the catproof sofa

[cimorene]

Because of cat owners, there's a ton of info online about how to make corner-of-the-sofa protectors, like these:



But why haven't the masses of cat owners led to widely available sofas with sort of wood (or hard) frames around the outside and cushions only sitting on the inside, sort of... Mission or Craftsman style, you know? Essentially a wooden bench with flat armrests and then a bunch of cushions that sit in it seems like it would be the ideal cat-safe sofa to me. Cost, I suppose. It might be hard to figure out how to replace the hard bits with wood-lookalike that was not as expensive as solid wood, which would be more expensive than affordable sofas usually are.

Maybe we should just try to get one like that though. Otherwise we're doomed to ridiculous methods of protecting the back corners of the sofa from the BB. The ragged ripped-up covers draped around the back of it (or replacing them very frequently whenever she shreds one) are definitely more expensive than just getting an old-fashioned wooden sofa (or at least a used one which would be widely available here). And since we don't have a collection of power tools, making four wooden corner protectors would be a lot more trouble.

Comments

[perspi]

HI I'm a completely random person who found your post via my network, but:

We have some microfiber couches that the cats have left utterly alone -- the fabric seems to be too tightly woven to let cats get their claws into, so they have no real ability to shred it. I'm not sure if microfiber is more expensive (haven't gone furniture shopping in a while!) but maybe that's something to consider?

[cimorene]

Hmm... I haven't spent much time looking at that aspect... but totally removable and washable covers is also important with our cats and a lot of sofas don't have that, so there's no point looking closer.

[hebethen]

It might be hard to figure out how to replace the hard bits with wood-lookalike that was not as expensive as solid wood, which would be more expensive than affordable sofas usually are.

That's usually the domain of plywood/particleboard, right?

[cimorene]

Yeah, but it's not as sturdy, so they might have to, idk, test it and figure out how much they need and whether it's strong enough for different parts, or whatever. I mean, that's what I meant, I don't know if it's actually hard. Maybe they just don't because it's not in fashion.

[bonibaru]

I Have 7 cats and a pristine sofa and here's how:
1) 6 foot tall heavy duty thick carpeted and sisal wrapped cat trees, where they sleep most of the day, and scratch, and mark as they please.
2) the sofas are, as noted by above commenter, microfiber, smooth texture fabric with a tight weave, not at all interesting to scratch (also all pillow covers removable and washable, back and seat cushions alike)
3) the sofa is not located in a traffic pathway, so no one really has any desire to mark it as a signpost as they walk by the corners
4) I have one elderly girl who has decided one corner near the radiator is in fact an occasional signpost for her, so that corner has plain old packing tape over it to make the corner extra smooth and undesirable, and it's mostly invisible unless someone is really looking at the sofa. the only people who look at my furniture are cat people asking me why it's not scratched up lol.

In summary:
Location, location, location
Provide alternatives (also in desirable location)
Texture wins over smooth
Thwart the one-offs in unobtrusive and creative ways