My sister has a new home with an empty sunroom, and is thinking about getting this kind of furniture. She also has two de-clawed cats, and none of them have ever ecperienced wicker or rattan. But my sister looks at all the thn strips, expecially the stuff used to tie pieces together where they cross, and thinks the cats might chew on it constantly.
Anyone have some info on whether cats react more agressively/destructively with this than other furniture?
My cats never bothered my wicker furniture, but a dog I had, almost chewed a leg off my wicker chair.
If they weren’t declawed, I’d worry. We have one wicker chair that a neighbor was going to throw out, and it’s been my cat’s chair for 12 years now. She definitely found it great for scratching. Unless her cats have shown nervous, destructive chewing behavior before I doubt it would be a problem. I have one cat that will chew cellophane, but other than than have never known one to be a destructive chewer.
I got chairs with wicker backing. Cats love to claw them. So I regularly inspect, and glue back the strands they pull out. (Well, it’s either that or …)
Declawed cats will still do the claw sharpening behavior and “scratch” at things. I had a few wicker items that my cats “scratched” at and they did end up pullin gout bits of the wicker and sometimes they’d chew on it.
The other problem is that once you get animal hair in the wicker you’ll never get it out. If there are any loose bits the cats may enjoy rubbing against it for a nice back scratch, so that eventually you have spiky hairy furniture.
Have her cats shown a tendency to chew on straws, toothpicks, or bits of wood? If not, they’re not terribly likely to chew the wicker furniture. If they’re string-eaters and one of the bindings comes loose, it’ll be fair game, though.
why ask this question.?
Anybody who has ever had cats knows that you can NEVER know what is going on inside a feline brain.A cat does what it’s gonna do.Some cats eat house plants.Some cats chew on wicker furniture.
And nobody will ever know why.
Whenever I open a can of tuna, my cat meows non-stop,and screams loudly. almost like she’s in pain, until I put a spoonful of the tuna in her dish. Then she sniffs it and walks away without eating any.
So I could legitimately suggest that based on my experience, putting some tuna fish on the new wicker furniture will keep the cats off.
Hey—You got cats, you gotta live with 'em— on their terms.
I think you might be misinterpreting your cat’s cries. Instead of them meaning " I want that! Give me that!" they very well could mean " Oh. My. Gof. Are you really going to eat that? Chappachula, you don’t want that. I’ve had that. It gave me the runs for a week. You should eat some beef instead. I’d help you eat it they was too much. You’re really going to eat that, though? Why don’t do you ever listen to me? Why? WHY??"