Leather Sectional Sofa

My Husband And I Live With Three Cats (all Different Colours), A Yellow Labrador, A Pet Rat, And A Small Child. We Are Planning To Spend Up To $2,000 On A New Sectional Sofa Unit For Our Living Room Where We Spend Most Of Our Time. The Animals Cannot Be Kept Out Of This Space.

I Am Thinking Leather (or Imitation Leather) Would Be Easiest To Keep Free Of Hair And Dirt, And To Wipe Up Spills From. My Husband Says Cloth Is Just As Good If You Get It Scotch Guarded. I Also Want To Know If Anyone Has Had Cats Claw On Their Sofas And How They Stopped It - Only One Of My Cats Has Had His Nails Yanked And It Wasn't Me. I Would Hate To Invest All This Money (we Are Not Rich) And Have The Couch Destroyed Or Filthy In No Time.

Thanks All!