Antique Reproduction Furniture Options for Pet Owners

There's no denying that humans and animals have survived side by side for thousands of years. Near Vallon-Pont-d'Arc in Southern France, the Chauvet Cave discovered the footprints of a small child walking beside that of a wolf. The cave is a renowned site of some of the world's oldest human paintings, with nearly 400 images of animals created approximately 32,000 years ago, while the footprints date to roughly 26,000 to 30,000 years, making them the oldest earliest evidence of human-animal companionship.

While we still welcome them into our homes, where we live has changed drastically in those thousands of years. A cave is quite different from your brand-new or redesigned dream home decorated with your family's decades or centuries-old antiques and your mint-condition antique reproductions.
It is part of the pet experience to discover our little bundle of teeth and claws may be using them where they shouldn't, through no fault of their own. Our canine companions need safe objects to chew and possibly destroy as they play, as they still retain their prey instincts. Our feline friends must keep their claws healthy by scratching, as scratching helps the claw shed sheaths—which can build up and sometimes cause painful splitting or cracking. In addition to keeping their claws healthy, once cats find a spot they like to scratch, they often return to it to mark their territory and work off any excitement and stress.

Unfortunately, sometimes those instincts turn to our home furniture. In the case of your precious antiques and replications, this can cause antique collectors quite a bit of anxiety, or worse, damages to repair from unwitting kittens and puppies simply exploring their instincts and environments.
But how do we discourage pets from following their instincts on specific pieces of furniture over others? Are there reproduction options perfect for pet owners that are both durable and stylish?

We would be delighted to answer this and more.

Find and Choose Pet-Friendly Options

If the timing and finances are right, you may wish to consider learning about and using pet-friendly additions or options within your antique reproductions. But what do we mean by that?

For example, at Laurel Crown, we offer a few modest options to customize your furniture before you finalize a purchase. One of the options we provide for customers is the ability to use custom fabrics for upholstery. Should a customer have a fabric they would like to use, we can work with them to install that fabric once it arrives.

If you are a pet owner and have lived with a pet already, you may be familiar with what their toenails, claws, enthusiastic drooling, shedding, and scratching can do to fabrics that aren't pet-friendly.

One of the things you can do to ensure a more durable upholstered antique or replication is to choose a custom pet-friendly fabric for us to install. What sort of fabrics are pet-friendly and pet-durable?

• - Real and Faux leather. For good reasons, genuine and fake leather tends to be a popular choice for pet owners. Leather is stain, odor, and puncture resistant; fur generally can't cling to the material, making it easy to brush away or remove. When cleaned and treated immediately, most stains can be removed with a damp cloth or a mild detergent and water. In the case of cats, however, natural and faux leather tends to have a more difficult time withstanding repeated use of kitty's claws, as leather and faux leather tend to show scratches, and their highly sharp claws can pierce the material.
  
  
• - Polyolefin. Choosing a polyolefin may be another excellent option to mimic the look and feel of a woven upholstery fabric. It is a synthetic fabric renowned for its superb durability and strength in the face of everyday wear and tear. In addition to being durable, there is a dizzying array of pattern and color options, many of which can mimic the original historical patterns and colors found in the era of your antique reproduction. Polyolefin fabrics are specifically engineered to withstand abrasion, stains, odor, and mildew and have been tested to withstand more than 1,500 hours of UV fade resistance. Lastly, and perhaps of interest, because the fabric is solution dyed—it is one of the rare fabrics and upholstery where it can be cleaned with bleach for the toughest stains. As polyolefin fabrics are woven, cat owners should note that cat claws can get stuck in the weaves, resulting in pulls or scratches.
  
  
• - Microfiber. Microfiber's most significant selling point and reason for its immense popularity is due to its very tight weave. There are no loops in this fabric, meaning claws won't get stuck, reducing the chance your kitty's sharp claws sink in and gain traction, causing tears, loose threads, and holes. There are even types of microfiber specifically designed to mimic the look and feel of suede, giving upholstered furniture a plush softness. Thanks to its tight weave, dirt, dust, and moisture have a difficult time penetrating the fabric, making it an excellent choice for the over-energetic dog or cat or dog and cat combination households. The downside to microfiber is that it attracts animal fur like a magnet, meaning your furniture must be brushed, lint rolled, and vacuumed more often.

Fabrics You Should Avoid as a Pet Owner:

• - Tweeds
• - Chenille
• - Corduroy
• - Velvet
• - Silk
• - Satin

These are too delicate or have far too wide holes within the weave that can get your dog's blunt nails and your cat's thin and sharp claws stuck within.

Redirection with Positive Reinforcement Training

Positive reinforcement training is a highly effective method to redirect a dog's or cat's unwanted behaviors. Though this method takes longer and requires effort, it can be a genuinely life-long rewarding experience, allowing pet owners to enjoy their beautiful reproductions without discovering tooth holes from chewing or pulled threads from scratching.

The duration of the training will depend on several factors. It will take longer if you've been dealing with a pet with unwanted behaviors for a while and have not had time to be consistent with training. Progress happens within a few weeks and not instantly. No matter how many years young your pet may be, any unwanted behavior that is not an underlying medical issue can corrected at any age.

Whether you train your pet to redirect destructive behavior or choose a pet-friendly fabric for your antique reproductions, a vast array of highly stylish, durable options await you to help keep you and your pet happy in a sturdy, elegant fashion.