What is the best cat toy.....ever!?

Question

I've bought my cat tons of toys...but she's not interested. However she loves playing with a straw or a rubber band. So much for the clever toys!

I get so much fun watching my cat play...but not from having to retrieve the toys from under the fridge...or worse the washing machine. Thank you for reminding me of that Summer

Answer 1

Hi Stef...surprisingly cats find the best toys are the "free" ones such as straws, caps from top of bottled drinks, cardboard boxes, paper bags, hair scrunchies, wadded up paper or tinfoil, etc. They can entertain themselves for hours on end with the free toys and we can easily replenish them when they lose their playtime life.

I think the only bought toy most cats find pure enjoyment from is the laser light. Nothing is more zaney than watching a cat go bonkers trying to get a dot of light that just isn't really there.

Answer 2

Cats love tinfoil wadded up into a one inch ball, they also love real cat nip, not the dried up crap from the store. Look under pine trees in the warmer months, and cat nip looks like nettle, but with little buds in the middle. Cats also love most mints, as they are in the same family as cat nip. If I left a bag of wintergreen lifesavers out, my cat would dig through the bag and paw my candy around, rub against it, chew on it, just have all sorts of fun with it!
But, by far, the most fun cat toy in the entire world, is the ring around a milk gallon's screw off top. Open a new gallon of milk, take that security ring off, and toss across a vinyl or linoleum floor, the cat will have a blast, until he loses it under the stove or fridge. Some cats are so persistant, that they'll make you go get it back out for them! Oh leave an open paper bag on its side once and sit at the closed end of it and scratch the bag with your finger nail, the cat will instantly dart into the bag and try to get the scratching noise. That's always fun, too! Cats are the best!

Answer 3

Two Answers:
There are these little mice that are called "Fuzzy cat toys" (lol) by Mews Ments, you can find them at Petco. I don't know what it is about them, but every cat I know LOVES them. They are just little mice with fur on them but cats fo crazy over them. You may however, loose one or two under the fridge or dishwasher but they come in packs of 3, 6, or 10 and aren't expensive so a lost one here and there is no biggy.
Also at Petco they have these little "Fishing Toys" that just look like a fishing pole but have a mouse that rattles at the end. My cats go CRAZY for it. We can sit infront of the Tv and be watching Tv and playing with the cats forever and all be having fun. You never have to go searching for a lost toy and you don't even have to get up to play with them. I loved it when I was sick because I could lay in bed and have a blast with my babies. :) It is like $20 but it is WELL worth it! We've had it for two months and we all LOVE it!
Good Luck!

Answer 4

I see dozens of different cats a week so I have some experience with this question. No two cats like the same things. Some like one, some another, some none, and some like all.

Based on my experience (numbers are guesses, not scientifically counted, lol):

About 1/4 of them like the laser pens. About 2/3 of them like something called a "Cat Dancer." It is commercially available at many stores and is extremely cheap and strong. It is nothing more than some rolled up cardboard on a piece of piano wire. Many cats go nuts for it.

2/3 of them like the little fuzzy mice. 1/2 of them like the paper sack that the toys come from the store in. 1/2 like the hard plastic balls with bells in them; they seem to prefer the ones without the nubs on the outside, the ones with slots molded into them.

1/4 like the large donut shaped plastic things with a ping-pong style ball inside them. They are about a foot in diameter. 1/4 like a stuffed toy that they can wrestle with. 1/10 like the balls made of scrunched up shiny mylar.

I'll think about it and try to remember more.

Answer 5

The best cat toy ever is an object about the size of a large mouse or small rat made of soft material such as woven yarn and stuffed with your dirty socks. My kitten couldn't get enough of it.

My current cat likes the saftey rings from gallon milk jug lids. Though she ignores them most of the time, clipping one to her head provides several moments of entertainment while she tries to dislodge it.

Real catnip helps too for adult cats but not kittens. Don't fall for the catnip-scented toys you'll find in your supermarket aisle. Cats like the real vegetable matter to sniff, eat, roll around in, etc.
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Answer 6

I have found that my cats play with more things around the house over store-bought toys - i.e. milk jug rings, strings, anything crinkly like granola bar wrappers, moving my hand around under the blankets (gets 'em every time). The only store bought toy that kept them captivated for more than a second was the feather and wand toy - they loved chasing the feather as I whipped it back and forth through the air.

Answer 7

Kids are just the same, buy them an expensive toy and they throw it away and play with the box!!! Cats love a product called catnip as well you can pick up some cheap catnip toys from pet stores try that and see your cat flirt with that toy

Answer 8

That ring from around your carton of milk. That's Sophie's favorite.

Poppy is autistic and her definition of playing is quite different from Sophie's. I bought them a Kitty Cat Circus which they could not have been more indifferent to. It wasn't until I threw a sheer curtain over it that Poppy took any interest.

She loves to play Wizard of Oz (pay no attention to the cat behind the curtain). She goes inside and I poke toys at her which she then attacks. Great fun for the whole family!

Answer 9

My cat LOVES those little fake furry mice. She'll carry them around, bat them back and forth, and toss them into the air like they have a life of their own. I got a box of 5 dozen of the Zanies on Ebay for like $10, thinking we would never run out. Now a year later, I only see like a third of them left. I guess I need to do a really thorough search and rescue under my furniture and kitchen appliances. And for some reason my cat prefers the white, purple, and tan mice over all the other colors.

Answer 10

Laser pointer. No question. Point it at the floor in front of the cat and they go nuts trying to catch the little moving dot of light. Move the little point of light down the hall and they will tear after it at maximum velocity. Move it up the wall and they will leap trying to catch it. Run it in tight circles around them and they will spin in place like an ice skater.

The Sources field has a link to video of one of our cats chasing a laser pointer. Unfortunately, the cat was tired out by the time my daughter got her camera and took the video, so the cat isn't as active and exciting as she had been only a few minutes before. (Isn't that always the way it is? They're incredibly cute till you get out the camera...)