Luv Quilts and Cats

Hello, everyone! My quilting friend makes gorgeous quilts to give as gifts and is now making some for herself. She made a beautiful Pointsettia quilt for herself. She loves it. Can you believe it travels around with her in the trunk in her car in a plastic bag? She has a cat who loves to knead everything if it is soft. She doesn't dare put any quilts on her bed, chairs or couch for fear the cat's claws will destroy the quilt. I am still working on convincing her the quilt would be better in her apartment than in her car and she could put it somewhere the cat could not get to it. Does anyone deal with this? How do you overcome it? I have suggested that she get those caps to glue on the cat's claws but so far she hasn't done it. It might be too much of a hassle. She doesn't want to get her cat de-clawed. She works during the day so is not home. It's such a pity she can't enjoy her beautiful quilts. I also told her to put a blanket over the quilt when she makes the bed, but she is afraid the claws will go through it to the quilt. Any ideas?

She is graduating in August from 3 years of religious study. I found the perfect stamped cross-stitch quilt for her. I need your ideas on how you protect your quilts from cats. The kit makes a lap quilt which would be lovely. However, keeping in mind the cat, I may decrease the size to a wall hanging.

Thank you so much for your answers! I just know I will get some great ideas here!

lynnie

i cut my cats claws. it's natural for them to 'kneed' at things. even declawed cats do it. DO NOT get the cat declaawed. the cut off the tips of thier claws, which would be like cutting your first knuckle off. then they get weird after it. like pulling their fur out and things like that. it's just to mean. suggest cutting the claws every other week. or live with it. I live with it with my cat. i let her claw the carpets, what is she going to do to it. she can't rip it. the cleaning lady did more damage than my Zoey did. enjoy them, she'll make more. that's my attitude. good luck.

ptquilts

I don't have any cats (wish I did!) but my sister has 3, plus a quilt I made on her bed. She either shuts the BR door when she goes out, or lays a blanket over the quilt. A thick, Velux (sp?) blanket, I don't believe the claws would go through. There may be something crinkly you can put on as well that the cat will not like landing on, like the "space blankets" that look like foil, you see them sometimes at the end of marathons or when someone is in danger of hypothermia.

Cross stitch, yikes!! I think a wall quilt is the way to go.

I agree, declawing is a horrible thing to do to a cat.

ckcowl

We keep our cat's claws trimmed, I have quilts all over ( bed, sofa, chairs...) my cat believes they are all his. So far ( he's 14 years old) he hasn't damaged any of them. He does certainly claim the, lay on them .

madamekelly

My "Bruno" is a Norwegian Forest cat (16), and has extra long claws, that I can't imagine him letting me trim, we found a compromise. Since I love to use quilts too, I give him his favorite texture, terry cloth bath towels, sewn in half, at the corner of the bed. I change, wash, and de-fuzz as needed, but he stays off the quilts. I just use old towels from St. Vinnie's.

Pennyhal

Don't have cats, but do have dogs that like to "dig a bed" on the quilt on my bed when we all pile into bed at night. I simply made a counterpane quilt by cutting up left over 4 in sq pieces of fabric and free motion stippled quilted it together. Over the years, they have clawed up and ripped some threads that are easy to fix, but hey! I've known kids to destroy quilts too. It is easier to teach dogs to stay off the quilt than cats for sure.

Tothill

I have cats and quilts. And a Dog, but he has his own quilts on the floor.

Two of the cats only use their scratching posts. One scratches wherever she pleases. None have ever scratched anything on my bed. They may knead the bed, but that is not scratching or clawing.

I have quilts folded over the sofa and a chair, the worst that happens to them is that they get cat hair on them. I am ok with that.

I do trim their nails as needed. There is no way any of the three would allow me to put the soft caps on their nails.

It sounds like there are other issues at play in this situation.

Dolphyngyrl

The caps are the best. I do not suggest declawing as it is excruciatingly painful for a cat since you remove an entire digit. That is usually only done I extreme cases. If I have my cat near me I will place a fleece or cheap blanket over the quilt for her to need. I have used the caps and they last quite a while if you have a second person in the home you can put them on yourself

Onebyone

Doesn't anyone know about Soft Claws? They are safe and humane. No awful declawing. My vet won't declaw as most vets won't do that now. I used them on my indoor cat and it doesn't matter if the cat scratches or kneads or swipes. They come in different colors and look great on the cat's paws. You have to change then out when the claw grows long. That is very important. My cat was finicky about me trimming his paws but he didn't mind me doing the Soft Paws. They work great on dogs too.

http://www.softpaws.com/

meyert

I declaw my inside cats.. I know alot of people don't like that.. but I didn't want them to damage things