Having cats, I can't think of any material they would leave alone. Actually it is only one cat in my house that does this and his deal is to irritate my dog. Dog gets this disgruntled look on his face and moves. Never had a problem before this boy and have always had a couple of cats around forever. Cutting their nails definitely cuts down on scratching.

I know the squirt bottle thing too, the minute I reach for it...the cat is gone. But will sneak back again. I have never had an issue with spraying if neutered. Sometimes spraying can be from an infection.

My best solution was clear/wide double stick tape. Cats hate it. Not much for the decor though. Perhaps an all wood storage ottoman with a pillow on top or a small trunk the size of your ottoman. Faux suede or painted canvas might work. Or if it is just corners, wide ribbon (decent weight) tacked down along all corners.

If it's scratching your worried about, there are these little plastic tips you can put on your cat's claws. They make it impossible for the cat's claws to snag anything or scratch. The people at the rescue I work at put them on the cats for their owners all the time. It doesn't hurt the cat. Of course, this is only for INDOOR cats. You shouldn't do anything to a cat's claws if the cat is an Indoor/Outdoor cat.

Hahahahahaha.

Sorry, but when I read the title I just had to laugh. I don't think there is such a thing. Maybe fleece, but that is a hair magnet and not necessarily decor friendly. My felines will claw duck & denim also. They adore every upholstery fabric, smooth or nubby.

You could try to join 'em rather than fight 'em and wrap the base of the ottoman in jute with an upholstered top...like an oversized scratching post. But if kitty is like mine, it'll ignore that in favor of your bare leg.

Long time cat owner here who's had expensive upholstery shredded. I tried tossing keys near the cat to discourage him as some "experts" suggest and he'd have had a nervous breakdown had I continued.

What we've found works very well is good quality microfiber upholstery. The cats can't get their claws into it so leave it alone. Have used it for several years and it's still like new. There are many different colors and styles of microfiber so there's lots of choice. It's the only upholstery fabric I'll use as long as I have cats altho would love to have leather but it's too expensive an experiment to try.

Hahahahahaha.

Sorry, but when I read the title I just had to laugh. I don't think there is such a thing. Maybe fleece, but that is a hair magnet and not necessarily decor friendly. My felines will claw duck & denim also. They adore every upholstery fabric, smooth or nubby.

You could try to join 'em rather than fight 'em and wrap the base of the ottoman in jute with an upholstered top...like an oversized scratching post. But if kitty is like mine, it'll ignore that in favor of your bare leg.

emagineer - i think I've solved the spraying problems and I'm pretty certain I cannot solve the clawing problem with a spray bottle of water at this point. I hate the thought of throwing out the ottoman. It's perfectly matched to my needs (and apparently to kitty's!). The doubled sided tape would be a problem in the bath as I seem to shed as much "fur" as the cat when I blow dry/brush my hair. However, the ribbon idea is interesting -- particlarly if the ribbon is jute (see pesky's idea).

judithn - I'll have to investigate those. Thank you.

pesky - Your post made me laugh, too. Kitty has never clawed me, but who knows what could drive her there. I just may try the jute aound the whole bottom and reupholster the top, which (so far) remains untouched.

lucky - I can't risk giving this cat another behavioral problem. She already sneaks into the garage. If I throw the keys she may just grab them, run to the garage and do naughty things to my car! Perhaps jute wrapped bottom with microfiber top (since I sit on the ottoman while doing my hair).

Thanks for all the hints and ideas!

Java

Put multiple scratching posts near the chair and elsewhere.

Geez, I was going to suggest chenille since that is the only fabric our cat doesn't scratch.

I just bought a roll of that plastic wrap that they use in stores to wrap things with (like saran wrap on a stick) and wrapped my linen chairs in it. We tried the sticky tape, but it got so full of dust and cat hair we had to change it constantly. We tried the slide over the claw thingys and they didn't stay on and were almost impossible to get on. We tried spray bottle, but that only works while we're there. We tried multiple scratching posts, but she prefers the chairs. I've almost given up. The plastic wrap is the last option. I'll let you know.

I've been using a motion detection spray trying to keep Charlie off the counters. It works, but it's caught me by surprise more times than him. It's really best used when you're not likely to set it off.

Here is a link that might be useful: SSSCat

I agree that microfiber does not seem attractive to our cats. There are also some fabrics that look like vinyl that are not shreddable by cats.

natal -- I used the sssscat in the LR and it worked, but by the time I needed the refills (bought at the same time as the original), the units didn't work anymore. Tried new batteries (no change); bought new refills (no change). Very expensive to replace units every month or two. So now the inoperable units just serve as sentries and the cat leaves the furniture alone. Let me know if you've used refills successfully, please.

Thanks for the heads up. I haven't finished the first can. Didn't buy any refills since I didn't know if it would work or not. Maybe I'll just buy another complete kit rather than take a chance on faulty refills.

The rubber tips you can glue over the claws are called Soft Paws. They're a neat idea but most times would probably work better if you started when the they're a kitten. I tried those on my one cat at the age of 5. I have photos of him chewing and pulling at this piggers and within an hour they were all off. :/ And my goodness he looked grouchy, lol. We trim them now. I'd still probably look into it since all cats have different temperaments.

I can't help with a fabric choice but might with the scratching.

Until recently my cats were shredding my couches. I tried just about every trick to get them to stop but no luck.

As a last resort I purchased a 30" tall sisal scratching post. I say "last resort" because they're not exactly the prettiest things in the world. It was the BEST pet purchase I ever made. They both took to it immediately and haven't touched anything else since I brought it into the house.

I did hear somewhere if I restricted access to their favorite scratching spots it would help. We lived with blue painters tape on the couch corners and sheets over club chairs for about a week. I also lightly sprinkled some catnip on the post.

I highly recommend giving it a try. It's a huge relief knowing my current (and future) furniture will be safe from those little kitty claws.

Jennifer

(I purchased my scratching post from the Ebay store Cat Post Direct. For some reason I can't link to it)

Another thing that might help if you go with a scratching post get the catnip scented spray and spray the thing liberally with it. It encourages the cats to use the scratching post. I'll spray the cat's bed from time to time to get her to use it instead of the velvet chair in my living room.

Thanks, all. I have scratching posts and mats in each room. She uses them, but also claws the furniture. I will look for the catnip spray though. Maybe that will tip the scales in favor of the scratching posts. I routinely clip her claws because she kneads on my biceps constantly - big ouchie!

We are a two-cat household and microfiber, while not the most glamorous, is the one couch not touched here. We have made two scratching posts covered with carpet and these have helped a lot.

java, the catnip spray I use is called Bliss Mist. There are probably others but that's what we have. It's from the local PetSmart store. The bottle says it's a blast of pure catnip in an easy to use spray. they company has a website it's petlinssystem.com and I think I probably paid something like $5 for the bottle. It lasts a looong time around here. For keeping cats off of things I tried a bitter apple spray. Apparently cats hate that. I sprayed it on the greens I looped around the bannister during the holidays. The cats ate the greens (white pine garland) anyway. I found the evidence in the little piles of puke. Guess they didn't read the info on the bitter apple spray -- it said they were supposed to HATE it!

Well, the plastic wrap is working. She hasn't gone near them since I put it on. It was easy to put on, so I guess I'll just take it off when we have company and put it back on later. Probably won't help with your issue, but thought I would share anyways in case anyone else could use it.

Similar to the plastic wrap is the clear packaging tape~~I used it on the arms, top back, bottom, and other areas the little buggers like to scratch~~it's chenille, no less.

I have a friend with the same problem and she's having sofas recovered in a cotton velvet. She was told it's a cut fiber, not looped, which keeps the claws from 'hooking' into it. Will see if it works. ;o)