Olwyn is ten months old. In her seven months with us, she has gone from this to this:

She has learned manners, the best ways to get along with the two other cats, and what spot on the bed is her favorite.

We have learned all the ways which most pleases the princess.

The couch was assembled at Thanksgiving. It has microfiber upholstery which gives up the car hair quite easily. We have another chair in that fabric, and when Olywn made a couple of pulls, they were fixed with a toothpick. I used it to twirl the fuzzy lining back into the gap in the weave, and then push the weave back into the gap.

Microfiber shrugs off the experimental clawing the two kittens have done, and shown no damage. RJ knows better now, while the Punkin still needs reminding once in a while.

I love microfiber anyway, so the easy care is a bonus. It releases cat hair like silk or satin does, and can be cleaned with a damp cloth. It has a very “close weave,” with fewer bumps and valleys. This texture difference is why fabrics such as brocade and tweed are the hardest to keep clean for any pet owner.

I once had a modular couch with a fuzzy finish that clung to cat hair, lint, and muddy dog paws with such stubbornness that I wound up giving it away for that reason alone. I would have gone with washable slip covers, but my husband at the time was completely allergic to slip covers.

However, if we are open to the idea, we see how useful it is to have washable furniture upholstery. We can even change the look of our rooms with them. I plan to get a microfiber slipcover for the chair seen at left in the photo; I think its color and texture clashes with the green of the couch and the brown of the chair. Its present fabric requires the help of a rubber-bristled brush when it is vacuumed.

Leather and vinyl are notoriously dangerous choices for Cat Appreciators, yet there are ways to have both and be happy. We might want to consider distressed leather, which doesn’t have an illusion of perfection to protect in the first place. Adult cats can be trained to leave it alone from the beginning, and we’ll find that a button or zipper on our clothing has done what we worried the cats would do. While vinyl is notoriously shiny and soft, showing such damage instantly, leather is tougher, and will respond to oil and polish.

We can also consider the look and impact of our cat scratching posts. They can blend, too. (Declawing is never an option.)

Of course, good scratching posts in the right places may look shabby when well used, but that means our furniture… won’t.

Olwyn is influencing the decorating in another way, too. We have smooth, uncluttered tabletops, because she likes to knock small objects (stuff we need, like reading glasses and pens) off of tables.

She likes to fish her food out of her bowl and eat it off her paw, too. Every so often a toy she is playing with is not hers, but that happens rarely now. She has learned what we mean when we say, This is not for kittens. Though she might still want to investigate it.

Because she is still a kitten, and she tries everything many many times. But she is also so sweet that we don’t mind. She has Mr WayofCats almost completely trained, as he would be the first to tell you. One of Punkin’s favorite things in all the world is to keep Mr WayofCats company. So much so that he sometimes types one-handed.

We also spoil her, though not extravagantly. She does need to stop sneaking her ninja paw (all we see is the ninja paw!) over the edge of a TV tray to try and steal a treat off our plates, and must be watched. When we have the dining room set assembled we will find it easier to refine her table manners.

We love to hug our Punkin and get her purring loudly and encourage her to drape herself over us. Her favorite spot on the new couch is to perch on the arm, and lean against me. RJ likes to drape himself over one of the big back cushions, while Mr. Bond likes to curl up in the middle of the cushion.

And, sometimes, I sit on the new couch.

This post was about how our new kitten is fitting into a family of two humans, and two Beta boys of widely varying age. See all my Olwyn posts.

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There’s more ways to get our cat to be affectionate in The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See all of my CAT AFFECTION posts.