I’ve had cats scratch wood, leather, rubber, in my barn. Haven’t had a house cat in decades.

She said that velvet is too tight a weave and to slippery for them to get their nails in. Sounds too good to be true.

My cats have ignored my velvet couches, so no isuess. Once I did see one starting to stretch/claw, but lost interest. On the other hand they absolutely destroyed the corner of an expensive (not velvet) couch before I noticed (thought they were using a nearby scratching post) and have to completely cover and added sticky film on the corners.

The velvet couches were great over the years, but quality is a big factor.

I don't know about cats, but not all velvet is the same. Years ago I had some dining chairs reupholstered in a very expensive Schumacher velvet, recommended by a designer. Not long after we got them back, one of my kids spilled some water and you would have though he had spilled acid! The velvet stained with water and the nap had a totally different feel. The designer paid to have them reupholstered again in a family friendly fabric. Test any fabric you are considering with some water!

false.

if you have cats, you should have lots of scratching posts. I have had lots over the years (cats) and none have scratched my furniture. as kittens I teach them what the post is and how to use it. if they go for the couch, I bring the post over and redirect them. leave the post next to the furniture until they get the gist. put a little catnip on the scratching post and show it to them. They'll get it.

And you can get whatever you like.

Agree with Beth. We did the same thing and never had any scratching on the furniture. You may need to try different types of scratching posts to get the right one. Our last cat was a 2.5 year old resuce and I had to go through three different styles to find one that she liked, It's easier with a kitten when you can train them from the start.

I have had cats and they do not train easily and for sure I would not do fabric anything with them. We have always had leather and even that when the kittens were little they scrathched with those tiny little razor sharp claws . As they aged the leather was not a good way to get enough grip to stretch so no more scratches but we did have a couple of posts that were put away when we had guests IMO not attractive decor. Velvet is at best delicate even just for regula seating it shows wear where your bum sat.

You can purchase double sided tape at Chewys.com. It comes on a roll & is 3-4 inches wide. I have used it where my cat tried to scratch & it works very well even on fabric.

They dont go after the velvet like they do a textured weave.

I used to have a velvet sofa and two chairs in my living room. I had two cats, neither one of them scratched the sofa. One of them really went to town on the chairs, despite our having multiple scratching posts. So I think there may be something to this theory, but I don't think all velvet is the same. I have had multiple cats and only one really loves the scratching posts and rarely scratches the furniture. I think their instinct is to want to leave their scent everywhere they can by scratching.

I wouldn't say that "cats can't scratch velvet" is an accurate statement, b/c in reality, they can scratch anything. But they're much less likely to damage velvet bc of its tight weave. My 8-year-old velvet chairs still look great. Also, yes to finding the right scratching post(s) to give them somewhere to do what cats naturally do.

Our son and his family have two cats🙄 and a velvet sofa and neither of them touch it. They used to go after the previous sofa but when they bouught the new one they were told to replace it with velvet as cats usually don’t like it. This is about five years now and the cats still don’t scratch. They sleep on it but no clawing.

True- however they can gain purchase sometimes on corners and under seams. Velvet is an excellent choice but having lots of good scratching posts is still key.

My room and board velvet chairs are holding up very well. Everything else is trashed. Cat was not trainable despite having him since he was a kitten. It does attract a lot of fur though!