My OH recently moved in, and bought with him a lovely leather sofa, its like new and goes perfectly in my living room.  He also bought the dogs a new bed each as they are banned from it.  The problem is the cats, we have found today that they have been clawing the arms, not badly, just digging their claws in when they stretch (they sharpen them on their scratching post or the door frames) I have clipped their claws down so they are blunt so they cant do anymore damage but I feel guilty doing this as they go out hunting.  A couple of things really, firstly does anyone know how to "fix" the holes they have already made, and other covering the furniture can anyone think of a way to stop them clawing it ?

Never found a way unfortunately -our newest leather sofa is less than a year old and the other day I found the foam inside one arm all over the floor. Just taped it up with duck tape!! Clipping the claws don't help much as the tip grows back within just 2-3 days. Lots of cat nip covered scratching posts is the best option, but there are usually some cats that will still prefer furniture. One suggestion I've heard mentioned is double sided sticky tape (clear) placed on the corners as the cats won't like the feel of it -wouldn't work for me with so many cats but could be worth a try with just the one.

I know my sister inlaw had the same problem she found a company that did come out and repaired the sofa and it did look good as new, as for stopping them to be honest i don't think she did i just remember her having loads of throws all over the sofas.

Our kittens have left the leather sofa but have had a good go at the leather dining chairs :-(

I agree with Marianne and good scratching post and some catnip spray does the trick Now the weather seem to have picked up and they are outside more they tend to use the trees and the fence to do the scratching !

Do yours go outside Lucy or are they indoor cats?  Just wondered :-)

Scatching posts are good but not all cats like to use them-mine dont. Some prefer more natural things like bits of wood etc.
Maybe worth trying that aswell?

They are inside and outside :-D They have a cat flap so upto them on what they do although they do spend a lot of time sleeping with then dogs !

thanks for the tips :)

they do use their scratching posts, and they go outside so do have access to whatever they want to scratch. They dont actually scratch the sofa, just dig their claws in as they stretch.  Think I will keep an eye on their claws and cut them when they get sharp and just keep my fingers crossed ;)

LOL  :-)  Mad house no doubt :-D

Just saw something on E-Bay called Soft Claws. Never used it and not sure I would but they're coloured plastic nail tips that glue on. I imagine they're great fun to put on :)