Durable Toys For Crazy Adolescent Kitty

Sylvia Grace

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Hi all! It's been several months since I've posted anything on here. Five months have passed since I had to let my Heisenberg go, and last month we took the plunge and adopted a new kitty. Sommerfeld is a beautiful black medium hair with the fluffiest tail I've ever seen! The vet who neutered him thinks he's somewhere between one and three years old, and based on how much energy he has I'm thinking it's closer to one!

Which is a bit of an issue at the moment. Sommerfeld is confined to the basement for now because our old resident cat, Loki, doesn't like him and the fur flies when they come into contact with each other. The basement is a fully finished apartment with a decently sized bedroom and living area as well as a kitchen and bathroom, but it doesn't seem to be enough for Sommerfeld. He needs more space to run around in, and to tide him over until we can get Loki to accept him (or at least tolerate him) we've been trying to find toys to keep his mind busy.

Sommerfeld likes pom poms and elastic, as well as little things he can toss around. When we play with him, though, he has a strong preference for peacock feathers. We have quite a few, but they don't last very long and the quills tend to splinter, which concerns me. I don't need my baby boy swallowing a splinter and getting sick! I'm looking for a more durable toy that resembles a peacock feather. The actual colorful head of the feather isn't his favorite part, he likes me taking that off then waving the rest of the feather around. He likes the individual feather "hairs" that are below the head, and then the quill itself and how it slides out from under his paws. The length is pretty important too, since I'm mobility limited and need to get him running around.

I'm also looking for kitty chew toys. Sommerfeld likes to bite and chew pretty much everything - earlier I caught him trying to gnaw on one of the chairs! That's why the peacock feathers die quickly, he chews them up and makes them splinter. So something to help him satisfy those urges without being destructive would be helpful.

EDIT: I forgot to add that he doesn't seem to care for things with bells, and likes to change up which toy we use to play with him. So any toy suggestions would be great, not just feathers and chew toys. :)

Thank you for reading all of this, and for any and all suggestions! :hearthrob::redheartpump:
 

Margret

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My Jasmine is well past adolescence, but appears to be unaware of this. And, yeah, peacock feathers tend to last for about five minutes, on a good day. :lol:

For someone with mobility issues, the ideal interactive toy is, of course, the red dot, unless Sommerfeld insists on something tactical.


Then, of course, there's always this:

I recommend going past Home Depot and buying a dowel to tie them to, to make it a wand toy.

For solo play, I bet Sommerfeld would just love some Krinkle Balls, but don't get the itty-bitty ones; they're too easy to lose under furniture. The ones that are more like a 3 or 4 inch diameter are better. He might also like some fairly large sheets of crumpled up paper for his pom-poms and elastics to hide in.

These look fairly durable, and they're fuzzy, which he might like: Pet Fit For Life 5 Piece Squiggly Worm Wand Cat Toy

I don't know how durable these would be, but they'd certainly satisfy his desire for feathers: Pet Fit For Life 2 Feather Retractable Wand Cat Toy, Blue & Green, and you can get replacements for the feathers: Pet Fit For Life 6 Piece Replacement Feather Pack for Wand Cat Toy.

This one counts as a pre-made ribbon wand toy: Cat Dancer Cat Charmer Toy, and appears to be fairly durable. Also, the plastic wand should be lighter than a dowel. Here's another version, with just one strand: Cat Dancer Cat Charmer Toy, 2 Pack, Color Varies. Jasmine has a toy that's a lot like this, and it's her favorite. I have to hide it from her to keep her from pulling it out in the middle of the night and dragging it around the house, with the wand making clunk-clunk sounds until someone wakes up and either plays with her or takes it away from her. The streamer (at least on the one I have, which is very old and not this brand) is very light weight, so that it kind of waves and flutters through the air.

This is a lovely toy for interactive play, and seems to last forever: Cat Dancer Deluxe Cat Toy. I'm not so sure about the wall attachment idea, however. This is the same toy, minus the wall attachment but with the addition of a catnip mouse on the other end: Cat Dancer Catnip Cat Dancer Toy.

Here's a cat chew toy: Petstages Dental Health Chews Cat Toy, Color Varies.

I hope this helps. Congratulations on adopting Sommerfeld. :banana2::banana1::dance::bunnydance::banana1::banana2:

Pictures! We'd love to see some pictures!

Margret
 

Columbine

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My pair of adolescent toy killers ADORE the PURRfect feather wands with flexi tips:

They're really light to handle (even for me, with my chronic pain and health issues), and the boys go nuts for them! They don't last forever (but then, no wand toy does in this house), but they last longer than most others I've tried, even after being determinedly tugged on my two big, strong Russian Blue boys!

I get plain pheasant feathers for them too, and don't worry too much about them getting chewed up. I think their smaller quills reduces the risk of injury as compared to peacock tail feathers. Besides, in the wild cats will catch and eat birds...and I very much doubt that they pluck them first ;)

Yeowww! canvas cat toys can take a LOT of punishment too, so are wonderful for over-exuberant youngsters too. Some Kong ones are great too, as are many other brands whose names escape me right now :rolleyes: If you're buying in store, look at the fabric and the stitching, to get an idea of how tough it feels. If you're buying online, look at the materials listed, and at reviews, to get an idea of what will work best. My guys love silvervine sticks too - they look like wood sticks, but the silvervine plants has similar qualities to catnip.

I hope you can find the ideal toy selection for your boy soon :crossfingers::lovecat:
 
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LTS3

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Petstages makes dental chew toys for cats. They really don't do anything for dental health IMO but are good for just chewing on.

Kitty Kong is a great rubbery toy that can be chewed on Kitty KONG - KONG You can put treats inside if you like. Kong makes a squeezable treat paste to go inside but you can use whatever treat your cat likes.Years ago I had the old version of the Kitty Kong with the yellow whiskers and catnip insert. My cat seemed to like chewing on the toy more than playing with it. The dog Kong toys might be too hard for a cat to chew on but you could give a small one a try.
 
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