# Cats and Down Comforters/Pillows



## Kittybuns (Sep 19, 2012)

Okay, I did a search of the forum and couldn't find anything specifically about this! Can anyone tell me if cats usually do okay with down comforters and feather pillows? Do the feathers inside make them want to rip the comforter/pillow open? Are they more likely to pee on a down comforter than some other kind? I've seen quite a bit about cats peeing on down comforters.

Thanks so much!


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## 10cats2dogs (Jun 16, 2013)

Kittybuns,
The cats who pee on soft things, whatever material, it's made from, pretty much have urinary infections....OR they're trying to tell their owners, that their litter boxes need to be cleaned better and more often!!
I also have a light down comforter on my bed, and never had any problems with cats "Attacking" it!!
It can be harder to get a down comforter or pillows cleaned, if an accident occurs, but it's not impossible!!
Hopefully others will have some help or opinions on this!
Sharon


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## TabbCatt (Mar 26, 2014)

I had this fear before I got my cats, after watching an episode of Ellen...anyway, I have a down comforter that I use and it's been intact so far! When my kitten did have litter box aversion, he only did it on the carpet flooring. It doesn't seem they are more/less attracted to the down feathers inside. I do, however, keep their all nails on their paws trimmed and the down comforter is inside a sateen cotton fabric duvet cover, so they are quite resistant to a cat's claws.


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## Jenny bf (Jul 13, 2013)

I have feather pillows and foam filled and the cats don't rip either. They love to lay on the feather ones as they squish to a nice nest. Similarly with my goose down duvet, they are more interested in rolling around on it before sleeping than ripping it. Particularly just after I have made the bed in the morning and smoothed it out


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## 2Siamese (Apr 6, 2014)

I have a down duvet on my bed in winter, and none of my four have ever showed any inclination to rip it or its pillows apart. Sleep on it? **** yeah! It's nice and soft, squishy and warm.


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## howsefrau32 (Mar 6, 2013)

I have both down comforters and pillows and no problems here. I agree with Sharon, if they are peeing on something soft, they either have a UTI or their litter boxes are not clean enough. Also, if you have a cat tree for your cat to climb and scratch on, or some like a cardboard scratcher (I have one cat that is addicted to hers) they will usually scratch on those rather than your bedding and furniture. 

The few times we had peeing issues, it was once UTI, and once, it was a covered litter box that even though I was cleaning the bottom out, I wasn't really cleaning the top as well as I should have, and it was old, and I think my peeing cat didn't like that. I got serious about litter boxes at that point. I have 4, with my 4 cats, and three of them are large, rubbermaid open containers, I use 35 pounds of litter (I like scoop away but it's dusty if you are bothered by the dust), I scoop them daily, wipe the sides down weekly, and take them out and hose them out about once a month. If you keep them scooped and wiped down, you don't really have to hose them out as often, and if you keep them topped off with litter, keep it about 4 inches deep. 

I totally believe that keeping those litter boxes immaculate is the key to avoiding many peeing issues, that and feeding either wet food or raw food, and not kibble, which also can cause major health problems. And having places for your cat to be allowed to climb and scratch. They want to scratch those sisal posts more than our couch (most of them anyway).


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## Kittybuns (Sep 19, 2012)

Thanks for the input, everyone! My husband and I are in the process of buying our first home, and we're going to move up a bunch of my furniture and other belongings from my mom's house in another state. When I lived at home as a teenager, my blanket was a very nice down filled duvet and feather pillows. My mom spent days custom making a gorgeous duvet cover and matching pillow shams, and all that stuff will be moved up here. I REALLY do not want it to be ruined by the cats! If I heard that cats didn't do well with feather things, my plan was to have the duvet as the bedding in the guest room because the cats aren't going to be allowed in that room. I might try it out in the master bedroom (after the cats have had a couple of months to settle in) and hope for the best, we will see what I decide to do! 

Knock on wood, neither of my cats have ever peed or pooped outside of the litter box. Not even the kitten. Declan (our big kitty) accidentally drops poop outside the litter box once or twice a year, but I think it gets stuck to his butt and then falls off a little ways outside the litter box. Hopefully their fantastic litter box habits will continue!

We definitely plan to get them a cat tree and have a gigantic one picked out already. It will go in the corner of the living room, right between two large sets of windows so they can look out! We want to get a leather couch and figure the cat tree will be good for distracting them from it. Luckily, Declan is pretty darned good about only scratching on the scratching posts we have. Purrcy (the kitten) isn't BAD at it per se (and he uses the scratching posts, too), but he's a kitten and still learning. We're going to wait to get the leather couch for another year or so until his scratching habits are better! One good thing is that there is no carpet anywhere in the house (all laminate flooring or vinyl flooring), so no worries about the cats scratching the carpets.

Oh and I'd still love input from anyone else who has experience with cats and feather duvets/pillows.


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