Best Cat Toys

[catcauphonic]

Almost anything on a string will be a hit.

Different cats will even have a preference for different kinds of textures of balls to bat around, and on rare occasion some cats will even play fetch with them (Chyna used to do that in her teenage years.) You can usually walk out of a pet store with a half dozen different kinds for $5 (perhaps a bit more if they're laced with catnip )

Almost all of them seem to agree about the simple plastic bags & ring tabs being fun at some or all life stages.

I knew a maker of hand crafted cat beds who had to stop shipping them in boxes, because they would go right to the box instead of the bed

While they also all seem to agree that the laser pointer must be attacked and caught, I'm told never being able to catch it is a detriment to their self esteem

 

[NMTB]

Living creatures smaller than themselves.

 

[StereoPlayer]

What the heck is that ?

The ring off of a gallon milk jug. The styles may vary.

 

[friskinator]

As someone who works in emergency veterinary medicine I cannot recommend strongly enough to NOT use yarn as a toy even under supervision. Yarn is to weak and easily breaks. If you really want to do the string toy thing get something much stronger like braided nylon which holds up to teeth better than yard does and never leave it out where you cat can get to it when you are not there.

I've also read that you shouldn't leave feather toys laying around without supervision, since they can chew on the feathers and potentially choke.

 

[PWRL]

Laser pointers are great. My cat loved his laser pointer. He loved to chase it in circles and pivot around, it was hilarious to watch.
There's a thing that's a big tube in a ring with a ball in it, cats love those.
Paper bags are great, of course, but some cats will eat plastic bags.
Crumpled up paper, aluminum foil.
My sister used to give our cat Barbie heads to play with. To this day, at my mom's house, we have no clue what he did with them. She'd give them to him and they'd disappear. None ever turned up.

 

[PWRL]

My cat loved these things. It's called a Turbo Scratcher or something.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

What the heck is that ?

Birth control device?

 

[catcauphonic]

I moved this portion of Gard's quote over from today's THE ULTIMATE CAT THREAD Thought it was relevant, cute, and hilarious >

Miss Claire with "her sock". Long story condensed: she developed an almost unhealthy affinity for this particular sock as a kitten (I wish I could find the videos of her with it back then - combination of hysterically funny and tear-inducingly cute), used to walk around dragging it in her mouth, talking to it, when she was literally no bigger than the sock itself...it somehow vanished for years, and my ex found it when packing to move from our old house, she made sure it got back to Claire, who as you can see is pleased to be reunited with it.

View attachment 3223182

 

[S-Bigbottom]

While they also all seem to agree that the laser pointer must be attacked and caught, I'm told never being able to catch it is a detriment to their self esteem

Mine will do the chase the furry thing tied on the end of the horse whip, but after eight or nine small catch and releases she then takes hold and will start to walk away with it. I need to let go at that point because she is taking that catch to her spot to enjoy.

 

[spiritbass]

My sister used to give our cat Barbie heads to play with. To this day, at my mom's house, we have no clue what he did with them. She'd give them to him and they'd disappear. None ever turned up.

Points for simulated savagery!

 

[T_Bone_TL]

They like what they like, and that varies with cat. One of ours had (one, particular, broken-in-half the long way) wine cork he loved as his favorite toy, until he lost it under the fridge for too long and it (presumably) didn't smell right, or the magic was gone, when we finally found it. Replacements were ignored. We have 4 cats who ignore the heck out of one of those turbo-scratcher things, but they like a curvy cardboard catbed/scratcher thing. The red dot is a hit, but does have that frustration factor. Paper balls are usually a hit, as are paper bags/sacks. Ping-pong balls are sometimes OK, sometimes ignored. One particular type of catnip mouse is preferred above all others, and there's a stash of them we don't know where, as they keep vanishing. We know a few of the wheres that we get them back from, but not where the rest of them are (dozens by now.)

As a rule, the best cat toy long-term is a sibling (adoptive or otherwise - we try to get them in pairs of roughly the same age.)

 

[roller]

The string from a hooded sweatshirt (basically a really long shoelace).

Get one and try this:

Put a few knots in one end of the string... lay the string on the floor... put a big floor pillow on top of the string, so that a foot or two of one end is still visible... you hold onto the other end.

Then slowly pull the string so that it disappears under the pillow.

Have fun.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Anything dipped in catnip. I am alercic to cats. When we were dating, my wife's cats loved me. I bought some industrial strength catnip, and when I came over, I would dip their favorite toy in it, then leave them alone.