Favorite Interactive Toys For Naughty Cats

[hilgenep]

Hi all!

I was hoping to get some personal opionions on your favorite interactive toys. My Finn is a very active and lately a very naughty teenager. He lots lots of toys, trees, scratchers, playtime, etc. but is still constantly getting into trouble. This morning I woke up to him trying to bite the necklace off my neck and decided he needed a new hobby.

What are your favorite toys to keep a cat busy? Finn loves to run and chase but also loves his food, if that helps.

 

[susanm9006]

I use a number of treat type toys for my Willow to keep her active. A few favorites of the hunt/catch/kill variety. I use dried chicken or fish treats

1. Cut circles into a plastic water bottle just larger than treat size. Fill it with treats, cap it and let the cat roll it around to shake out treats.

2. Roll treats in a small piece of white tissue paper and twist the ends shut like a tootsie roll. Toss them randomly in her living space. What my cat loves about these is tearing the paper off before she gets to the treat.

3. Put treats under small plastic pill cups through the room. Kitty needs to sniff them out and tip the cup to get the treat.

There are some great interactive treat toys you can purchase as well. Other great toys that get your cat running and chasing are cat springs, golf balls, crinkle balls and sparkle balls.

 

[mokapi]

I will be keeping a close eye on this thread to get some ideas for my youngest! He decided this morning that it's his job to chew on every single plugged in cord in the house, despite never caring about them before.

I'm considering getting a crinkle tube, but desperately need toys that he can play with by himself, because I can't stay home from work to keep him out of trouble.

 

[duncanmac]

I use a Kong treat dispensing toy to keep them busy for a while.

I am about to take a box or a bucket with a lid and cut some holes in it so the boys can reach in and try to grab out some toys.

What we found works best for energetic cats is to tire them out and what works best for us is stairs. One of our boys will play fetch so his toy gets tossed up and down stairs. The other one will chase a wand toy up and down the stairs or we toss a toy up to the top step and eventually it gets knocked back down the stairs so we don't have to keep walking across the room to collect toys. Both boys are tired and satisfied after 15 or 20 minutes and will sleep through the night.

 

[ginjaninja]

Cut a little "door" and some "windows" in a big cardboard box; one of my cats will run inside to hide while the other bats at him from outside the box. They love the crinkle tube, and those round scratchers with the ball around the outside. I also have a perch that's suction-cupped to a window; I put a bird feeder outside so now they will sit and bird watch for hours.

 

[ileen]

Wow I use boxes all the time and he jumps into them but never thought to cut a door or window into it. Thanks.

 

[susanm9006]

Forgot to mention outdoors! Much of my cat's days and evenings are spent monitoring front and back yard and porch activities of the various visiting critters. We have several birdbaths, a ground waterer for squirrels, rabbits and the occasional opossum, plus bird feeders and ground squirrel/critter feeders. When windows are open there are also screen bugs and flies to try to catch. There are a half dozen cat beds and perches spread throughout the house so that Willow can lounge or snooze while keeping an eye on her outdoor friends.

 

[LTS3]

Another cat But if that is not an option, homemade toys like the ones suggsted above are great.

 

[hilgenep]

I will be keeping a close eye on this thread to get some ideas for my youngest! He decided this morning that it's his job to chew on every single plugged in cord in the house, despite never caring about them before.

I'm considering getting a crinkle tube, but desperately need toys that he can play with by himself, because I can't stay home from work to keep him out of trouble.

I'm in the same boat. It's very easy to get Finn to engage and play with me, but he can be a total basket case when I'm not home all day.

I would love to get Finn a playmate to wear him out but he really prefers human company. He doesn't mind cats and dogs but is pretty much indifferent so I don't know how much he would play.

Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm loving the idea of homemade toys since and activities.

Another thought I had was taking him on walk. Finn came to me harness and leash trained and I think that could be great exercise. However, he has started a nasty habit of door dashing and I'm afraid letting him have outdoor time will make it worse?

Anyone have experience with door dashers and how leashed outside time might help or hurt?

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

I will be keeping a close eye on this thread to get some ideas for my youngest! He decided this morning that it's his job to chew on every single plugged in cord in the house, despite never caring about them before.

mokapi -

"crittercord" - Google Search

.

 

[danteshuman]

For your chew happy kitten I assume? Petstages ORKAkat Wiggle Worm Cat Toy Petstages Dental Health Chews Cat Toy, Color Varies

 

[danteshuman]

For the hyper cat (like my grey punk) his #1 is "hunting" birds in the back yard. Here are some of his favorites though:
Petlinks Cutie Mouse Long Legged Rinkle Cat Toy
SmartyKat Frisky Flyer Feather Wand Cat Toy, 11-inch (or any feather wand toy)
These little feather missiles work great. Especially if you can get someone on the other side of the room to toss it back to your side of the room (since my cat only fetches hair rubber bands.)
Petlinks Feather Flips Feathered Ball Cat Toy
Ethical Pet Laser Exerciser Original 2 in 1 Dog & Cat Toy
Plus mini tennis balls, full sized tennis balls my other cat likes to grip and scratch with his back paws and those little jingly tubes with feathers on either end.

 

[mokapi]

Ooooh, excellent additions!!

Keegan has officially decided it's chew time. Today I've got him chewing on the corners of cabinets and countertops, and the tassels of ears of corn. Why, son. Why.

 

[susanm9006]

Yes. If Finn has a tendency to head to the door and then gets a taste of outside, he will likely become one of those cats that makes a run for it every chance they get. I wouldn't take that risk.

 

[sargon]

Forgot to mention outdoors! Much of my cat's days and evenings are spent monitoring front and back yard and porch activities of the various visiting critters. We have several birdbaths, a ground waterer for squirrels, rabbits and the occasional opossum, plus bird feeders and ground squirrel/critter feeders. When windows are open there are also screen bugs and flies to try to catch. There are a half dozen cat beds and perches spread throughout the house so that Willow can lounge or snooze while keeping an eye on her outdoor friends.

I have a window cat hammock that lets Freya look at the birds ( and squirrels) outside a large window that has some bird feeders hung outside it. She really loves watching the squirrels, doves, and the finches (when they sing anyhow)

For toys, she likes interactive wand toys, especially the mouse by the people who make the "da bird" (soemtiems she also LOVES the cat charmer wand toy, as well...), playing fetch with kitty boinks, and foam and plastic golf balls (she'll play catch rollign the ball back and forth between herself and me and my housemate with them.)

For chew toys, she actually prefers some dog toys to cat toys (she's non responsive to catnip, so that might be part of it.
She likes the loofa chew toys, both the 6 inch and the 18 inch. She also likes the Ethical pets crinkles line ( the 14" versions only. I tried a longer one and she barely uses it.) a LOT, though more as a bite and cuddle toy than a wild chew toy like the loofah dog toys.