advice please - we have 2 new kittens and have tried to kitten proof the house as much as possible. However they do love to sit on the dining room chairs under the table. The trouble is they are leather upholstered and they are scratching them when they are in their lively mood! Today we put a sheet over them but now they love going under their even more - it hangs down like a hammock! They have spent more time under there today then ever before! I know kittens need their safe place but how do I stop them sitting on the chairs without scratching them to pieces??? I don't want to spend my entire eve shouting at them to get off?? ANy ideas?

The best thing I thinki you can do is spray them with water everytime they climb on the chairs, when you spray them, it is worth shouting "NO!" as you do it. They will not like the shouting or the spray and with a bit of persistance will get the message that these chairs are not for them.

When you are out of the house, either leave stuff stacked on the chairs to keep them off, or shut them out of that room, that way they will not try to sit on them when you are not alone.

It shouldn't take too long for them to lern that they are people seats and not cat seats. Best to start with this sort of training young, and keep it up, otherwise you will just confuse them.

hi my kittens sit on my leather chairs too, but do not claw them. maybe could get a radiator bed to encourage them to sit there instead of your chairs. this worked for me my kittens love their new radiator bed and dont seem to move from it lol

I would echo this idea, I have not met a cat yet that doesn't love those radiator beds.

I would agree with the idea of making a loud noise. With Waffles I go "AAAHAHH!" and she runs away. It really does work she is learning... however, when I first got her I was ripping my hair out! I thought that she would never learn.

LOL cats will be cats my leather chairs and sofas are alreaady quite scratched Being a pet owner often mean not being so house proud hehe.

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climbing tree will let them go away from your chairs ..at least for a while !!
or de-clawed them if they are indoor cats ?

I might get jumped on here as I must own I know nothing about the process but to me having a cat declawed to stop it scratching the furniture sounds barbaric.

I've got five cats and three kittens - and some very tatty furniture. They have a tall climber and lots of scratching posts scattered around the house and if I see them scratching the furniture they get told 'no'. I fully accept that that doesn't always work but I wouldn't dream of getting my fur family declawed.

Don't they need their claws to help them balance or something - or maybe that's their tails?

If they need their claws removed for a medical reason, that's different, but just to protect the furniture - that feels really wrong to me. Just the thought makes me wince.

I would agree with you, it is an awful thing to do, I once looked into what they actually do to de-claw a cat, there are several different methods, but basically the make an incision into the bone…yikes!

You can however get their claws capped, I think this is just putting little cases over the tips of the claws so they are not so sharp, or just trimming the claws (you can do this yourself or get it done at the vet). I never do anything with my cats claws, but I think as my cats go outside, they get blunted by climbing trees and walking on concrete.
I do however trim my mums rabbits nails, and if you can keep them still, its pretty easy, so I should imagine it’s the same for a cat.