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Top 3 Cat Toys of 2006
Let’s not beat aroud the bush here, with the exception of the feather on a stick which requres a human operator to be effective, commercial cat toys are worthless. Here is list of the top 3 things that cats actually like to amuse themselves with:
1. Pipe Cleaner
Cats will spend hours with one of these.
2. Ponytail Bands
If you’re missing one of these things, don’t bother looking on the bathroom counter where you left it. The cats have it.
3. Q-Tip cotton swab
They love them.
So there it is. Don’t waste you money on those pet shop toys with all the bells and whistles, these three common household items will keep kitty purring along for hours.
4. twist ties
5. the safety ring from milk jugs
1. pipe cleaner = isn’t there a puncture hazard? what do they do with ‘em ?
2. pony tail bands = choking hazard? again, what do they do with them ?
3. Q-tips = how do they love them ??
The really funny thing about this post is just a few minutes before I read it my sweetie came in from a trip to the grocery store with a new fancy-schmancy cat toy. The cats love it (they’re still killing it 20 minutes later) but every one of the things you listed is on either their favorites list or the list of other cats that we know (or both).
Matthew also hit it pretty well with #5.
And I need to add #6: Ping Pong balls, especially if you have any largish uncarpeted area in your home.
Vladimer, I’m guessing you maybe don’t have cats? ;-)
my cats liked playing with a crumpled plastic wrapper, the type of plastic used to wrap cigarette packs.
6. Furniture
You’re right on the money with the Q-Tip swab.
Worse yet, used Q-Tips.
My cat likes the regular Q-Tips, but goes frickin’ crazy for the used ones. I can’t throw them away in a container she has access to.
Q-tips and ponytail bands are a rare commodity at my house, my cat hordes them somewhere that I haven’t figured out yet. Milk rings are great, too. Plastic shopping bags are always “explored”, but don’t forget the cardboard box. My cat has repeatedly attempted to crawl into a pop-tart box, I hate to throw it away because it keeps us all amused…
Brown bag from the grocery store. I cut a hole in the end large enough for a paw, and our kitty runs full pelt into the bag and sticks her paw through. We have to keep our fingers away from her when she has her paw through or she will have them for breakfast!
The twisty ties are always a big hit too.
Foam earplugs. One of our cats will play fetch with these until he’s ready to drop from exhaustion. Wish we were all so easily amused.
My cats always liked the ring from the lid of opened plastic jugs of milk.
Ooops. I see Matthew listed it at #5.
Push pins! If the cat found one in the carpeted part of the house, she’d carry it in her mouth to the bathroom, then chase it back and forth in there. I think she liked the noise it made on the tile.
The plastic retaining ring from the top of a Breyers ice cream carton. It makes a wonderful racket.
Our cats always waited for the pull-off plastic bands securing the metal lid on cans of frozen orange juice. They make an irresistable skittering noise on hard floors.
For a good time, tape a 5 to 6 foot long piece of fine thread (the same color as your carpet) onto one end of a yardstick, then drag the free end over your reclining/sitting cat. They can feel the thread, but have a hard time seeing and grabbing it.
Haha! Good to know that it is normal for my cat to dig through my garbage and pull out Q-tips! I thought he was crazy!
my cats LOVE pipe-cleaners.
we used to store them on a low shelf, in my wifes home-office (she’s a teacher, uses them for art-projects?) and the cats actually would take 1 of them out of the bag, and play with it for days, and when they would lose it, they would get another. but then one day they pulled them all out.
Anyway, I have found that i store about 50 of them in a zip lock-bag with cap-nip in it, in a cupboard. Then give them a new one about once every two weeks. They love that cat -nip!
My cats love all of the above and pom poms are also a hit. They like the 1″ kind and will play with them for hours on end. One of my cats likes to take them into the bathtub and bat them around. She also likes to take twist ties and milk bottle caps in there to play, as well.
My boy cat likes to attack dish towels.
My cat loves milk rings. In fact, when moving furniture, we’ll find piles of them. He likes to play fetch with them too. Forget any other toys!
Our three cats like all of the items so far mentioned. The wrapper around a tub of Byers or Ben&Jerrys is a current favourite as mentioned.
Laser pointers are great fun for them too!
Tampons.
No lie!
A sheet of paper crumbled to a loose ball. Best on an uncarpeted floor. I had a cat that threw it up in the air before chasing it. When it ended behind the floorlong curtains, three cats could entertain themselves whith it together. A bit hard on the curtains… When they got tired of the paperball, but still needed more excercise, I just kicked the ball across the room and they were at it for another 15 minutes.
My family’s kitty more like playing pingpong :)
from http://www.toys8868.cn
well,they are all cool things.Electric Kettle
The push pin sounds dangerous, I would never leave one around for my cat. I haven’t tried the Qtip or the pipe cleaner yet. Thanks for all the great tips.
This is not patented yet, but soon it might be.
With a syringe, inject water into a ping pong ball, seal the hole with caulk, let dry a day. (Superglue might melt the plastic ball) The water inside the ball will cause an uneven movement of the ball an make it heavier. Cats love it as the ball does not abbruptly stop movement. You might want to experiment with different liquids.
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Drag the free end over your reclining/sitting cat. They can feel the thread, but have a hard time seeing and grabbing it.http://www.my-oilpaintings.comThis will be done.
OK..ponytails, not a good choice for all cats. Cats that are playing with ponytails need to be supervised. My kitten who just turned 1 yr. is still in the vet from surgery on her stomach. She swallowed 15 ponytails all at once when she was depressed. (We are moving and she knew something weird was up.) I’m not saying every cat would do this, but BEWARE can be dangerous!!!