Will Pets Damage Leather Furniture?

People who have pets are often worried about purchasing leather furniture, concerned that the pets will damage the leather. While no fabric is indestructible, the level of quality and proper prevention methods will help minimize damage.

  1. Quality Leather

    • High-quality, real leather is a hard and tough fabric. Leather can be damaged by pets but you can repair it with a leather conditioner or you can hire a leather repair specialist.

    Imitation Leather

    • Imitation leather fabrics, such as vinyl, can be ripped or scratched by pets. Once the fabric has a break in the material, the break can easily expand.

    Dogs

    • Train the dog not to eat the leather furniture, or use a slipcover. Dogs are used to natural rawhide or chewing on shoes and might think of leather furniture as a large chew toy. Proper training or use of a slipcover will help eliminate this habit.

    Cats

    • Most cat breeds do not like the slippery surface or the smell of real leather.

    Prevention

    • The best way to prevent damage to leather furniture is to train pets that leather furniture is not meant to be a toy. Another prevention method is to care for and groom your pets nails so that they do not feel the need to scratch furniture to trim their nails.