I have three cats and 2 dogs. One of the dogs is a digger and makes a nest of all the bedding once we leave the house. None of my animals has ever, ever, ever destroyed a quilt or even damaged it. Yes, they leave hair and fur behind but that's why God made washing machines and pet hair rollers.

BTW, cats with claws can destroy furniture by sharpening their claws on it but that's because the furniture is fixed in place so their claws pull across it, ripping the fabric.

Don't let the decisions of teenagers make you sad. They are all a bit crazy and make decisions based on information that can cause us to scratch our heads in wonder. It might makes sense to her, but the fact that she showed it to a friend means she is pleased you did it for her. I'd go with that and try to ignore the kitty part. In a few years it may become her favorite thing.

Kate

I've never had a cat harm a quilt, except for maybe pulling a few threads. Sometimes they'll get a hold of the edge and beat it up with their back feet, but mostly they just really like to lie on them!

She should lay her quilt out when she's around to supervise the cat, but I'm sure the cat won't try to tear it up.

A lady at our guild showed a quilt once that her dog had nearly destroyed. It was ripped to shreds.

I made my daughter a machine embroidered and pieced quilt for her highschool graduation. Some of the machine embroidery threads have pulled but not because of her cat, who by the way sleeps on her bed all day long, but from friends who had buttons on the pockets of their jeans. In dorm rooms and small apartments, everyone sits on the bed from lack of space. I have never had any quilts damaged at home from my animals,cats or dogs.

My daughter has a zoo and the cats love my quilts and the crocheted afghans. Never have damaged any of them.

I also make my quilts to be used BUT my mother and one of my sisters love them, and show them off, then put them back in the closet.

I use mine!!!!!!!!
Rosa

My kitties now don't have access to the rooms in which the quilts are, but my previous kitties did. No, none of them ever harmed a quilt in any way, other than once or twice hacked up a hairball on them. They wash. My dog is a digger, he digs a nest on the bed to sleep under the quilts. Even he has not harmed one. The only quilt damage I've had was from me. I pulled on one when it was caught on a spring and tore some binding. My bad.

For many years I had cats and never did they do damage to a blanket, quilt, etc. One or two did rip the upholstered furniture sharpening their claws, though. Now this dog I have is a different story. When she was a pup I was horrified to find a hole chewed in the back of my couch cuddle quilt. Thankfully she didn't get through to the top of it. So I managed to patch that up with some of the same fabric and fusible. And she does "dig" at the quilt on the couch to make a comfortable pile the way she wants in when she lays down on it.

No quilt damage from the cats. I usually have 2 or 3 WIP laying around and they don't bother them. I do cover them with a sheet though because I know those critters like to sleep on them....day and night....on the ironing board, on the kitchen table, on the sofa, on the bed.....they don't care, but they don't hurt them.

SharonG/FL

I have both cats and a dog.

The cats love quilts, but they've never damaged any of them. I keep one on the sofa especially for the cats. It keeps the hair off, LOL

The dog loves quilts too, but she will lay on one for months, and then, all of a sudden, chew a hole in it.

Daisy the dog gets the occasional practice piece for her basket. She's a large dog, so is not allowed on furniture or beds.

Thank you! My brother ---her father--- is the instigator of the fear, I believe. He(and his wife - but mostly he) keeps a perfect house-unlike me :). He was like this as a kid-what can I say??? He got all of the everything has its place and must be kept in perfect condition genes~LOL.

As far as dogs, yes, my dogs have done damage in the past. Dogs just decide for some reason, that they are going to chew something up!

I told my brother I was going to ask if cats destroy quilts.
I am going to tell him that they do not, and if she uses it fine.....if she doesn't.....well, she won't get another :)

Neither of my cats are declawed, and they love to sleep on the quilts in the house, even those that are still being made...lol! I've found a couple of hacked up furballs, lots of cat hair, but no damage from either of them. They like to sleep on top of, and beneath, my quilts. My 3-year old will even occasionally "help" in making the bed...

Your niece is the victim of bad information, but you can correct that. I'd have to agree with the others and say she likes her new quilt because she's doing what she can to protect it, and she's showing it off to her friends. Hopefully, once you've told her what we've all said, she'll be able to enjoy it even more without being afraid.
Good luck!
-Dan

Just promise her that if the cat does damage to it that you'll make her another one, even better than the first!!

Jen ~ that's exactly what I already said! :)

Oh, Marsha, DH has a cousin like your brother! She is so uptight - everything has to be tightly controlled, including the 2 teenage sons. If you get her out of her environment, she's delightful - she is very smart and has a sly sense of humor. I wish she could loosen up and enjoy life a bit.

I used to be pretty anal about the housecleaning and straightening up, then I realized it's just the 2 of us, we're not home that much, we don't entertain, and there are lots of things way more fun and interesting than cleaning the house!

Donna

I have 3 cats. As soon as I put a quilt down, they take it over. They love them just as much as I do!

Cats & quilts are made for each other. A quilt is not complete w/out a cat sleeping on it. There's something about a quilt that if laid out on the floor....a cat will wake up from a dead sleep 2 rooms away & search out said quilt to lay on.

I've had cats all my life. The only damage they can do is snag a thread or cough up a hairball. Dogs are a whole nother story.

The fact that she wants to keep it safe (& does show it off) is a compliment to you. There are those out there that don't regard a handmade quilt gift highly & it ends up being used as an outdoor dog bed.

My cat Elliot, did chew some holes in my daughter's quilt but just through the top so we added some applique to hide it. He only did it once and was obsessed with chewing on soft toys. If he could not find a stuffed animal to chew on he would substitute with socks, knit scarves, etc. But that was the only time he chewed on a quilt. Some people said he was more like a dog than a cat!

I have a friend who has not finished a quilt for her bed because her older cat sleeps on the bed during the day and she doesn't want the cat to sleep on a quilt she made. I told her she could just throw a cover sheet over the area where the cat sleeps.
Karlene