Any pet-safe recliners out there?

[Feathered_Feet]

I have a large sectional in the TV room that I’d like to switch out with a recliner sofa for hubby, me, and the pets to hang out on at night. However, the cat is classically curious, some of the dogs are of questionable intelligence, and the hubby is not super aware of what he’s doing at any given moment.

I worry that a pet would get seriously hurt by exploring underneath, then getting squished when we put the foot rest down. We can make sure no one is under the foot rest, but I’m worried we’d not see them if they were inside, under the couch itself where the mechanisms are.

Are there any recliners out there whose undersides are sealed off? The sectional is taking up too much room, but we really like to lounge with our feet up in the evenings. Open to suggestions/recommendations!

[Equibrit]

https://www.lovesac.com/

[Feathered_Feet]

I love their stuff, but I’m not seeing any recliners on the website. The sactionals look to be as big as the one we currently have now

[Equibrit]

A beanbag is a recliner without dangers

[Feathered_Feet]

haha fair point! I’ll have to think about it

[DMK]

I purchased a recliner two years ago when I was going to be out with rotator cuff surgery. Up until that point I had resisted because I have four cats and a corgi, and I think recliners are kind of fugly. BUT I also knew once one was in this house, fugly be damned, I was going to keep it because… comfy.

I had the same concern, and in the beginning I was super cautious about making movement/noise underneath the recliner before I retracted the foot rest. But sure enough time will pass and you will forget to do that, and there will be an animal under there and it seems very scary at first. But at least with mine nobody was in any danger and never got fully enclosed or even close to it before I stopped the chair and they beat a hasty retreat. That also cured them of getting under the recliner and in general when I start closing it (I never just close it, I always do it about 25% to give some advance warning), unless they’re actually ON it, anybody in the immediate vicinity beats a hasty retreat. The ones on the footrest show a remarkable ability to stay put at an almost 90 degree angle.

I wouldn’t have a manual recliner with the animals though, because most of the ones that I’ve have seen require a little bit of force to start retracting and then close fast. That might not give a pet time to get out before it closes.

I also unplug it when I’m out of town so nobody steps on the remote and opens it (it has a plug in remote not buttons, mostly because I needed a chair I could operate with my left arm after right shoulder sx, and all the ones with buttons are on the right side).

[Jarpur]

We purchased two rocking chaise recliners when one of us had a serious leg injury. Chaise means that the leg support is continuous all the way down the back, seat, and leg area, with no gap between the chair portion and the leg support in which an animal could become caught. That was a main reason why we selected this style.

Below the extended chaise part, when looking underneath, there is a vertical panel with small openings for the mechanism. On the back of the chair, there is an opening beneath the seat, between the legs.

We’ve had two pairs of chaise recliners, with five various dogs, ranging from 5.5# puppy on up, and two cats, ranging from half-grown kitten on up in size. None have ever become caught in the mechanisms, not even a near miss or not-so-near miss. These have been manual recliners, with the extension operated by a lever on the side.

Ours are La-Z-Boys; a model somewhat similar to what we own is the Casey Rocking Recliner on the company website. That model is shown in a lighter fabric, and in the photo showing the chaise extended it’s possible to see what I’m describing. There is also a 360 degree depiction of this recliner, where the back opening is visible.

[LCDR]

Something with this style. We have one similar, this picture is from Wayfair

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The open bottom gives our cats plenty of escape avenues when it starts to move. Our recliner has buttons on the armrest to control the positions, and the motors move pretty slowly, which gives them time.

But they usually choose to be in their own chairs.

[pony_baloney]

This reminds me of a sad thing that happened at the assisted living facility where I work. A couple had two toy poodles and a recliner. One of the dogs had her ear almost completely torn off her head. She was rushed to ER and she was patched up but she was in so much pain they had her euthanized not too long after.

[Feathered_Feet]

Maybe that’s part of my hesitation - most of my experience is with the manual recliners, which are certainly less forgiving if an animal were under there (DH generates a lot of crumbs when he eats, so I have to assume animals will be around him cleaning). Maybe I just need to stop by a store and see a modern recliners in action!

[Feathered_Feet]

See that’s exactly what I’m afraid of. Our cat is typical cat - clever, fast, and gets out of trouble’s way. The main one I’m worried about is actually gone now - euthanized not too long ago, but she was too trusting someone would bail her out of a jam, no sense of self-preservation, and in her older years, totally deaf. The dogs still with us are big and I think they’d be ok, but if we get a new little dog, I worry that something small would go looking for trouble. And DH generates a lot of crumbs when he sits and snacks, so the urge for the dogs to clean up around him is hard to resist.

Thanks for sharing your cautionary tale. Poor pup.

[Feathered_Feet]

@LCDR

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The open bottom gives our cats plenty of escape avenues when it starts to move. Our recliner has buttons on the armrest to control the positions, and the motors move pretty slowly, which gives them time.

Yeah something like this seems relatively safe. I’ll have to dig and see if they have this in a couch version!

[colorfan]

I have had at least one cat in the house, well always, and usually a dog also, and have always also had a recliner.
Dog is too big to get under but the cats do yet there has not been a problem. Honestly don’t think I thought about it until now. Now its not a good thought…yeesh