I mourn my pristine furniture--but it is a problem. The kind of cat tape you can buy at pet stores is VERY sticky on the back, though it might not stick as well on fabric. I made the mistake of putting it directly on my kitchen counters, and there is still glue in places. Next time, vinyl placemats. But the cats have never once returned to the counters. And I agree, declawing is amputation. Cats walk on their toes.

(One consideration with microsuede--it may not snag, but the claws can leave tiny holes in the fabric. The other down side to it and to velvet is that both are fur magnets, but of course that's more controllable.)

foolproof

I keep seeing microsuede/microfiber, but my last three cats have all adored sinking their claws in my expensive “Performance microsuede” Pottery Barn couch. It’s utterly destroyed with large, gaping holes on all four corners. The fabric doesn’t have pulls like my basket weave chairs, it has large holes!

Sarah - So sorry to hear that. Can you tell me the PB fabric you used? I’m currently shopping and trying to choose fabric.

Velvet! I’ve never heard of a cat scratching it

I provide scratch pads and early on when he started to scratch the furniture I scared the live jeebus out of his every time I saw it by making loud noise and arm waving. NOW, he wouldn't think of scratching the furniture OR getting on a kitchen counter. He sleeps on my expensive chair but he would never dream of scratching it... cats are trainable.

He likes to camp but hates the cold.

I second the velvet fabric! Mine have destroyed all (3) other sofas that had a tight weave. Each has their own scratching post and seem to go there for their scratching. Keeping their nails trimmed helps too.

My cat does’t touch the velvet couch!