I'm thinking of getting a cat. How can I avoid stinky cat smell and scratched up sofas?

I have seen two mice in my apt over the past week. I'm thinking of getting a cat to help with the problem. My friend has a cat and her house always reeks of stinky litter box and cat hairs all over the furniture. Also I have leather sofas. I do not want the cat to scratch p my furniture. How can I get a cat and not have to deal with more problems than I already have. Also I worry about cat food possibly attracting more vermin. Can anyone give me any suggestions?

Cats are a bit of work. So if you really don't feel like taking care of another life, please don't bother. Just lay some lettuce wedges down (lettuce has a lot of water in the leaves, a mouse eats enough of this and they drown) or poison pellets, or even the plug in rodent repellent. There are enough homeless and uncared for cats out there.

But if you are up to the challenge then here are some tips that have helped me.

First off stinky litter box problems can be solved by several methods.

1. find a corner of your home that you do not always frequent like the abandoned corner of your bathroom, or the space next to a closet door. Mine is next to the "coat closet" that we never use. It is in the corner of the living room and behind a whimsical rocking chair.

2. We use Fresh step lavender litter so every time they use it it releases lavender scent rather than the Stinky Smell.

3. If the smell does make an appearance and you have changed the litter religiously then simply add a little baking powder. Weird yes, but it helps knock the smell out.

Cat food drawing in more rodents, not a problem, buy one of those plastic food storage bins with a secure lid and place the cat food in there.
When it is time to feed the little thing just give it a single serving and let them eat it. place it somewhere high up. Allow the cat access to possibly a side counter, or a end table. But feed the cat twice a day, and clean up the mess after the cat is done. same as you would with your own dishes.

Scratching the furniture. Yeah that can get annoying my first cat killed my mothers couch when I was 8 years old. So Since then we tried the squirt bottle filled with water, but guess what you will not be there 24/7 to stop such behavior. Then we tried the whole claw caps thing, but some cats are really damn smart. Mine are, they got the caps off. I still don't know how. You can always go to the final resort of de-clawing your cat but if your cat is going outside then how could it defend itself? the answer is in one of two options.

Getting rid of the front set only as that is the set they will rip up your furniture, but leaving them with the back set so if they get outside they will have a defense system still.

Or

You can get them a tendonectomy. This is where the cat still has it's claws but they cannot extend the claws to rip up your leather. So the claws still grow, but you just trip them. My cats have this, and my NEW sofa still looks NEW 2 years later.

the cat hairs, well groom your cat, look for a cat that has short hair, that is first. Brush them, or take them to a groomer. they need a bath, a good rub down, and there will be less hair. Then buy yourself a tape brush thing, or the pledge hair remover. it is simple enough.

does anybody have gently used furniture that they would like to donate to help furnish a home?

in need of gently used furniture(sofa loveseat) /dryer/art supplies/ art work etc for free! in georgia.

Try www.freecycle.org. It is a group that you join by town and can look for and give away stuff instead of throwing it away or donating it to places where it will be shelved for months. Sometimes you can find stuff on craigslist as well. Good luck.

Help find manufactuer of futon or help putting it together.?

I bought a futon from a friend of mine and I didnt watch how she took it apart. I tryed to put it together for about an hour before giving up and come hereto try an get help. Now I’ve been on here for another hour trying to find one like i have so I can get instructions. Can someone please help me find out what brand it is. It has a black metal frame with light colored wood legs. The sides are black metal and slope down. And the mattress is black.I’ve looked at a few sites, but I’m living in the stone age and still have dail up..(can get hi speed way back in the hollers..lol) and it takes way to long to look threw 100 pics or d/l 10 pages..CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!!!

Take a step back and stop looking at all the pieces and the screws!

Visualize how it works. you know it needs to be able to fold out.

start with the two wooden ends , attach the hinges. (thats the part that allows it to fold up or out). The holes will match up so keep trying until you see the holes match up! now put the bed frame on (the two pieces that the mattress lay on. Do one at a time. The top, then the bottom.
The screw holes for those are at each end of the hinges.
and then just make sure it folds and unfolds and thats it!

any ideas where i can buy a sofa that will fit through my front door.?

At the moment i have a realy large sofa that when we moved in i had to have the frontroom window removed to fit it in.
My kids with a little help from us have spoiled it and i want a new one.
Trouble is i have a narrow front door.where can i buy a sofa to fit through it.All the ones ive seen are massive,can you buy self assemble that is not a futon. cheers for any help lol

I had 2 new sofas in February this year and have a small front door and a tiny turning space into the living room but they just took the arms off them and assembled them in the living room. Got them off DFS

Any source for Shiki Futons in the Chicagoland area?

Or any place in the Midwestern US even!
Not looking for typical American futons that you can find everywhere, but the thin Japanese "bed roll" ones.

Right on futon, Division and Ashland basically in wicker park

How can you stop 8mnth old Kittens from clawing up our carpets and sofas?

We have already tried spraying them with water from a spray bottle with no success, and just yelling at them or hitting the sofa to scare them to stop doesn't work either. They are causing holes in our carpets, and have completely ruined the back of one of our sofas already. We trim their claws atleast once a month, but that doesn't seem to help either. They have cat toys and a play gym to play on, so we don't see why they still insist on using our funiture and floors to sharpen their claws on. Any advise would be greatly appreciated
Do you have a cat post? If not, you know what material they like to claw on, so I would get one ASAP. It's natural for them to claw at something in order to shed their nails.

Supposedly cats do not like the smell of citrus, so you can spray a mixture of lemon or orange with water on the furniture to repel them. Pet stores will sell stuff like this that is safe for furniture that repels cats.

I had the same problem some years ago and I ended up covering the entire patch of the area they liked to scratch with a piece of plastic so they couldn't scratch at it. After about a month, once they got used to scratching something else, I was able to remove the plastic and they never went back to it.