DECORATING WITH CATS: CAT FRIENDLY SOFA

Hello everyone ***waves wildly*** my apologies for being so absent from the blog. I am excited to share with everyone that Shop Cats of New York is on its third printing and was recently translated to Japanese! A HUGE thank you to for your support, and if you haven’t gotten a copy yet there’s always today!

It’s been a while since I’ve written about having an  aesthetically pleasing home (with cats). I’ve long said I want my home to be comfortable for me and my cats, while having it scream “Welcome to Casa Cat” as guests walk through the door.

Sadly, my attempts to teach Kip to use a scratching post in place of my furniture failed miserably. I was, however, successful in teaching him to use scratching post to signal his desire for a treat (insert eye roll emoji here).

Kip’s handiwork (or is it claw work?)

 

Needless to say, throws have become a huge decorating accessory in my home since I would never ever consider declawing! (I recently learned why cats destroy furniture in the most prominent and difficult to conceal areas of our furniture. Read to the end to end to find out why!).

Having reupholstered my beloved chaise lounge once many years ago, it was painfully evident that intervention was needed once again. Not wanting to spend the cash on reupholstery, I was excited when the folks at Cat Friendly Sofa  reached out to me about their tailor made anti-scratch sofa covers.

Cat Friendly Sofa was started in 2014 by Lusine Manukyan (a fellow Armenian – woot!) and her husband Luigi Delfino who reside in Putignano, Italy. As parents to five cats, they understood a cat’s desire to scratch was natural and served several purposes (I love that they discuss the reasons cats scratch on their website in an effort to educate).  Knowing declawing wasn’t an option, they saw the need for a product that would accommodate their cats natural behavior without jeopardizing their furniture.

Luigi with Frittella (left) and Plume (right) on-the-job doing quality control

 

They took a great deal of time in research and development taking into consideration cat scratching behavior and testing various types of materials in order to find one that’s 100% cat proof. And now they make custom covers for various kinds of furniture to cat loving clients around the world.

For custom covers, you just take measurements and pick a color!

 

Lusine and Luigi are happy their product facilitates adoptions (not to mention keeping cat’s claws intact!). They also support Gatto Randagio Onlus, a non-profit organization that takes care of abandoned cats in Northern Italy, encouraging those who visit their site to donate 1 Euro (about $1.25USD) to the group so they can continue their good works.

To get a quote, check out the Cat Friendly Sofa website or email info@catfriendlysofa.com. Given the durability of the fabric, it is a bit stiff, so you may want to consider only covering the areas your cats scratch the most opposed to the entire piece of furniture.

Kip and Haddie enjoying the finished product

 

So, why do cats always scratch furniture in the most obvious places (the arms and never the back of the sofa)? It turns out that In the wild, cats mark their territory by scratching prominent landmarks  (like large trees) to make sure cats in the area get their message loud and clear. So it only makes sense they do the same thing in our homes. What’s the point if nobody sees it!

Does your cat  have a preferred piece of furniture to scratch? Tell us about it in the comment section. I think Kip’s is pretty obvious!