Leather furniture is classy and very nice to have. Pets add to your life, too. However, a lot of people think that you can’t have both pets and leather furniture because pets are destructive. The truth is, you can have both pets and leather furniture, and preventing pet damage to your furniture is not as difficult as you might think.
Urine and Vomit
The first thing that most pet owners are concerned with in regards to their pets and leather furniture is urine and/or vomit. The good news is that high-quality leather will not absorb as much of these unpleasant fluids as you might assume. Even low-quality leather is likely to repel urine and vomit to some extent. If you get to these fluids fast enough, you can clean them off before they can leave any trace smell or stain.
Additionally, there are chemical treatments you can use to prevent the leather from absorbing any urine or vomit at all. This protective chemical coating seals the leather furniture and completely repels fluids like magic. When you have sprayed the leather chair, sofa, or love seat with this spray, no trace of the pet urine or pet vomit will remain when you wipe off the mess. Even after you discover the mess several hours after it has happened, it will wipe up as though it were fresh.
Clawing
Pets, particularly cats, tend to claw furniture. They are merely looking for a place to scratch, and furniture gives them the perfect and most convenient option for scratching. However, your leather furniture doesn’t have to suffer for your pet’s need to stretch and/or scratch.
To deter a pet from scratching and clawing your leather furniture, give your pet an alternative to scratch. For cats, this can mean a very tall cat tower placed near the leather furniture. A tall scratching post helps your cat stretch long and lean while scratching, something your cat would prefer to scratch over something shorter and closer to the floor.
You can also apply anti-scratch products to the furniture until you can train your dog or cat to avoid the furniture for clawing activity. These products include easily removable strips of super-sticky tape or plastic corner covers for furniture that are too smooth to scratch and therefore not something your pet would be interested in scratching.
Chewing or Biting
Dogs love to chew or bite leather. This is often a concern for dog owners that also have leather furniture. The big thing here is that you have to train your dog to chew leather toys rather than your furniture or other leather goods. When you offer your dog something leather that he/she can chew instead of the furniture, and then reward him/her for chewing the toys instead, your dog will stop chewing or biting the furniture.
Another option is to use an unpleasant deterrent. This deterrent is a spray that tastes very unpleasant when licked or bitten. It is safe for your furniture, and your dog will recoil in disgust when he/she tastes the spray on the leather. To make it even better for your dog, you can spray leather toys with a flavor spray that encourages him/her to chew the toys and the deterrent on the furniture to get your dog to avoid the furniture and seek out the better tasting toys.
The Upside to Pet Shedding
The best thing about leather furniture and pet shedding is that pet hair refuses to stick to leather. It just blows off and is easily swept off with little effort. Even the best-behaved pets that shed the most fur will not be able to cover your leather furniture with hair/fur.
The Very Best Option
Pets will choose to lay wherever they want when you are not home. It is hard to control in this particular behavior because you just aren’t there. If you are really concerned about your pets and your furniture, cover the furniture with protective pads and covers. Then your pets can lay on the leather furniture freely without any major concerns regardless if you are home or not.
If you regularly keep blankets on the couch or love seat, consider covering the whole seat area with your favorite blankets or your pet’s favorite blanket just as an added layer of protection. Leather is very resilient where pets and pet behavior are concerned, but you can do any of the above to give yourself more peace of mind.
Be sure to ask your leather furniture expert for any additional leather care tips as they relate to having both pets and leather chairs, couches, and/or love seats in your home.
If you do have leather furniture that was damaged by pets, you can contact Leather Medic today to request a quote for repair.