Can you advise re best cat toys?

Better_Days

We have two two year old kitties. They are allowed out in the day but I keep them in when it is dark. Most days this time of year are deemed to be worth only a cursory trip out for some fresh air and they soon scurry back in shaking their paws in disgust if it is wet or damp.

Trouble is by early evening they are full of beans and bored. They cause havoc. We are having a real battle trying to stop them from plucking the carpet (even though they have a super dooper 6 foot hight cat tree with loads of places to scratch)

We have been trying to entertain them with one of those toys on a stick with feathers on the end, but it is not as popular as it was.

So what toys have your kitties found irresistible?

Mayflower10cat

Anything with cat-nip and feathers goes down well with our three. I have friends in the US who send over bags of toys filled with the most powerful cat nip I've ever sniffed, they go mad for it! 'Zoom-around-the-room' I think the brand is. Ping-pong balls are an old favourite - they love it when I throw a ball up the stairs and they can dash up and whack it down again. Ikea type paper carrier bags or boxes 'accidentally' left lying around. I do find that a particular toy, or game, will be flavour of the week then all of a sudden they lose interest and want a change. So, back it goes in the 'cat toybox' for another time. And in a few weeks, it'll be as popular as ever for a while.

Better_Days

Thanks Mayflower10cat

Is this the 'zoom around the room' that you refer to
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zoom-Around-Room%C2%AE-Organic-Catnip/dp/B0002MKBWI

although I doubt there is more than one toy with this name

Some ping pong balls sound like a good idea too, just have to make sure the dogs don't chew them.

KxMx

An extra long play tunnel was a hit with Lily, as is a laser pen. Laser pens aren't satisfying for cats though (they can't catch/touch/try to eat the red dot, although Lily has done the latter :rotfl: ) so I only use it about once a week.
She gets mega excited though and zooms around after it.
Kong catnip kickeroos/moppy are good although I strongly recommend supervised play and take it away afterwards!

Better_Days

Thanks KxMx

They did have a play tunnel but I ended up selling it on ebay as it wasn't that popular.

Had seen the kong kickeroo's but wasn't sure how popular they would be. Good idea to take them away after the play session.

Gold_Dust_2

I have a mouse that squeaks when it is hit - that one went down well with all three of my old, complacent cats. Also, you could try getting a treat ball. Pop a treat in and watch them go crazy as they try to get the treat out! It gives them loads of exercise at the same time.

meritaten

I only have one cat Barney. but he loves ping pong balls! we play 'ping pong uppa stairs'! which involves someone throwing a pp ball up the stairs and Barnes watches it 'donk donk donk' down then he might chase it or he runs up the stairs to 'intercept it' and send it down, he also likes it if you throw a couple at a time - its a challenge to him to 'get' both balls before they come to rest.

bluebeary

a laser pen is good to expel excess energy, dont let them catch it though, its good to make them run around, hide it around corners and poke the light out and hide it round the corner again untill they run and then zig zag it in front of them, never shine it directly at them though

some animals have problems with laser pens though so try not to use it too often

our beebs was happy to run around with a screwed up lottery ticket or better still if you want to properly interact with your cat/s an old newspaper being slid under a door frame for them to catch and occasionally miss works wonders

we sometimes used to play piggy in the middle with beebs

you and your partner sit a few metres apart and throw or roll the ball along the floor for your cat to chase and sometimes catch

remember, if the cat never gets the ball, it will give up and assume its rubbish at hunting so sometimes let them get the ball and if you feel really generous reward it with a treat

we had a battery powered debird type thing from ebay, it was a ball which had a stick in the middle pointing out of the top with a feather attached to it that used to spin round, beebs loved it but unfortunately when we got jess he destroyed it so it depends how big and aggressive your cat is

Mayflower10cat

Ooooh yes!!!!!! Also google 'boogie mat' as they had one of those too.........!

Better_Days wrote: »

Thanks Mayflower10cat

Is this the 'zoom around the room' that you refer to
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zoom-Around-Room%C2%AE-Organic-Catnip/dp/B0002MKBWI

although I doubt there is more than one toy with this name

Some ping pong balls sound like a good idea too, just have to make sure the dogs don't chew them.

Mayflower10cat

and before I forget, we had one of these when three of our lot were about 3 months old - they went CRAZY chasing the disks. When you turn it on, it makes a whizzy sound effect and the cats would come running from wherever they were lurking for a game.
http://www.shinyshack.com/product.php?prid=211148

Better_Days

Thanks so much everyone for the great suggestions and links. You can spend a fortune on cat toys and I wanted to get an idea of what was most likely to be popular.

Now off to zooplus and Amazon for some retail therapy for kitties. Just can't get anything that requires any brain power as these two, without a doubt, are the silliest cats I have ever had. Wouldn't be without them though, a house just isn't the same without kitties.

Nelson is currently on the bottom of the bed, exhausted, having given his paws an extremely thorough wash between the toes as he went out earlier and the path was, much to his disgust, wet.