Toy safety

hollyangel

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Hi. I wasn't sure where to post this. At one point is it time to throw away cloth catnip toys? I've had it about two years. It's not falling apart but I'm concerned about bacteria on it.
 

amethyst

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I keep them till they fall apart. I just toss them in the washer inside a zippered washing bag when they get dirty. If they don't survive then they get tossed but most come out clean and good as new.
 

LTS3

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I wouldn't wash soft catnip toys. The catnip will get soggy and lose its scent. Soft non-catnip toys are ok to wash.

I don't think there is any rule on when to toss soft toys. If you're concerned about bacteria, toss toys as often as you like. I wouldn't donate the toys. Your cat's scent is all over the toy and another cat may view that as an intruder in the home.
 

amethyst

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I wouldn't wash soft catnip toys. The catnip will get soggy and lose its scent. Soft non-catnip toys are ok to wash.
I've actually never had an issue of the catnip losing it's scent, based on my cats reactions it seems to kind of refresh the catnip at least for the first couple washes. :dunno: Maybe it depends on the quality of the catnip to begin with. If it does seem to lose it's scent you can always buy catnip spray to spray the toys, or even cut them open and get some fresh catnip to put in. I guess it depends on how attached to the toy the cat is though, if they will happily take any toy you probably don't need to go through all that trouble.
 

IndyJones

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I just keep toys until they get ripped apart. With my guys this usually isn't that long. Unless a toy is durable it usually lasts a week or so. Both my guys do the bunny kick and the killing bite so it's not long before a toy is shredded to bits.
 

maggie101

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One of my wand toys lasted a year. I kept smelling it and it was no different
 
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