Check in the Pets Forum here for ideas. One popular method for protecting furnishing is to use those glue on nail caps for cats. It does not hurt them.

I'm lucky that my cat doesn't claw drapes, just beautiful oriental rugs :) I am clipping my cat's claws constantly and that helps limit the damage. There are those plastic thingies that you slip over the cat's claws. These last a couple of weeks, max. Cats generally hate them and are always trying to bite them off.

There are also products that you can spray on furniture, rugs, and drapes that are supposed to keep cats off of these things. You might try one of these products on some cheapo drapes before committing to custom.

Good luck.

I have four indoor cats all under the age of three and not a one of them claws at my panels. I do have one that likes to get behind the sheers in the bedroom, but only damaged them a bit by accident. I happened to be watching or I wouldn't have known that. A couple love my wicker though. Grrrr....
How old are your cats?

Am I the only one with cats that occasionally shread their teeth on area rugs? :)

Do you have curtains up now? Do they mess with them? My three aren't interested in curtains. I'd also check the pet forum but think I'd get a some cheapy panels to test it out if you're not sure.

I've used the Soft Paws on my one cat at the age of 5 and it was a no go. He was pretty mad at me and in a couple hours he ripped them all off. I don't think that will work unless you start doing it when they're really young or they have a very easy going personality.
{{!gwi}}
{{!gwi}}
I'll never be able to have a natural rug!

I am not getting drapes, just in case. But, you could try double sided tape to keep them off. I don't know if you could ever take it off? Catster.com has a great cat forum and you could post that question for ideas.

Do you have other vertical surfaces that the cats are allowed to scratch? My cats have never used the drapes. I also clip their nails often.

Thanks everybody for the input and ideas. Our cats are both a little older (10 and 11). It's the 11 YO that has done the most damage to the PB drapes that we have in the family room. I don't think either of them would take to the nail covers, and, we do clip the 11 yo's nails but it doesn't seem to slow down her clawing at all. We used the doublesided tape on a sectional sofa...really not effective at all, unfortunately:-(

funny story---when we first moved into our house we had sheers on the front window (not really my style but they came with the house) anyway...the cat that is now 11 used to climb the sheers like a tree. She completely shredded them. When we shooed her away from the sheers she acted like "what, I'm not supposed to climb the curtains? isn't that why you put them here...so I could climb them?". LOL!

I may have to wait for curtains...sniff, sniff.

We have two cats. The little boy is so good; he loves his three scratching posts and only uses them! The little girl is very naughty; she goes for the furniture and the center, most obvious part of our LR custom panels. When I found her going to work on my new RH armchair upholstered in Silver Sage chenille, that was the last straw. Declawing and claw covers are not an option for us. So I purchased a spray called Boundary. I try to use it on her favorite scratching places every two weeks or so. It does not stain fabrics. It smells pretty bad for an hour or so, then that wears off so that it's just stinky up close. It works!

Good luck! For us, if it's a choice between cats and "stuff", the cats win every time.

OOh, "Boundary" I will definitely check that out and see if it works! Thanks Sable!

I think this may be a case to apply Magneverde's rule: "Decorate for the life you have, not the one you want." My two Aussies, my raison d'etre, are why I have more leather in my home than one person should own.:)
Dee

If you are worried about the new curtains try taping strips of aluminum foil to the bottom. Most cats hate the foil. It has a sound and feel they hate (and so do some humans). Once the cats learn to avoid the drapes remove the taped foil strips. Of course when dealing with different cat's personalities yours may start on the drapes as soon as the foil disappears. It's a gamble.

My cats don't do anything to the curtains either. They have multiple cat "condos" to scratch on, and also dig into the various area rugs. I keep looking to see any damage to the area rugs, but don't find any.

I have some of the "Cat Claw" scratching pads around the house, and they love to tear those apart.

Alisha, I love the pictures of your cat taking care of those "nasty things" you put on her claws. LOL. Too cute how she looks at the one on the floor. LOL. I don't think I'd have had the patience to get them on most of our cats. Even little Tommy wouldn't have liked to be held that long and he's one that likes to be cradled like a baby.

Andrea, don't you just love those looks from your cats? My hubby thinks I'm nuts when I say my cats gave me a certain look, but they do have different expressions. Just look at the second picture Alisha posted!

Sable, that's good to know about Boundary. Where did you purchase it? We'll be getting a new sofa soon and could use it. Not to mention my wicker! I am with you, my babies/cats come first. Though it would be nice to have both in good shape.

dilly dally, knowing our Joey and his fetish for plastic and it's noises and tastes he might love the foil! LOL.

Our feline child, "Baby Bella" can be seen here lounging in her kitty condo (one of three in our home) which is in front of the DR window, next to the DR drapes. They consist of sheers with tie-backs, heavy panels and a valance, all of which she has never touched. I think she has so much fun in her condo that she doesn't have time to even notice the drapes.

Never a problem w/clawing, just peeing. ; (I could never 'puddle' my drapes! The first time I tried it w/sheers, one of my furbabies peeded on them. I raised the rod a little and it never happened again. ;o)

Justgota - I think I found the Boundary at either PetCo or PetSmart. You can probably also find it on Amazon. Our cat is a vertical scratcher, so I spray the four corners of the furniture she likes (2 sofas, 3 chairs) up and down. If I see her starting to stretch, I just shoo her off gently, spray, and off she goes, disgusted.

Sable, I envy your success with Boundary! We tried it when we had Camille to keep her away from various items, and after the initial vileness of the scent faded slightly, she was right back to bothering what we'd just sprayed!

It would be so easy if there were a "one size fits all" solution, but my experience has been that each cat is of such a unique personality and temperament, you kinda have to reinvent the wheel everytime you bring a new one home. ::sigh:: Gotta love these furbabies, but they sure can drive ya nuts at times.
;-)