I do feel fed up/sad when this happens to something in the house-especially if it's something of sentimental value.I've moved a few especially vulnerable things/put throws over leather settees etc till my two are older but of course it's impossible to move or cover everything.I look at them and think this is something that is unavoidable if one wants the pleasure of living with a cat.(or cats).I'm conscious that I could have pristine furniture and no breakages if I didn't have them.................and no cats running downstairs to greet me when I come home,and no furry cuddles on the settee or on the bed,and no pleasure from hearing them purr or seeing them happily chasing one another like mad up and downstairs...............and so I ask myself which would I prefer? The answer is never that I'd like to go back to the house being a cat free zone.

To be honest after years(god I feel old)of dogs bouncing around and cats climbing up and jumping on/off stuff there is nothing left of any value.Anything I wanted to protect was banished to the loft years ago.Im not and never have been house proud,luckily.

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When my 2 cats passed away last year my husband announced "no more cats" as he was fed up of the mess and destruction. I had other ideas Anyway, we've now got new carpets in the livingroom, hallway and stairs as they really needed to be thrown out with cat wee from our elderly cats etc and new leather sofas (2nd hand new). We've also decorated.

My husband has said that any damage that the new cats do "I" have to replace and I am paranoid about them weeing or pooing in places and scratching the new carpet

I have already ruined one of the sofas by putting frontline on one of the cats while she was asleep and unbeknown to me she rolled over and made a stain on it. That was before I put throws on them.

I suppose in answer to the OP question I do get upset if they ruin something but they are my babies and accidents happen

I sometimes feel a bit sad when I see the damage Sam's done to some of our wooden furniture, especially things we designed and made ourselves when we had access to a workshop, but it's just one of the hazards of having cats. I'd happily give up all the furniture and "camp" in the living room rather than give up the cats.

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Proud Mummy to:

Sam (born June 1999, found August 1999)
Milly (born May 1999, adopted September 1999)
Eva (born 2010, adopted us August 2011)

When you have pets or kiddies (or partners) you have to accept that sometimes there are going to be damages.
Once my elderly cat wanted to jump on my knee. I didn't at the time know she was going to do this otherwise I would have helped her. She jumped missed and her claws went all the way down our new leather chair.
You can see the scratch but i know its all part of keeping pets.
I try to tell my self that these things are just material things and sometimes when i see lovely houses so neat and spotless and without pets i find it sad and those houses are souless

When people visit our house the chairs might have a few scratches on them and the rugs have a few cat hairs on them but the house has a homely feel to it. There always a cat to cuddle and play with and keep you warm in bed

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I have never had destructive cats, luckily. Now my four children, well, they're a different story lol.

I've never really been particularly sentimental. Of course I have things that have sentimental value but I've never been one for nick-nacks. I'm most sentimental about pictures, followed by a few pieces of furniture. They've all managed to survive the animals and children. Well, so far anyway.

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We discussed this at length before getting the kittens. We'd just got a new expensive sofa before we got them and knew there would be damage over time. We decided it was worth it . Anything else we were worried about being damaged has been put away.

Easy. The cats are the light of our lives. They are irreplaceable. They are actually therapy for my OH working at home in a very stressful job. They lighten the atmosphere. They distract us from rising tensions. They make us laugh every single day. We love their company. They are part of the family.

They have knocked over and smashed the butter dish, the fruit bowl, the teapot, and several wine glasses; we have scratches in the wooden floor from particularly boisterous games in which they have 'taken off' and changed direction; they knocked the ladder over and dented the floor with it; scratched the pine bookcase and the landing carpet.

But so what???? It's still a nice house, and all the better for their wonderful presence.

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Rescue cats for many years, currently one moggie and 3 young Maine Coons.

I'm a bit peed off about my scratched up leather sofa as I saved to get it, but the scratches don't show too much when I polish over them. I love my kitten to bits and wouldn't be without her,so it's worth it.

Biffy's never broken anything....yet! He has knocked over a decorative bowl thing but its pretty tough and didn't break. He's totally allowed to scratch on some mats that have zero sentimental value if it'll help him not destroy the carpets!

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