We recently bought a big screen tv, which had a domino effect: among other things, we bought new couches. Our old couches were 20 years old!

Now, when you have cats, you need to give some thought to the right type of couch. Fabric, for instance, becomes very important. Some fabrics just invite scratching. But more on that later.

Since we haven’t yet gotten rid of our old couch and loveseat, our home is just filled with all sorts of junk right now. For a while the afghan that was on top of the old couch got dumped onto our recliner. Gizmo thought that was a capital idea.

As I wrote earlier, when cats are involved, fabric is important. So think about what your cat likes to scratch: usually something very rough. Some materials out there almost have the texture of burlap (can’t imagine it’s very comfortable), and we’d just look at them & say yup, the cats would love those.

In fact, one reason people sometimes end up with cats that scratch their carpets is that the carpet covering their cat trees are too similar to the carpets covering their floor.

So far, so good. They haven’t shown much interest in scratching on them. You’ll notice I have a scratching pad on top of the couch. Those things are great, because you can easily move them around. Simba loves to scratch on that — and he doesn’t scratch the couch itself. We also have a cat tree right next to the couch.

In fact, the cats (and the dogs) seem to approve of the new couches very much, indeed. These couches are a lot higher than our old couch. I think the height gives Gizmo a greater sense of security, and he’s started to lay on top of the couch fairly regularly — whether or not there are dogs on the couch. That’s something he hasn’t done in a long, long time.

I used to only allow the dogs on the couch, because the love seat was by the utility cart that the boys have claimed as their own. I wanted Gizmo to have his space. Now we allow them on either couch, and it doesn’t seem to bother Gizmo.

The boys were able to look over the old couch while they were on the utility cart, but now the couch is higher than the utility cart, so it’s like they have their own private kitty city.

And there’s been one other odd benefit to our new furniture: Gizmo has begun coming to bed with me again. He stopped when we got Chester, even though at the time Chester slept in a crate. I don’t know why, but for about the last 3 or 4 nights he has come to bed with me every single night. In fact, he hangs around waiting for me to go to bed again. He doesn’t stay after I put out the light, mind you, because my husband brings in Chester & Lola after last call (he goes to bed later than me).

Still, I love having him curled up between my legs while I read in bed.

There have been signs lately of Gizmo thawing towards the dogs, in fact. He still doesn’t like them, and he’s clearly happier when they’re not here (like when we get back from vacation). Still, several times he’s jumped the baby gate to come into my office, and when he sees the dogs, he does a doubletake — but he doesn’t leave. He curls up in the corner near the gate.

And not too long ago, he curled up with me on the couch (before the new furniture) while the dogs were chewing on their bones in the morning.

I still want to see the day when he’ll stay in bed with me even if Chester is there. Maybe I’ll never see it . . . maybe it will take years . . . but hope springs eternal.

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