Toys 

Like humans, kids and adults alike, cats need toys to have fun with them in their daily lives, whether they are for exercise, or just for fun. What kind of toys cats would find lovely and stay with without feeling tired? The basic rules are simple: toys that they can play with us when we are around, and/or toys that they can play when they are alone. Let us look at them one by one.

Da Bird – Da Bird appears to be one of the most popular toys for cats. As mentioned in “The Conditions and Regularity of Cat Physical Exercise“, birds are one of the things cats would love to catch. Da Bird is a rod with a feather and imitates the shape and action of a bird. When playing with the cats, we simply hold the rod with our hands and let the feather twirl in the air. It will look as if a bird is flying, and the cats will be excited trying to catch it. The funny thing is that the cats will try to seek it out once we put Da Bird away after play.

As popular as it is, Da Bird is modified in a way such that the feather can be refilled once a feather is worn out after repeated play. This toy can be played between cats lover and the cats, or with cats alone scratching the feather.

Toy Mice – Cats and mice seem to be perfect match for a prey-predator relationship. Having some toy mice in the house will never get cats bored. The cats would enjoy battling them around, “killing” them, and then losing them under a sofa, a table, or somewhere they cannot reach and stare at.

Some caution must be taken, however, for the toy mice. As they are not real mice, and thus the parts are not edible. However, the design and soft material that they are made of resemble real mice quite much. Therefore, it would be safe to remove any parts that can be easily pulled off or swallowed, such as glued eyes, ears, and tails. The cats would not care about the different between the fake and the real, as far as it looks like a mouse.

Toy Mice come with leather or colourful fabric models. Both would be lasting and popular and are ideal for cats, especially if they come with catnip.

Panic Mouse – Unlike Toy Mice, Panic Mouse is a cartoonized mono-chrome mouse-like device that is made of hard material. A more exact description of this toy is perhaps a mixture of Da Bird and Toy Mice, and more, The mouse shape is only a gimmick to attract cats’ attention. The fact is that it is a motorized stand with an extended wand hanging a dark-coloured fur ball from the “tail” of the mouse, like Da Bird.

Once attached to the device, the motor can be turned on with variable speed for the hanging fur ball to move. The purpose is simple, to lure the cats to follow them and catch the ball. In other words, it is an interactive toy for cats to have the chance to exercise.

Panic Mouse comes with different variations, such as Panic Mouse 360, a bigger circular stand with a cartoonized cat face design printed on the surface. The extended wand is attached at the centre of the stand, and can rotate in 360 degrees to attract cats toward it. Other variations include Purr-Pet-ual Motion, a mimic of mouse’ cheese, and Kitty-go-Krazy, both are similar as Panic Mouse 360 in principle.

Whatever the variations, the wand is detachable and held in our hands to play with the cats. Therefore, it is another great choice for both human-cat interactive play and cat-alone entertainment.

Mylar Balls – Remember cats love chasing after some tiny little things? The small shiny and crinkly Mylar Balls would be good companions for cats to love and play for hours. Sometimes the cats may even invent some game out of it and would like us to join them. Like other small toys, they may disappear very quickly in the corners or under the furniture, so it would be a good idea to buy enough in store at home ready for them to play.

Cat Condos and Scratching Posts – As mentioned in various articles (especially “Should or should not declaw your cat ? Alternatives to declawing“), cat furniture and scratching posts are very useful toys for cats not only to play, but also for them to scratch safely without damaging other household furniture, and to rest when they need to. This furniture actually provides enough places for cat to play, climb, lounge and sleep.

The taller cat furniture with branches and levels are made with materials strong enough to support a few cats playing, moving and lying on it with comfort. Some furniture also allow accessories, such as exercise wheels for cats, so as to allow cats for more variety of exercises.