Which is why I don't have cats! I recently trained the big dogs to stay out of certain areas of the house. We have some things going on and I need to know those areas are staying drool, paw print and dog hair free. I had a physical barrier in 3 doorways for about 2 weeks and now the dogs won't even cross the imaginary lines. Gotta love trainable dogs!

3katz, I hear ya. Whenever I think it's finally time to replace my old couch and loveseat, I'm reminded that cat hair and claws are a part of my life. That's why I can't have nice things, because the cats are staying.

My decor includes a lot of towels - towels on couches, chairs, the floor (don't ask), area rugs and none of them match.

Ditto! But my dogs don’t stop my decorating urges. New chairs, sofa? Bring on the quilts, throws or towels. That’s for the family room and favorite lookout spots in the entry. They don’t go on living room furniture. Would I love to see all my house in it’s uncovered glory all the time, and not just for company! Sure, but’ heck,, they are so worth it. Love snuggling with a pup by the fire on a winters’ night.

Until we moved two years ago, I didn't have a dresser or table that didn't have a scratch on it from the cats chasing each other. At one time I had five cats. That was one too many. Only had two when we moved, and currently down to one. While in the past I considered myself a cat person, he will not be replaced. I am tired of the (now) occasional throwing up of cat food and/or hairballs, scratches and cat hair left behind. In the past year we've lost two large boy dogs. Only have our two girl dogs now. Female dogs are by far the easiest, in my experience. DH would like to be pet free, but I that's just not going to happen. I have always had pets and don't see that changing anytime soon.

Our large dogs are not allowed on the furniture, but my 9lb dog likes to sit on and sleep by me. I've never covered anything before, but since last cat goes downstairs now (and likes to chew on things), I removed everything he could damage or get hurt by and put towels on the leather sofa and chair. We don't use the den anyway, so it's his area now. He easily adapted to having his food and litter box moved. He has lots of toys (dog would eat if up here) and I made him a box tunnel. Currently he's asleep in the small dog bed in breakfast room, but he'll go downstairs if the dogs start barking and get in his bed for the rest of the morning. We also close the pantry door is we're leaving so he cannot come in the kitchen (or accidentally get in the rest of the house) while we are gone. He is 14yo and would rather not be around a lot of noise, so the den is working out in his favor.

When we moved two years ago, I was adamant that the dogs would not be allowed on the furniture. That lasted about 3 days.

I love cats! Dogs too. Animals in general.

Our Sunshine is nuts. She has never destroyed anything though. My other cats that I’ve had did.

She does know about not going on the dining table. I only catch her if I wake up at night🙄

3katz4me,

That is just like my bed and chairs, but it's 3dogs4me. When I turn off the lights and head up to my bedroom, I'm preceded by the 'kids', 3 wonderful rescue dogs, that I have have, ranging in age from 7-ish to almost 11-ish, which brings tears to my eyes, since I've had all of them since they were young.

I have the same chair covers, which my dogs pull down before they get in a chair, or the sometimes crawl under it - no idea why.

But, they bring me so much joy, that I'll admit that even though I could probably needle felt a BLANKET from their hair, I treasure them more than the furniture they're laying on.

Five little stinkers here, ranging in age from barely 2 to 17. The young ones still think they're kittens and are into everything all the time it seems. The oldsters have the attendant issues of most elderly creatures, including failing senses and resulting accidents on occasion. We have definitely modified our decor to not only best suit their needs, but to save our sanity as well. Constantly worrying about things being damaged is no way to live, so we "babyproof" in a sense, and don't decorate exactly as we would if we didn't have animals.

Sometimes I think about what I would do differently if we didn't have them, but I would so much rather have them! They enrich our lives in ways that all the cool STUFF in the world could never do.

Our youngest, the repeat offender:

Michele, the same rules apply in my house. Cats on the counter? Good gracious!

Well, you just gotta indicate where the designated cat seating is.

But be prepared for rogueish behavior.

My indoor cat is white, so the sweeper is constantly on the ready. Yesterday I came home and caught her sleeping on a chair that I thought she never bothered. I chased her off in a hurry, she knew she wasn't suppose to be there. The hair that came off that cushion, ugh. So glad no one but me (in this time of social distancing) may have sat down on it.

Oh, and thank goodness for the Swiffer mop for in-between vacuuming.

Yes I had most of those rules too though they’ve always been on the furniture. I’ve had seven cats and never have they been on the dining table or counters (in my presence) until #7 arrived. She is an incorrigible rule breaker. And now #6 has followed her lead and lounges around on the table.

I can’t get mad at her though because she just goes wherever I am to get love and attention - or to chew plastic and cellophane. I swear she is going to have an obstruction some day. It is #6 though who takes the lead at 5:30am - pawing madly at me until I get up and feed him.

We too will always have cats as long as we’re able. They are much more precious to us than any of our stuff.

When we were ready to stain the hardwood floors in a house we were building , I took a ziplock bag filled with our two dogs’ fur to the paint store. I picked a stain color that matched the fur (The dogs were in the golden retriever color shade.)

My daughter, who is working from home during this lockdown, adopted a kitten. Beautiful Luna Everyone is ok with it except Sunshine.... The kitten is so smart and funny. Very sweet. Sunshine has always had a bit of an edge. She could be the most loving cat, padding and purring away on top of me, then she hisses if you have the nerve to sneeze anywhere near her.

Sunshine

Luna

I honestly think this goes to the heart of dog vs cat people. :) I love all animals. Heck, I'm a vegetarian because I can't eat meat!

However my personality quirks require a clean and orderly house and the whole concept of free spirited cats all over my stuff just doesn't work for me.

I work hard with my dogs, they learn acceptable behavior, and as a species are better suited for my control freak attitude about my house.

Not saying I don't love cats. I love petting my friends cats. In their houses, not mine. :) Love the way they purr and smash themselves into you when they like you. Awesome critters.

I think most of you know my story about having to replace all of our lovely lever door handles with round knobs because of this little dude...

Ida, that cracks me up! Little smarty .

Hahaha, I love the second photo. I always had cats and loved every one of them.

3katz4me , Where did you get that cover for your chair? Sure looks better than the towel I am currently using.

I loved my last little kitty, but this is one more reason I am done with pets. I miss her, but I most definitely do not miss the fur and the other gross dealings.

But mainly, I couldn't bear another heartbreak 😥

I did buy rugs with all that fur in mind and now we have indoor/outdoor flat weave carpets in our living/dining room. They're in perfect shape, so they won't be replaced any time soon.

Re Tired - I’m sure I got the chair covers on Amazon. They look pretty good when not full of white cat hair but better the cover than the chair. And the small attachment for the Dyson stick is superb at sucking the hair off the cover.

I have had both cats and dogs and each has its own way of destroying the home. All mine are well trained when I am near but all broke rules while out of the house. My cats breath and body smell so much better than my dogs. I can smell a dog in every house that has one without knowing there is one. The litter is smelly too but kept in the basement. The dogs also seem to leave oil marks on the back of chairs even with frequent cleaning. Both leave nose prints on windows but dog drool is on floors. Dogs nails on floors are more bothersome than cats but cats nails on furniture are worse. Pets, dogs or cats, are alot of work. Kids do far less damage to my things than either cats or dogs.

3katz, we have four cats and one also likes to sleep UNDER the chair covers.

I had cats for 38 years until my last 2 passed last year, and have had dogs for over 20 years. I decided I needed a break from cat litter, so adopted a 3rd dog instead! LOL! I never had a cat that liked going on counters, thank goodness ... and the dogs are definitely allowed on the furniture. I will always have a pet, probably a dog or two ...