fun or dangerous toy?

kabukidad

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 31, 2009
Messages
80
Purraise
14
Location
wisconsin
I am a complete noob to cats, I have 5 dogs, Anyway, I know cats and kittens like things that make sounds, Kabuki our kitten loves to jump around and play with balls and I was reading that a box of crinkled paper is a fun toy. Do you think a box of syrofoam peanuts would be safe, I don't think Kabuki would try to eat it

thanks
Kabuki's dad
 

pookie-poo

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 14, 2007
Messages
3,911
Purraise
6
Location
Middle-Of-No-Where Michigan
I think styrofoam peanuts and kittens is a recipe for disaster. Even though you don't think she'd eat them, she probably would. They are plastic, and cannot be digested. I wouldn't even try it. There are SO many cat oriented, safe toys out there, why take the chance?
 

lynneny

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
May 14, 2009
Messages
211
Purraise
0
Location
Rockland County, NY
I wouldn't do them either, though thankfully none of our 5 cats ever showed an interest if a styrofoam noodle fell on the floor.

They DO love crumpled up paper balls - go figure, with a house full of toy mice, etc. My husband had to move our refrigerator yesterday to clean out the back and guess how many of those toy mice he found underneath???


15!!! I've been wondering where all of them disappeared to!


If we ever sell the house, the next owners will find these toy mice in places they never would have expected!
 

carolpetunia

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Oct 25, 2005
Messages
9,669
Purraise
17
Location
Plano, Texas
Good call! I've heard of children being suffocated when a piece of styrofoam gets inhaled and sticks to the back of the throat... I'm sure it could happen to a cat too.
 

strange_wings

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
13,498
Purraise
39
It would only be ok if restricted to a few moments of supervised play - maybe only long enough to get a cute picture. Other than health risks, you'd be in for a huge mess because packing peanuts will get everywhere.

Paper balls are fine and if you can find a pet store that sells them - crinkle and mylar balls are big hits for some kitties. I've be a bit concerned about shredded or similar paper, though. When it's in smaller pieces it will stick to a cat and they could end up eating some of it. A safe medium would probably be a box of paper balls.
 

going nova

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 31, 2008
Messages
1,951
Purraise
12
Originally Posted by strange_wings

It would only be ok if restricted to a few moments of supervised play - maybe only long enough to get a cute picture. Other than health risks, you'd be in for a huge mess because packing peanuts will get everywhere.

Paper balls are fine and if you can find a pet store that sells them - crinkle and mylar balls are big hits for some kitties. I've be a bit concerned about shredded or similar paper, though. When it's in smaller pieces it will stick to a cat and they could end up eating some of it. A safe medium would probably be a box of paper balls.
But remember to keep an eye on the toys as they wear. Sometimes they'll start coming apart. Nova had a large mylar bal, and eventually pieces started cracking off. I don't know if it became brittle, or if it was because she gnawed on the ball so much. Things to look for on toy mice- eyes and noses coming off.
 

cloud_shade

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 19, 2004
Messages
2,807
Purraise
17
Location
Oregon
I wouldn't use the styrofoam, but they have peanuts made from cornstarch that dissolve. Those would be safer, since if the kitten swallowed it, you could give water to help it dissolve. I'd stick with crinkled paper or even aluminum foil though, since they are less likely to be eaten.
 

bookworm

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jun 16, 2009
Messages
484
Purraise
3
Location
southern u.s.
Originally Posted by LynneNY

They DO love crumpled up paper balls - go figure, with a house full of toy mice, etc. My husband had to move our refrigerator yesterday to clean out the back and guess how many of those toy mice he found underneath???
Every so often I notice that we're down to a few cat toys and fish then out from under the fridge. Mice, balls and chirpy things. With all that their favorite toys are the rings from milk jugs. Got to keep an eye on those though and trash them when they look too chewed up for safety.

A bottle of Rescue Remedy came packed in peanuts and Little Bit attacked the few that fell from the box. I had to take one out of her mouth, she was trying to carry it around, and it was trying to dissolve.
 

nimbus

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Aug 10, 2007
Messages
206
Purraise
1
Location
New Jersey
Originally Posted by LynneNY

I wouldn't do them either, though thankfully none of our 5 cats ever showed an interest if a styrofoam noodle fell on the floor.

They DO love crumpled up paper balls - go figure, with a house full of toy mice, etc. My husband had to move our refrigerator yesterday to clean out the back and guess how many of those toy mice he found underneath???


15!!! I've been wondering where all of them disappeared to!


If we ever sell the house, the next owners will find these toy mice in places they never would have expected!
haha this sounds like my house! Sometimes we'll search the whole house and find like 25 mice and we'll put them all down on the floor in front of Nimbus. He gets so excited he doesn't know what to do with himself at that point haha.
 

rang_27

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
May 28, 2002
Messages
4,304
Purraise
5
Location
Milwaukee, WI
I've never allowed them to play with the packaging peanuts, but other objects others use as toys are often eaten by my strange group. For example, Milk Rings, Jordan loves to fetch them, but as soon as one other the other cats shows the slightest intrest, he eats them. I suspect that it is a competition thing. The other thing I know others have used is q-tips. That's a no-no in my house. Jordan loves to eat those too.
 
Top