Just to check, is the floor solid hardwood or Parkett?
If solid - back in the states we often use polyurethane finish on hardwoods. These come matt, satin and high glaze finishes. Decades of doglets careening around on finished solid hardwood floors, with nary a scratch visible. Great stuff.
I don't think I've seen these at the usual sources in Switzerland, perhaps because few people have hard wood, most have Parkett, and those that do tend to have centuries old, well aged wood that only needs waxing. But you could try Hornbach, either here or in Germany.
These are the sorts of finishes commonly used for solid hardwood floors back home:
BUT finishing the floor this way will not be a good idea if the floor is Parkett or if there is underfloor heat.
Your best bet is likely to pop down to a specialty flooring showroom, preferably the one where the floor was purchased if you have that info, and ask for advice.
Another FYI - In your pic I see the light reflection from the window. Do be aware of how cherry changes color in sunlight. Normally that's not a problem with an uncovered floor as it tends to turn more or less uniformly. I love the 'character' of sun-aged cherry. But if you have area rugs down, or spots covered by furniture, you might find that these area end up a different color than the rest of the floor.
I would ask you to look at the scratches again, are they actually "into" the wood or scratches on the surface coating? Is the floor oiled or varnish/lacquer?
If it is oiled then a better quality washing liquid with a percentage of oil in it will help but you are not going to find it in a supermarket or hardware store here. Wokka (formerly Triptrap), Rubiomonocoat or AdlerLacke are three good brands I have used availablable in CH, there are probably others, we use Wokka as our boys are as hard on our (oiled) floor as your cats!! But a good wash once a week and it looks like new.
If it is varnished then Adler have some great products you should consider when it is time for renovation, they have lacquer down to 0 or 10% gloss levels which you can not scratch, I have used this on tables in a restaurant (without placemats!) and it is still looking good after 12 months but as the wood underneath is soft (Fir/Spruce) it does have a few dents.
Must say I just hate th thought of capping cat nails with vinyls- arrghhh- but at least 1000x better than the too oft used US solution of declawing cats- which is just vile!
Indoor cats do grow long claws that turn in often. Our very elderly cat, Pudding, rarely goes out to climb trees these days, so we wrap her in a towel and I hold her whilst OH cuts the tips of the claws every month or so. She used to fight like hell, but now she is quite used to it and happily lets him- he uses a normal but strong nail clipper. You will have to get the floor, or diy + re-oil or varnish with matt finish- in a couple of years perhaps- but like you I'd be loathed to covr the lovely floor.
Here there is a process called vitrification which is a hard varnish/coating applied to avoid scratches. No idea what it's called in German though, but it exisits, that's for sure.
The previous owner did say that there's a box of "extra flooring" in the storage unit, but the grain looks completely different. We'll pull it out and see if there's something useful written on the box.
Oh, and we have underfloor heating - both a blessing and curse in this instance
In order to have an insurance that works, or would at least entertain a claim, you would need a third party to be involved.
They own the floor
The cats belong to them
There is not third party, insurance is not designed to pay everything, they have the choice to get rid of the cats, protect their claws, vitrify the parquet/floor to avoid scratches.
The colour is dark grey, the runner 65 x 198 is chf 12.95
It is easy to vacuum and can be washed (not in the machine). I needed 3 pieces for each area and when you set them down next to each other the seam becomes barely visible. The backing is antislip. According to Ikea you can trim them if needed.
There are also two smaller sizes available.
I am happier with this than the runners from Germany which are at least 3 times the price.
I only just picked up this thread. We have hardwood oiled floors, underfloor heating(I was not aware this was a problem) and a golden retriever. He does not scratch, but the floor wears, picks up stains and bleaches where the sun shines. We use an oiled cleaner and I have once with great results re-oiled large patches using an old style hoover floor polisher which they still make (I found it on the internet from a swiss supplier). I can imagine that re-oiling may improve, if not remove cat scratches