My cats like the box that the toy comes in more than the toy most of the time!

A good box, a nice paper bag, it's the simple things. My cats have more fun when I play with them with the stick end of a wand toy. I have wrapping paper strewn around the living room, and I run the wand under the paper and they attack it. We've been playing that game for a few weeks now. And the cats will jump on the paper and make up their own imaginary games by themselves.

 

Most people have better luck with toys if they take them out of circulation for a month or so at a time once kitty gets bored; once they bring them back it's like a whole new toy! So yes, my first suggestion would be to clear out those mouse and squeaky ball hovels and put the dangly birds away for awhile, try some new toys (my cat likes cardboard sticks to pounce on, Kong kickers, and scraps of carpet), and in a few months bring the old ones back into circulation!

 

I would have to agree with the said above.

Finding everyday things lying about in your house like paper bags, plastic bags, cardboard boxes, other kind of boxes they can fit in, tissues, strings of yarn or fabric of some sort... even pieces of trash or crumbs laying on floor they will play with! They do tend to find things completely out of range of what we would call a "toy" that is enjoyable. Personally, my cats enjoy climbing and playing in boxes and the plastic bags... I have no clue why, they find it entertaining I guess! :lol:

A thing to try, especially if you don't have money to be buying toys all the time, get a string and tie it to a tissue- there's a toy! It won't last forever, but it good in while it lasts and cats love it when you drag stuff on the ground(from my experience).

It is good to rotate toys, I would imagine anyone would get tired of the same thing everyday.. mix it up for them.

I hope you find something for your cat to enjoy.

 

Cardboard boxes are a favourite at my house. Tinfoil balls go over extremely well too.And of course, the laser pointer!

 

I have to say, despite the dozens or so toys I've bought for Artemisia since I adopted her three months ago, her absolute favorite is still a piece of string (with a big knot in it on one end to give it some weight).

This may not be true of all cats, but I find that she prefers "human-powered" toys (like the string I drag around in front of her or the ball I throw for her to chase) over "solo" toys.

 

Cool! Interesting answers. Pretty much everything you've said has been true in my experience also, now that I think about it. Household stuff definitely seems to work well, tin foil balls like jeckel said, yarn, strings, boxes, etc. Mooky's been on a "catch" kick lately... got him a mouse with real fur and some sort of rattly stuff inside, which he loves to bring back when I throw it. I've never had a cat play catch before -- he'll get it out of the craziest places too.

He was also obsessed for a good week over a plastic tab that I tore off a dried peas package and accidentally dropped to the ground.

Has anyone ever gotten or made an elaborate toy for their cat? Something to test/challenge their intelligence, or something that they could spend lots of time with when you are away?

Andrey

 

We just bought our bored little girl one of those fur mice with the rattle inside, and she LOVES it! It cost $1.29 at PetSmart and I woke up this morning to her & it sleeping next to me. But I agree with everyone; household stuff works well. Mimi loves tissue paper or packing paper--she hides her toys under it and attacks them. Good luck keeping your baby occupied; they are as bad as kids!

 

if you saw my house youd swear i was packing up to move but hoarding a bunch of boxes. actually my cat just loves boxes! i have big ones, tiny ones, odd shaped ones, all sorts scattered throughout the house.

she likes cardboard so much, she likes to sit on the cardboard drink holders you get at the fast food resturant. something just says "sit on me" for her :roll:

azores also likes to play with shoe string, plastic bags and anything that can "contain" her. ive watched her try and stick her head in a brown bag and run clear across the room top speed till the wall stopped her lmao.

 

Cool. Has anyone ever bought one of those really sophisticated/elaborate toys like the turbotrack, or the smartcat (peek-a-prize or something I think it's called?) Seems like overkill a bit, but then again my local pet store sells some serious contraptions that took me a while to even make heads or tails of when I was browsing. I'm not sure if Mooky will have the patience to get through the instructions manual on some of those...

Andrey

 

Cool. Has anyone ever bought one of those really sophisticated/elaborate toys like the turbotrack, or the smartcat (peek-a-prize or something I think it's called?) Seems like overkill a bit, but then again my local pet store sells some serious contraptions that took me a while to even make heads or tails of when I was browsing. I'm not sure if Mooky will have the patience to get through the instructions manual on some of those...

Andrey

I had gotten this one cat track for my cats back at home, I don't recall them using it too often to be honest. They kind of looked more at than anything else! :lol: This is kind of what it looked like:

 

That's neat!

Ordered this thing for Mooky the other day, it just came in (a few minutes ago actually):

http://www.petco.com/product/111140/WAR ... -Game.aspx

It's not bad, it seems kind of complicated at first.. not sure how much mileage we will get from this, although he was able to get some of the treats out if I didn't cover the hole completely. He's pretty clever though, and usually figures out strategy for puzzles like this. He's having a great time in the box it came in at the moment.

I find that toys/games that involve treats seem to interest him most... I wonder why...!

Andrey

 

I have used the treat balls before with my cats, but they figure it out real quick and eat all the treats lol.

 

lol thanks Einherjar -- I actually had a tab open in my browser with one of those, thinking about ordering it. Saved me $5.

Andrey

 

I bought the Turbo Scratcher for my boys last night... Holy crow, best 20 bucks I've ever spent! The two of them played with it for THREE hours straight, and were even getting into little fights over who got to play with it! 8O I was absolutely stunned. We then put it away, because they were getting cardboard all over the floor - it is messy, but totally worth the clean up imo. Tavish of course, managed to find where it was hidden a few hours later and started playing with it again. Great toy, and a great scratcher - they loved it. I'm thinking of buying another one, so they each have their own! We'll see if the novelty wears off, though I don't think it will; Tavish had had one at his foster home, and he definitely remembered what it was!

Cardboard boxes also make fantastic toys...

 

Of all the toys I've bought, I've found the two most favorite (as in played with repeatedly for more than 10 minutes) are my laser pointer and some little mylar crinkly balls.

I also have some wand toys. I find one of my cats loves the feather wand with the bell, especially if I pretend to dust the steps. Then she plays a bit of human/cat wrestling. The other one is a little huntress and likes a little dangling mouse toy I picked up at Petco. The mouse chirps when it bounces on the ground. She especially loves it if I have the mouse hide under a chair or table.

But the crinkly balls are brought out and batted around by both cats at different times in the day. I don't know why. The little mesh balls with bells were played with once and disappeared under something. But the cats will crawl under furniture to recover their little crinkly ball. And if one has it in her mouth the other follows her to wait for her turn.

The laser pointer is the best interactive game we have. They love chasing that pesky little red dot around. Each will take turns diving for it. And inevitably when one cat tires of chasing the dot, she'll start hunting her sister. Then we get a rousing game of "pounce and chase". I've dropped treats on the floor as well and had the laser pointer lead them to the treat.

Now my old cat just adored a little felt, dangly toy we put on our fridge. She wasn't so interested in chasing things anymore but couldn't resist a game of wrestle with the thing. It had a catnip bird on the end.

 

I bought the Turbo Scratcher for my boys last night... Holy crow, best 20 bucks I've ever spent! The two of them played with it for THREE hours straight, and were even getting into little fights over who got to play with it! 8O I was absolutely stunned. We then put it away, because they were getting cardboard all over the floor - it is messy, but totally worth the clean up imo. Tavish of course, managed to find where it was hidden a few hours later and started playing with it again. Great toy, and a great scratcher - they loved it. I'm thinking of buying another one, so they each have their own! We'll see if the novelty wears off, though I don't think it will; Tavish had had one at his foster home, and he definitely remembered what it was!

Sounds like something my cats could really use, they always find other things to scratch on. I had a carpet scratching post, but it fell apart and they never really cared for it.