Oh man. I can so relate to this. My parents gave me a chair from a home they were selling and I love it so much and my cats have absolutely KILLED it. I literally hide it when my parents visit because they will lose their minds.

Anyway... If you can match the fabric someone may be able to repair by replacing those panels? If there is a solution for this, I'd love to know too, for obvious reasons.

Sneaky, sneaky kitty! Good thing she is cute. :)

I have tried to reupholster only parts of a chair because of the same reason. In my case the sides and back were fine just the inside arms, seat and back were damaged but all of the quotes I received were the same price whether I reupholstered the whole chair or inside only (labor cost only) because they still have to take all of the panels off the whole chair, so the labor is the same. And if you only do part of the chair you have to find another fabric that goes with what you have for a two tone effect. I wouldn't bother trying to find the same fabric unless you just like it and want to do the whole chair. After so many years, not only will the dye lot be different but time passed changes fabric colour as well. Having said that, get some upholstery quotes, and shop around for fabric, it may not be so bad!