Toy Recommendations Safe To Leave Out For Kittens?

[tecetyeintyale]

Hi everyone! I have two kittens who are almost 6 months old. I have a lot of toys they love playing with when I'm home to play with or supervise them (they go nuts for da bird!), but I'm cautious (maybe overly so) about leaving out anything with string or small plastic parts when I'm gone; I don't want them to end up swallowing anything they shouldn't! So I'm curious if anyone here has recommendations of toys that their cats/kittens like that would be safe to leave out while I'm gone. I've currently got:

1) A small crinkly tunnel, which they like ok but have never seemed all that excited about (oops, Amazon link didn't seem to work here)
2) A circular scratcher/ball track, which one loved at first and one liked ok, but now neither of them seem to play with it too often (Amazon link didn't work here either, sorry!)
3) A three-level ball track, which they went absolutely nuts over and loved when I first got it, but now they seem tired of it and only play with it occasionally (Petstages Tower of Tracks Cat Toy, 10-inch)

They also have a cat tree that they love, but they either sleep on it or watch birds out the window, not really actively play with/on it. And they do play together a lot, too, but sometimes one wants to sleep and one wants to play, so I want to give them some new options!

I'm thinking if I can find some more good toys that are safe to leave out all day for them, I can start keeping some in a closet and rotating the ones I have out on a daily/weekly basis, to keep things more fresh and interesting for them while I'm at work. Thanks for any suggestions you can give me!

 

[amethyst]

I leave out balls, some with bells, some solid plastic, and some foam rubber. Also small stuffed toys (mice and other shapes) with stuffing and catnip inside, and real (rabbit) fur mice. My guys went nuts for the kickeroos when I first got them (or when they are fresh out of the wash or sprayed with catnip). A couple of my cats like those puzzle boxes (something like this), basically a wood box with holes in it and I put treats and small stuffed toys inside for them to pull out. Mine just has the holes on the sides so it's a bit more challenging.

I know I linked to the Canadian amazon, but just wanted to give you an idea of what I was referring to.

 

[Kieka]

My cats are all adults now. We have a basket with their toys and they grab them whenever they want. I check the toys whenever I put them back (at least once a week) for anything wearing, loose or damaged. Those toys get tossed and replaced. But none of my guys try to eat their toys or eat random things around the house so it isn't a concern. Wand toys stay in an tall upright tube so they can play with the ends that hang outbut they can't get tangled around them. We bring out wands toys to play and back in the tube they go when done.

When they were younger I would only leave out toys without strings or things that could fall off. At that point toys got a daily check and new toys got a thorough tug and picking at by me to make sure things couldn't come off (companies that glue on googgly eyes are evil in my opinion). The track toys are probably safe to leave out as they can't really come apart or piece fall off. Toys that are big enough to not get caught in their mouth and with no parts that can come off are also fine to leave out (papers balls, some mice, kickaroos, etc). Anything on a string or wand should stay supervised so it doesn't get tangeled around them.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Usually by about eight months of age, kittens have gotten all their adult teeth in. Your kittens are still young enough that some adult teeth might still be growing in. Kittens that are still teething chew on an awful lot of things, including toys. They can chew off and swallow toy mouse tails, crunch open those open-caged ball toys (the ones with bells in them) & swallow the plastic, chew and suckle and swallow the hair off of the furry mouse toys... this is something to consider when leaving such toys out all day for young cats/kittens. So, I'd avoid toys like that.

 

[neely]

This is a cute toy for treats and play called the "catit senses food tree." It is available on Amazon as well as some of the pet store chains. Here's a link to the toy:
http://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/catit-senses-20-food-tree-cat-toy

 

[abyeb]

Anything that is too big to fit in their mouth and doesn't have any strings attached that they could chew off and swallow should be fine. My Charlie loves catnip mice (and has even since he was a kitten!), but if you use these, I reccommend cutting the tail off as well as removing the eyes (if the catnip mice you purchase are the variety that has beads or buttons as eyes). Congratulations on your new kittens!

 

[MoochNNoodles]

It might help to rotate their toys so they seem "new" again. I still have to cut the tails off mice here or they get eaten.

Mylar balls were a big hit when these 2 were younger (and sometimes they still are). I also had some larger ring toys. Milk rings were the favorite; but the rings off mayo jars and things like that are larger and fun too.

 

[kittens mom]

Food puzzle toys are good
My going on 8 month olds are still confined to their large cage when we're gone for more than a couple of hours. We try and time being gone with nap times. So wearing them out a bit before leaving is good as is a good feeding. I have no shame. We routinely inspect all toys to make sure they are ' crib safe'. little embellishments are often pulled off. It's a good idea to inspect toys on a regular basis. We rotate toys. Boxes are a favorite. Bird feeders in cat safe windows can provide hours of cat TV.
Treat puzzles come in all sizes from the treat trees to balls with hole sizes you can adjust.

 

[orange&white]

Ping pong balls...especially on hard-surfaced floors so they "rattle". $1.50 per half-dozen...buy lots of them, or be prepared to gather them from under chests, dressers, beds, chairs, etc. all the time. I keep meaning to cut some circles into a cardboard box and drop several balls in for the kitten to fish out.

 

[kittens mom]

Ping pong balls...especially on hard-surfaced floors so they "rattle". $1.50 per half-dozen...buy lots of them, or be prepared to gather them from under chests, dressers, beds, chairs, etc. all the time. I keep meaning to cut some circles into a cardboard box and drop several balls in for the kitten to fish out.

Oh my yes. Ping pong balls in the bath tub..

 

[orange&white]

Ah ha! ...in the bath tub!!!

Thanks for that!

 

[shadowplay]

Mine really like the fabric mice (with or without catnip), balls with a jingle bell inside and plastic bottle caps (large enough that they can't try to swallow them).

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Oh my yes. Ping pong balls in the bath tub..

Superballs too.

 

[orange&white]

Well the "in the bathtub" was a flop for my kitten. Seems she is afraid of the tub, even with 3 neon green ping pongs rolling around. But I was inspired enough to scrub and dry the bathtub...it was overdue. We'll try it again. I had more fun than she did rolling balls around a clean tub.

 

[kittens mom]

Well the "in the bathtub" was a flop for my kitten. Seems she is afraid of the tub, even with 3 neon green ping pongs rolling around. But I was inspired enough to scrub and dry the bathtub...it was overdue. We'll try it again. I had more fun than she did rolling balls around a clean tub.

You can try laundry baskets.

 

[orange&white]

You can try laundry baskets.

Oh, now you're going to make me catch up on my laundry, too???

 

[Ardina]

Try putting the ball track halfway under a rug. The ball running away and "hiding" under the rug drives cats crazy.

 

[SeventhHeaven]

Balls in the bath as suggested they Love. All mine love to play friskies.ca catching fish for starters then other videos catching the red dot, its hiliarious if you can spare a tablet they love pc games.
Have yet to pick up runs on battery only check out ..... Cats Meow

 

[tecetyeintyale]

Thanks so much for the suggestions, everyone! Sorry for the delayed reply -- Nita was spayed on Friday so I've had my hands full making sure the adorable little scamp doesn't overdo the playing during recovery! Her brother Kit is not helping in that regard. But she's doing very well. I will definitely look into some of these for when she's a little more healed up (or maybe to distract Kit while she's still recovering).

I didn't even think of ping pong balls! Those will be great. They love chasing little things that slide/roll around my apartment (hard floors) AND they love playing in the bath tub, so those are sure to be a hit. They also love boxes (of course) so I think one of those puzzle treat boxes will be good too, and in fact I may try making one out of a spare cardboard box this week rather than buying. They also love little mice toys but I've been hesitant to leave those out while I'm gone because of the tails -- didn't occur to me to cut the tails off! I'll do that so there's no string to swallow.

Thanks again everyone! I'll still keep an eye on the thread in case anyone has any other suggestions, too.