Water Safe Toys For A Cat That Are Like Pipe Cleaners?

[EveAndHerThieves]

I couldn't figure out where to put this, if I'm in the wrong area please let me know!

Rue has two toys she adores - pipe cleaners, and the pom poms you buy from the store that have shiny paper sticking out. She prefers them over cat mice and any other toy I give her. I'm cool with this, and she loves tossing them.

The problem is she also likes to take them with her to eat/drink. Her food is on one side of the room, her water on the other side (So she'll clean her lips as she walks to her water and not drop crumbs into the water.) She likes to carry it to her food dish, drop it in, eat, pick it back up, carry it to her water dish, drop it in, and then carry it back to her food dish. Or she'll leave it in the water dish. It depends on how full the water dish is and how easily she can get it out.

I already have a storage lid under the water dish to keep the water from soaking my carpet. Her dish is a wide bottom dish because she likes trying to paw under the bowl to get her toys (No idea how this works out, but okay.)

I'm fine with her taking her toys for a walk to the water dish. I'm getting good at pulling them out several times a day. What I'm NOT okay with is that the pipe cleaners are metal. Rust. I don't want her hurting herself with her toys.

She loves pipe cleaners so much I don't want to completely remove them from her play time - it also keeps her from trying to eat the pom poms. But I can't have rust in the water. I do change it out daily, but I can't tell if there's actual rust on the pipe cleaner.

Does anyone know of cat toys that are like pipe cleaners, but safe for her to put in water? She likes that they're furry. I'm not exactly sure what to get her. I'm hoping some other smart cat owners have found ideas for pet safe toys.


There's no way I could convince her to not put things in the water. It's very logical to her and she loves it. I don't mind the wet toys and have a drying rack for them to keep down germs. She takes them off when she thinks they're dry enough. I don't want to punish her for something she's done since she was a kitten.

 

[Totsy]

One of my cats is obsessed with nylon zip ties. Mine also love my mother's plastic hair curlers and my neighbor's cat is obsessed with her Flexi Rods (kind of a miniature pool noodle thing). There are a gazillion soft and hard rollers if you want to go down that rabbit hole, all shapes and sizes.

I'd love to see a video of your cat! That sounds adorable.

 

[susanm9006]

Try wide cat spring toys made by Ethical pets. Durable, cats just love them and made of plastic so they will sit in the water bowl for days and be just fine - I pick one out two or three times a week.

 

[EveAndHerThieves]

Try wide cat spring toys made by Ethical pets.

Those look perfect! I'll have to buy some and see if she likes them. My cats are all fairly wild so I don't bother buying many toys. Knowing that someone else has cats who put things in water is nice as well. I'm seriously wondering if Rue is all there in the head.

Mine also love my mother's plastic hair curlers and my neighbor's cat is obsessed with her Flexi Rods

Ohhh, that reminds me of hair bands for ponytails women use. I keep forgetting about those. Zip ties she would also probably love. I have long hair, but I haven't put it up in... five? six? years because I'm more of a tomboy. I forget what's in the hair section.

 

[Totsy]

Oh, doh, cat springs! The never-fail toy.

 

[susanm9006]

One other toy that holds up well to being soaked is Mylar crinkle balls. Willow really likes these although she doesn’t dunk them as much as her springs

 

[DreamerRose]

Yes, go for the plastic-coated springs. I ordered some from Chewy on a whim, and Mingo loves them. They are almost the only toys he will play with.