Resists almost anything your pet can throw at it.
I bought some of their ultrasuede.
I second the vote for slipcovers. I am in the process of slipcovering my couch (almost done) and arm chair (not started yet) with natural color cotton canvas (cheap-o tip #450: You can buy the stuff as painting tarps at hardware stores a HELL of a lot cheaper than from a fabric store…just wash and dry it on hot first to take care of shrinkage…nice, heavy weight cotton or cotton/poly perfect for upholstery…can even be dyed if natural is not your bag;))
They can be removed and washed as needed (good for kids, too:)
They sell brushes which are very good at removing excess pet hair from the animals, and a good vacuum attachment designed for hair is a must. As for clawing, provide a scratching post AND get a squirt bottle or “gun” of water…only takes a few “lessons” for most cats to stop destroying the furniture. 
(good for kids, too;)
I agree–get what you want, then slipcover it. I eventually started slipcovering my microfiber couch. The cats can filth up the slipcover all they want. When it gets too gross, I toss it in the wash. When I have guests, I remove the slipcover and presto!–instant fur-free seating.
My parents have leather chairs, and their cats instantly put scratches and holes all over everything. It seems ridiculous to pay a premium for leather only to have it instantly destroyed.
I suggest dog colored furniture. Works for me anyway.
Hi all,
Thank you for your advise on best furniture upolstery with pets. This has narrowed down my search field considerably. I’m still not sure whether we’ll go Leather or microfiber; $$ will probably factor into our decision.
Being a pet owner, may I leave a tip that has helped me with cleaning cat/dog hair? Don’t buy expensive roller brushes or pet hair removal items… slip on a pair of “Platex” gloves and run your hands over the furniture. You’ll be SHOCKED at what comes off. Hope it works for all of you.
I have a microfiber papsan, and the kitties have not clawed it (yet). Dog isn’t allowed on the furniture.
Slipcovers are a great investment, too. Cats 1 and 2 like to throw up on everything, so the covers keep the puke off.
Cats can poke holes in just about anything so I would consider blankets for when you’re not using the furniture. Then you can just pull them off and they are clean and hole free. Leather is probably the toughest. Microfiber creates a lot of static electricity in Winter so a humidifier or anti-static spray should be considered. I shut down my desktop twice from touching the mouse after getting up from a microfiber couch.
In my experience, buy furniture that has sleeves that can be taken off and washed in the washing machine, like futon couches.
One word: Plastics
Or I would also go with slipcovers, I worry less about hair and more about hairballs or other pet naughtiness, like my cat with dingleberry issues. I like that tarp idea! Also those Pledge pet hair rollers really work well.
OP - did you buy anything yet?
We needed new living room furniture and decided to try the microfibre - we have a hairy dog (border collie) and a cat who loves to hang onto things with his claws, especially when he is being harassed by the dog.
I’ll let you know how it goes - it arrives in a week!
My neighbor warned me about cats tearing up leather, so I got Naugahyde. Ooops! :smack: My cat thinks it’s a great place to exercise claws despite a $70 scratching post right beside the furniture. So, goodbye fancy sofa.
I’m recovering some chairs and trying micro suede.
Barbara
Zombie skin is best. It’s pre-marked, and you can clean it with a fire thrower.
Our cats are perfectly happy to claw our leather furniture. Sadly it’s not a solution. I’d good with wood or steel.
My three cats leave my leather chairs and sofa alone. YMMV
Our solution for scratching cats was twofold:
- Slip covers.
- Try scratching the material in the store. If you can get your nails into it, don’t buy it.
No scratching has occurred and the occasional cat barf can be cleaned easily.
Or concrete
Everything sticks to microfiber, especially pet hair.
My couch has a removable slipcover that and the cushions sit on top of it and have removable covers. The fabric is all-cotton denim, so the more it gets washed, the softer it gets, like an old pair of jeans. I am really happy at how easy it is to just throw all the covers in the wash.
What’s the best upholstery if you have pets?
Disposable.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!
Oh wait, you’re serious? 
In my experience (as a former cat owner who’d have a dozen now except for the whole “you’re going to quit breathing if you do that” thing), cats and “not allowed” just means they know they’re not allowed to do it while you’re watching. That said, if you provide nicer things for them to hook their claws in, they don’t tend to mess with the other furniture all that much.
By “nicer”, of course I mean something solid, that won’t fall over and scare the cat, and something that will really let them hook their claws into like a closed-loop carpet. We used to get scrap carpet with very tight loop pile, a 4-foot length of 4x4 wood, and a large square of plywood, fasten the 4x4 to the square, cover the pieces with that carpet, and the cats LOVED it. Had to recover it every year or so as they shredded it, of course.
I don’t think a cat would love shredding a leather couch as a first choice, because it’s not something they can easily dig their claws into to get a good pull / stretch going on, but I wouldn’t absolutely count on that.
All that said: if you don’t mind that it’ll get lots of surface scratches (vs. punctures) with pets, leather can be a great choice.
My parents had a leather living room set for at least a decade. Stood up nicely to two cats and a large dog.
We bought a futon with a fake leather cover with my bonus last year. No dog here but we have two cats.