Toy Safety?

I was just at the petstore getting more toys for my kittens, and I have a few questions about which toys are safe. The first question is feathers. Is it okay for them to have toys like catnip mice that have feathers on them? I've read books that say to always take the feathers off, but I think they'd encourage my chubby girl Lily to play more.

What about hanging toys? You know, the ones that hang from doorknobs or from the top of the door. Is this something I could leave out while I'm not at home?

Do you have any other tips on making sure the toys I give them are safe? What problems have you had? I'm not used to all this variety. My parent's cat would only play with Kitty Hoots catnip toys, which are plain and sturdy. My kittens like bells, feathers, glitter, etc.

I generally take feathers off toys that are left out for Gizmo all the time. Feathers are okay on 'string toys' since the toys are put back in the closet when we are done playing.

You can read the post on 'toys left out for the cat when I am away' for some good safe toy suggestions for the cat.

I take the 'eyes' off the furry mice, since they are sometimes made of pins; and Gizzy's toys are generally homemade since they are better made. She pulled the commercial 'furry bug' toy apart in six seconds, but I managed to make a toy last for a few months by sewing mink tails to a leather shoelace. She tumbles about and 'kills' her toy daily.

Toilet paper rolls, paper balls, Pingpong balls, spools, and cardboard boxes are all safe for your cat.

My cats have many toys but thier fav is the mice(i cut the tail off and leave a stub, and also take the ears if they are loose) I get them by the box of 60 on ebay for 11 or so. Also popular is ping pong balls and solid plastic "milk top" toys I bought at the dollar store for 100 of them...SOLID as I have stepped on them with shoes on and they are intact lol. I don't buy toys with feathers as mine are so destructive the toys that go on door are great if you have a couple of cats and you supervise them(my cat pulled it down and tried to eat the 4 ft bungee string) Now I don't bother with those toys cause it won't last 5 minutes. Also another great toy that lasts is the catnip bags sold in almost all pet stores-get the larger of the 2 sizes as they tend to hold up EXTREMELY well for the 2 bucks. RJ

Thanks! I think I'll keep the feather-tailed mice for supervised play. They really like those feather tails. They already have most of the common toys like paper bags, hard balls, and such. Lily is just one of those cats that looses interest in most toys relatively quickly and I don't see a point in switching one toy out for another that looks almost exactly the same. She's a fussy girl.

I also remove feather/tails/etc. from my girls toys. They love them just the same. Things like hanging toys or with bells and things attached I save for when I'm home.