Milk jug rings: what's the appeal??

[kazanlak]

What is it about the plastic rings off of milk jugs that cats find so intriguing?
Mine love them ( my male cat often becomes aggressive and begins growling when he gets ahold of one), and i hear that they are a fairly common favorite toy among other cats too.
There are many other somewhat similar items i've given my cats that fail to elicit any real interest, but the actual milk jug rings get them every time. could there be some kind of milk scent on the rings that gets their attention? or is it something about the shape?

 

[asecretk]

I have no clue but several of my cats like them and I have one that loves them. She will run from any room in the house at the sound of a new milk ring hitting the kitchen floor.

I have another that likes the 2-liter plastic caps. I save some in a basket and she drags them out and bats them all other the place and carries them around in her mouth. Now if I could only teach her to put them back when she is done

I suspect that are fridge and store rest on a two inch layer made up of nothing but milk rings

 

[rushrulz]

As I don't drink milk, I don't know how they feel about milk jug rings. But they do adore silicone bracelets. I order them from Oriental Trading Company, as it's much cheaper that way, and they adore them.

 

[strange_wings]

The rings roll, can easily fit in a cat's mouth or on a paw, and can be tossed around.
Sho used to steal DH's elastic hair bands too.

 

[robertm]

One of my cats goes ab-so-lute-ly nuts over them. It's pretty much the only toy that she will play with on her own; all other toys must be interactive with her human slaves. She actually seems to prefer the ring from the gallon sized jug of water, so for her at least any milk scent on the milk jug ring has no impact.

 

[karebearcasey]

my cats love them and twist ties!

 

[strange_wings]

Originally Posted by karebearcasey

my cats love them and twist ties!

Twist ties are a bad idea. The wire can easily poke out and cut the mouth, worse if swallowed. I'm a little paranoid about what my cats play with through. Tomas is a bit slow and will try to swallow stuff.

 

[iluvdevons]

There is nothing like plastic rings for action.

I have started buying Petmate Looney Loops

I get them at our local petco store for less than $3.00 and I'll tell you, they are an absolute hit in our house

 

[butzie]

I love those big, long, hairy caterpillars that my pet seems to call premium pipe cleaners. I I bat them into the air and then jump up after them. I chase them all over the house and keep myself really amused with them.

 

[tabbytail]

My cats bat and chase these things all over the floor! More fun than a real toy!

 

[karmasmom]

Karma LOVES them. We have started collecting them. She has a few hundred now. Its easy for me since I work in a grocery store. I have spread the word that she loves gallon jug rings. Everytime someone has to spoil something with a ring, milk, water, juice they save them for me in a box I set up and I collect them at the end of the week. I usually come home with 10-20 all different colors. We even save the ones that don't have the pull tab thing. We just cut it so it is no longer a solid ring and won't get stuck around her mouth. They all have different hardness and react differently to play so she gets variety.

 

[efrost6]

Mike jug rings are awesome! Have you tried playing with them yourself? I'm not joking. Our kittie loves it. So I was wondering why it's so fascinating to him. I started messing around with it in front of him, and wth the lack of digits, you can actually do a lot with it (e.g. biting, pop it up with your hands, swipe it left and right). Very fun toy for the cat. Ours like it more than all the other "money" toys that we bought him. The sad thing is that due to size, it gets lost all the time. And our gallon size milks do not come with it anymore. Have to buy the smaller containers to get one.

 

[saya]

petmate also makes some other toys that are very similar to the milk jug rings, just a little bigger and shaped slightly different so they slide on the floor a little easier.

kitties love them.

 

[siddymeowmy]

these are the only thing that i can consistantly get ALL THREE cats to play with. they each go frickin' nuts for them. not only do they all come running at the sound of one hitting the floor, but they freak out when we come in from trader joe's cuz they recognize that the rings come from the milk and cider jugs, which we always carry in first. the second we set the jugs down, they're all over them. also, the "cat's bathroom" is adjacent to the kitchen, so the nice linoleum tiling goes uninterupted from one right into the other. they can bat the thing back and forth all day without ever encountering a carpet to slow them down, if they choose. however, we suspect that they don't care about the carpet, as we find them under every table, chair, bookshelf, desk, etc in the house, as well as under and IN our bed, in the cubbies of bookshelves, and in OUR bathroom and bathroom closet, which are on the complete opposite side of the house. i have seen, many times, zoe carrying one- sometimes two- around the house in her mouth. she and sid will pick them up in their mouths, walk over to where they want to play, drop it and attack it. we also collect and save all our rings for them, from the milk , the apple cider, and the half-gallon things of tea we grab at wawa sometimes. they don't care what color it is, how flexible it is, how much noise it makes as it skitters across the kitchen floor, what beverage it came off of, or how old and dead it is lol

(zoe has also been known to attack the recycling, trying to get at the cap-end of the discarded milk jugs which still have the caps on them.... i am starting to think she not only has made the connection between the jugs and the rings, but recognizes that the caps are part of the whole scheme, too!!! she could care less about soda bottle caps, too, no matter how many times i toss them to her.)