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Will trimmed cat nails still damage leather furmiture?



 
 
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  #1  
Old January 18th 07, 06:54 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
eDog
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Posts: 20
Default Will trimmed cat nails still damage leather furmiture?

I have three cats and although I trimmed their nails in advance of
receiving a new leather sofa, I missed a few nails particlularly on the
young feisty one who struggles quite a bit when he is restrained.

After two days of owning the sofa a few scratches showed up and I think I
even saw one set of them being made. None of the scratching is intentional
but at the rate that the unintentional scratches are being made the sofa
and my marriage will be on the skids in record time.

I ordered Soft Paws, but have to tell you up front that I am skeptical
about the product. Most of the rave reviews seem to come from people who
just applied them.

I am even afraid that the SoftPaws will cause more damage than trimmed
nails.

So, has anybody out here had success with cats and leather furniture?




  #2  
Old January 18th 07, 07:07 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Rhonda
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Posts: 864
Default Will trimmed cat nails still damage leather furmiture?

eDog -- I think getting a leather sofa when you have cats is asking for
trouble.

Try the Softpaws, they may work. If they don't -- please don't punish
the cats with declawing because of your furniture choice. You have to
keep in mind that a living creature is worth more than a piece of furniture.

Rhonda

eDog wrote:
I have three cats and although I trimmed their nails in advance of
receiving a new leather sofa, I missed a few nails particlularly on the
young feisty one who struggles quite a bit when he is restrained.

After two days of owning the sofa a few scratches showed up and I think I
even saw one set of them being made. None of the scratching is intentional
but at the rate that the unintentional scratches are being made the sofa
and my marriage will be on the skids in record time.

I ordered Soft Paws, but have to tell you up front that I am skeptical
about the product. Most of the rave reviews seem to come from people who
just applied them.

I am even afraid that the SoftPaws will cause more damage than trimmed
nails.

So, has anybody out here had success with cats and leather furniture?





  #3  
Old January 18th 07, 07:07 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Lynne
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Posts: 1,297
Default Will trimmed cat nails still damage leather furmiture?

on Thu, 18 Jan 2007 17:54:32 GMT, eDog wrote:

I have three cats and although I trimmed their nails in advance of
receiving a new leather sofa, I missed a few nails particlularly on
the young feisty one who struggles quite a bit when he is restrained.

After two days of owning the sofa a few scratches showed up and I
think I even saw one set of them being made. None of the scratching is
intentional but at the rate that the unintentional scratches are being
made the sofa and my marriage will be on the skids in record time.

I ordered Soft Paws, but have to tell you up front that I am skeptical
about the product. Most of the rave reviews seem to come from people
who just applied them.

I am even afraid that the SoftPaws will cause more damage than trimmed
nails.

So, has anybody out here had success with cats and leather furniture?


Reposting my response to you from the other thread you started--but first
I'll add that I have very nice Natuzzi butter leather furniture that I have
had since '95:

Trim their nails short and they will not damage it. There may be surface
scuffs, but unless they use your leather as a scratching post, they won't
tear it. The rivets on your blue jeans will cause more damage. Make sure
you have several tall scratching posts available for them to use and teach
them not to scratch the leather. It works in my house just fine.

You had the cats before you had the leather. Considering performing a
barbaric and cruel procedure on them to protect an inanimate object is
reprehensible. Just don't do it. Or, if you are still considering it, cut
your own fingers off between the last two knuckles first so you'll get an
idea of what it's like for a cat to be declawed.

--
Lynne
  #4  
Old January 18th 07, 08:25 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
eDog
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Posts: 20
Default Will trimmed cat nails still damage leather furmiture?

The leather was obviously a mistake, but I made it with the best of
intentions.

I have an older and cheaper leather sofa and it simply does not show
scratches. It's kind of like a black basketball and the cats have no
interest in scratching it on purpose. Closer inspections reveals surface
scratches that are invisible to the eye at any distance.

The NEW SOFA is a completely different story.

The sofa isn't black but I tried to match the leather insofar as texture.
But whoa! The scratches started showing up immediately.

I'm opposed to declawing except as a last resort, but I am married to
someone with a different outlook.

This new sofa is going to cause grief.

I'm willing to clip their nails every other day if I have to (in the space
of three days the little feisty one is already flashing around a couple of
brand new razor blades).

I'm also willing to try Soft Paws, but if the stuff doesn't work I am going
to need to both replace the sofa and declaw the cats.

I have SoftPaws on order but my intuition is telling me that they may
actually be worse for the leather sofa than frequently trimmed nails.






Rhonda wrote in news:45AFB6F6.7090500
@att.remove.net:


eDog -- I think getting a leather sofa when you have cats is asking for
trouble.




--
Looking for a clue.
  #5  
Old January 18th 07, 08:48 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
cindys
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Posts: 592
Default Will trimmed cat nails still damage leather furmiture?


"eDog" wrote in message
. ..


I have SoftPaws on order but my intuition is telling me that they may
actually be worse for the leather sofa than frequently trimmed nails.

----------
You'll be happy to hear that your intuition is completely wrong. Soft paws
are very soft and flexible. They are not hard plastic. They don't leave
marks on anything.
Best regards,
---Cindy S.


  #6  
Old January 18th 07, 08:51 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Edna Pearl
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Posts: 10
Default Will trimmed cat nails still damage leather furmiture?

Yeah, it's a problem, and I feel for you, but there are a lot of things you
can do short of torturing the poor kitty with cutting off part of its toes.
In addition to the measures already mentioned, can you also close doors
strategically? Put a throw over vulnerable areas of the sofa at least until
you've made some progress on training and trimming the cat's claws? My
sister-in-law is very house-proud (unlike me) but doesn't even trim her
cat's claws; she just puts throws over her vulnerable furniture.

Two-sided tape, or tape loops, can also train a cat to stay away from a
piece of furniture. The cat gets entangled in that sticky tape, goes
absolutely berserk getting free of it and then licking him/herself all over,
and then shuns that particular spot like a pestilence :-) (It's good
entertainment value, too!)

Good luck,
ep


"eDog" wrote in message
. ..
The leather was obviously a mistake, but I made it with the best of
intentions.

I have an older and cheaper leather sofa and it simply does not show
scratches. It's kind of like a black basketball and the cats have no
interest in scratching it on purpose. Closer inspections reveals surface
scratches that are invisible to the eye at any distance.

The NEW SOFA is a completely different story.

The sofa isn't black but I tried to match the leather insofar as texture.
But whoa! The scratches started showing up immediately.

I'm opposed to declawing except as a last resort, but I am married to
someone with a different outlook.

This new sofa is going to cause grief.

I'm willing to clip their nails every other day if I have to (in the space
of three days the little feisty one is already flashing around a couple of
brand new razor blades).

I'm also willing to try Soft Paws, but if the stuff doesn't work I am
going
to need to both replace the sofa and declaw the cats.

I have SoftPaws on order but my intuition is telling me that they may
actually be worse for the leather sofa than frequently trimmed nails.






Rhonda wrote in news:45AFB6F6.7090500
@att.remove.net:


eDog -- I think getting a leather sofa when you have cats is asking for
trouble.




--
Looking for a clue.



  #7  
Old January 18th 07, 09:27 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
eDog
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Posts: 20
Default Will trimmed cat nails still damage leather furmiture?

I am going to call the furniture store and see how much replacement
cushions will cost and see if I can get my wife to agree to covering part
of the sofa while I work out the nail issue.

It's a small apartment and I can't keep the cats out of the living room.

They aren't interested in actually using the leather sofa as a scratching
post, but if it continues to get surface scratches like it already has it
will be a ruined piece of furniture and I will be facing ultimatums that
I would really like to avoid.

I came here looking for some advice from people with experience because I
can't really afford to bark up the wrong tree trying to fix this problem.


"Edna Pearl" wrote in
:

Yeah, it's a problem, and I feel for you, but there are a lot of
things you can do short of torturing the poor kitty with cutting off
part of its toes. In addition to the measures already mentioned, can
you also close doors strategically?




--
It's the second mouse that gets the cheese!
  #8  
Old January 18th 07, 10:00 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Buddy's Mom
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Posts: 243
Default Will trimmed cat nails still damage leather furmiture?

I have had leather furniture for 30 years - 2 different sets - and cats
for that long. Even the cats who were front declawed [came that way
from the shelter] still scratched the leather with their back claws.

I have never tried the soft tips. My leather is black and I have tried
a black magic marker on the scratches - but it doesn't help a lot.

I think fabric furniture is even worse. My cats never used the leather
as a scratching post. It was always the back claws that scratched the
leather - just as they scratch wooden tables. My dining room table
received a long set of scratches the entire length on the day after
delivery. Even though the dear kitty wasn't allowed on tables.
Uggggggg............ You gotta love em......

eDog wrote:
I am going to call the furniture store and see how much replacement
cushions will cost and see if I can get my wife to agree to covering part
of the sofa while I work out the nail issue.

It's a small apartment and I can't keep the cats out of the living room.

They aren't interested in actually using the leather sofa as a scratching
post, but if it continues to get surface scratches like it already has it
will be a ruined piece of furniture and I will be facing ultimatums that
I would really like to avoid.

I came here looking for some advice from people with experience because I
can't really afford to bark up the wrong tree trying to fix this problem.


"Edna Pearl" wrote in
:

Yeah, it's a problem, and I feel for you, but there are a lot of
things you can do short of torturing the poor kitty with cutting off
part of its toes. In addition to the measures already mentioned, can
you also close doors strategically?




--
It's the second mouse that gets the cheese!


  #9  
Old January 18th 07, 10:04 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
Lynne
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,297
Default Will trimmed cat nails still damage leather furmiture?

on Thu, 18 Jan 2007 20:27:02 GMT, eDog wrote:

I am going to call the furniture store and see how much replacement
cushions will cost and see if I can get my wife to agree to covering
part of the sofa while I work out the nail issue.

It's a small apartment and I can't keep the cats out of the living
room.

They aren't interested in actually using the leather sofa as a
scratching post, but if it continues to get surface scratches like it
already has it will be a ruined piece of furniture and I will be
facing ultimatums that I would really like to avoid.

I came here looking for some advice from people with experience
because I can't really afford to bark up the wrong tree trying to fix
this problem.


I suspect you aren't aware that if you declaw your cats, you run a very
high chance of having one or all them urinating inappropriately.
Personally even shredded fine leather would beat the hell out of a house
that smells like cat ****. But that's just me.

--
Lynne
  #10  
Old January 18th 07, 10:06 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
cybercat
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Posts: 4,212
Default Will trimmed cat nails still damage leather furmiture?


"Buddy's Mom" wrote

Even the cats who were front declawed [came that way
from the shelter] still scratched the leather with their back claws.


I had not thought of this. I would just live with the little holes
or get another kind of furniture.

It's only a couch, for God's sake. Ugh.


 




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