I, too, am a cat person (and a dog and a chinchilla at the moment!) My children are allowed pretty much anywhere they like. Fortunately, I have never had one who was interested in thread, needles or the like. They just like to laze around on the pretty fabric! Lint rollers are a God-send... I thoroughly enjoyed reading everyone's stories and loved the pictures and names! BTW, I have a long-haired black named Snowball, a short gray named Yoda and a sleek black with a little white named Midnight. All rescue kitties! Keep up the love.