What is your all time favorite kitty product?

Hey -
I love to research, look for, read about, try, and ultimately buy kitty items... My house is a kitty playground . Well, times are rough right now, and costs with toys, etc are being cut down soooo..... I want to make sure I only buy things that are most likely to be a hit.
With that stated, aside from food, what is your kitty #1 item? If you could recommend one item, what would it be?

Mine is a window sill (my cat tree hasn't arrived yet) - It is the favorite spot in the house, any time!

The Cat Dancer of course.
Second to that, anything that crinkles, mats and tunnels etc.

My cats all have different favorites. Stimpy likes our La-Z-Boy sofa we bought a few years ago and the Turbo Scratcher & Crinkle Ball mini. Lola has a few favorites: crinkle tunnel, cubes, mousies, and superballs. Nabu likes those heat reflective pads. We have 2 and he sleeps on them most of the time.

My cats all love the da'bird. But aside from that obvious choice I would recommend a cat scratcher that has carpet and sisal and a toy dangling from it. It is in the shape of a wave. They love to sleep on it, rest on it, play under it and above it, scratch on it. Turn it over, push it around. its a great piece to have! You can get it at target or petsmart. I've seen it at both.

Da' Bird for sure. Cats go nuts for it.

Da Bird and small balls (ping pong type and foam) get the most usage in our house. I buy refills for Da Bird at least 3 at a time

Hartz Gone Fishin' cat toy. It's an orange or blue goldfish attached to a string and fishing pole that screws together. Best thing for excercising the kitten crazies outta Aya. Midori likes it too. And best of all when they destroy the fish its only $5 to replace the thing.

The Katimanjaro cat tree is a favorite around here.
http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c207/apriltafte/Cats/?action=view&current=may23011.jpg

I also love the Drinkwell fountain. Ohki's drinking habits have improved greatly since I got it.
http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c207/apriltafte/Cats/Ryoohki/?action=view&current=feb23006.jpg

And Plush cat cubes. I keep a cube on my desk, and Vivi is almost always in it, sometimes Ohki joins her.
http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c207/apriltafte/Cats/?action=view&current=mar21001.jpg

Cat condos here. None in particular, but mine tend to prefer the ones that don't have built in cubby holes. They like to be high up and in the open.

Favorite toys are either a lazer pointer or Da Bird.

Of Drinkwell, Freshflow and Catit fountains, mine like the Catit the best. It has really gotten my cats to drink more water.

If I could only choose two things ..a package of great quality catnip buds (my guys are catnip freaks), a package of Wildside Salmon treats - whole or crumbled into a powder to use as an appetite stimulant, it is a favorite treat here.

I have cat allergies and live in a warm area of the country....
off the top of my head I would say that The Furminator is my all time favorite kitty product.
At last, a way to keep shedding under control.

The best investment I ever made---6'2" cat tree.

best investment - cat trees
second best - drinkwell platinum fountain

I have a lot of toys for my babies, but as older cats, I find they like interactive stuff the best, and it doesn't have to be fancy - I play hocket with the plastic tops of milk containers with them. But, I do have da Bird and a fishing stick and they love them. But, if I could only get one thing, I'd safe up for a nice tall safe cat tree.

My absolute favorite kitty thing is Cat Attract litter - lets me provide a home for Dante without both of us having litter box issues!

Da Bird, as far as toys go.

We have the Go Fishing wand toy - never bought replacement fish for it. We just tie the tails of little furry mice onto (our kitties only like the kind that make a rattley noise) the end of the string. They love this even more!

Other than da bird, we "make" most of our wand toys these days. The handles of toys that got destroyed work great. We used to just buy dowel rods at Home Depot, and that stuff used for laniard or leather shoelaces, and use duct tape to tape whatever string-type thing to the handle..... and then just tie stuff on the end. Milk rings, the furry mice, a wad of paper, stringy packing material..... so long as it's moving, and it "feels nice" when they catch it - or it makes a good noise - our kitties love it.

But the best investment we made in our kitties (apart from their health! ) are the cat trees. We were lucky in the sense that a non-chain pet store was going out of business. They had expensive cat trees on sale at FABULOUS prices (or we would not have been able to afford them). We bought two pieces when we were still in the RV. We moved into a house before the store was closed, and we went back and bought a whole series of the same style in every shape they had - then ended up going back to get whatever was left. They have turned out to be SUCH high quality - the original piece still looks fabulous with almost no wear and tear, and it has been - almost six years now?

The point of that whole ramble was.... if you ever decide to invest in cat furniture, save up the extra money to buy high quality. There are condos out there that look so much fun, but they screw together, cost $200 - $500 and fall apart in 2 years (we purchased one of those too).

The other thing I'd mention about trees, if it's something you ever want to consider, is put two or three of them next to each other, in front of a window. Our cats get into FABULOUS games of chase and LOVE being able to use all of the different levels and heights - jump from top to window sill, bounce over to the far tree - it is truly like a cat jungle gym or something.

Laurie

Mine wouldn't be without their floor-ceiling cat trees, they love to sleep on them, play on them, race up and down.

A water fountain! If only I can find one that doesn't keep breaking (I've gone through 2 in the past year and a half, and I'm really good about making sure that there is always water in it and cleaning it once a week).

It helps me feel less guilty about feeding the cats dry food (I feed half dry, half wet), and it is a way for Henry to get water without splashing everything out of the bowl.

Da Bird is a close second.