New Toys?

Good Morning!

I'm heading out to PetSmart in a couple hours to pick up a few neccessities, and want to get some toys for the girls.

Cagney won't really play with anything, a shame since she's only 2 1/2 yrs old. I'd like to find something she'd like?

Lily on the other hand thinks everything was put on earth for her amusemnt, so she really isn't a problem.

My friend Gale told me all 3 of her cats adore a Track Ball type of toy, its a ring with a ball in it, that the cats bat the ball in a circle, but the ball won't come out. Anyone have one of these?

Any suggestions for a good toy would be greatly appreciated.
(no furry mice please, that issue is over )

Cleo

you won't find it at petsmart (or at least I didn't find it at mine) but I ordered a habikat for my girls. Donna has one & her cats love it. I can't wait for it to get here & because I know that my babies are going to go nuts for it.


www.habikat.com

My cat loves a toy called the cat dancer, you can find it in any pet store. It's a bunch of tinsel-type material, or feathers in some cases, attached to a wire. It bounces and supposedly looks like a mouse if you drag it across the floor. I have one hanging from a closet door, and sometimes my cat will go play with it on her own. She loves to jump after it when I hold it, too. I also grow catnip for my spoiled darling, and she will often play with the leaves and roll in them before she eats them!

My kittens love then trac ball, I also added a plastic ball in the trac so now there is two balls going around it. It also has a scratching pad in the middle of it that they use all the time.

Robin

My cats love this little mouse (doesn't have fur!) that squeaks when they touch it. It is the only toy that my 11 year old Ragdoll will play with. My cats also like the trac ball.

Michele

Airprincess...what is a Habikat? It sounds like a type of CatTree...am I close?

The girls have a Tree, my boyfriend made it and did a great job,it has a little house for them to hide out in and several scratching area and perches. They love it!

Thank you and Bren for the suggestions,

Cleo

I'm so bad at explaining things.....check out the link & it will be self explanitory. it's so they can sit in the window & watch the world go by.

Sorry michelrad, we must've been typing at the same time...I missed your post! :LOL:

Robin,
I may buy the Tracball...sounds like it gets good reviews.
(and I don't have to fish the balls out from under the furniture!)

Cleo

(slapping head)
AP, I was so busy getting myself together to leave, I didn't notice the link...thank you and forgive me for being such a ditz!

Cleo

Well, went to PetSmart and Petco, even though Petco is a much smaller store, their selection was much better than PetSmart!

I ended up buying a CatDancer, or Teaser, and both girls like it, Lily more than Cagney, but she's still a kitten, or kind of a pre-teen by now I guess? Only problem with this toy is that she's so rough and tough, it won't last long. I got the type with a few feathers and a batch of tinsel, very colorful,:afrorainb: but the feathers are already looking kinda raggedy.

The big hit was the Ring Toy, not a tracball, but the same idea.
It's a sturdy plastic ring about the size of a large dinner plate, with a center of carpet for the cats to scratch on. Inside the ring is a mouse (cloth) attached to a bar that spins inside the ring. Lily is apesh*t about it! She played with it for 35 mins straight, until I had to put it up because she was drooling and panting...kinda scared me.
Cagney just sat about 3 feet away and watched, until I placed a few treats inside the ring, then she got up enough energy to bat the mouse out of the way and get her goodies.

Anyway, that concludes our tour of the petstores, hope you enjoyed your visit, and come again soon!

Cleo

Cleo:
Our one cat Muffin just loves the Trac Ball, but our other cat Stinker never really got interested in it. I'm pretty sure we bought it at WalMart.
I do know that all of our kitty's love a wad of wax paper. The bigger you make it the more they enjoy it. Also they all love the plain old paper grocery bag.

Sorry Cleo:
I reread one of your posts about a toy with tinsel on it.
My opion would be not to have anything with tinsel on it. They could wind up pulling it out and swallowing it.
Just a suggestion, I guess I'm just an over protected mom.
Stinker use to eat shoelaces when he was a kitten. Which caused some problems, so I'm a little leary about anything with strings or tasels.

I understand your concern about the tinsel, 2 Christmases ago, when I still had Lacey, she and Cagney were pretty young and pulled a lot of the tinsel off the Christmas tree.
They didn't choke on it, but I did find it in their stools for days...Yuck!

I only let them have the Teaser when I'm playing with them, then I put it up.

The Tracball has no parts to come off, so it stays out. (although Lily already bit one of the mouses ears off! LilyMonster!

Thanks again for your concern...btw...both Stinker and Muffin are beautiful!


Cleo

Cleo,

Purrfect was right about the paper bag, my kittens like to play in them, I cut a hole in the bottom, and they sneak out at each other. Then when they get tired, they just sleep in the bag. It's really cute to watch them play with each other in the bag.

Robin

My Squirt plays with nothing. I can tell by the look on his face that he considers the entire thing beneath him.

Joey will play with ANYTHING! But I find he mostly prefers household items like bags and boxes.

I don't spend anything on cat toys because they end up unused. Too bad they are not like kids that you can take to Toys R Us and they pick out something that catches their interest. Even my el-cheapo cat tree goes unused by Squirt. Lord knows why I even think about buying the expensive model.

I did get a catalogue from Drfostersmith that has the neatest carpeted bench/box to put the litter box inside of. It has a doorway in the side so the cats can get in, and it's lined with vinyl for easy cleanup. That will be my next big investment. I really don't have a good place to put the litter box in my house, not that it really bothers me, but your non-cat people seem to think it's unsightly.

I'm glad your cats are enjoying the toys you brought them! As for my cats, well, see Deb 25's post above. It's just like that, here, as far as toys are concerned. Tonya loves the scratching post, however; and both she and Michaela take turns occupying the cat tower. But when it comes to toys, they're interested for a day or two and then it's over — period.

:confused2

There is no substitute for a piece of string!

:tounge2:

=^..^=

I finally figured out something that Muffy will play with! After buying tons of toys, I figured out she likes to play with a wadded up piece of paper. Go figure! She chases it all around and retrieves it for me like a dog. She'll carry it around the house, drop it, meow at it, pick it up and run off again. At least she's cost conscious!

I just gave Muffin the ring to the top of a milk jug last week and she's been playing with it everyday. Seems to be her favorite toy.
We spend so much money on toys and then to find out they enjoy the free stuff. Like wads of wax paper, paper bags, cardboard boxes, etc.
That's why we love them so much, they are so easy to please.

A HOUSE IS NOT A HOME WITHOUT A CAT!!!!!

Well here's another great toy my kids seem to really enjoy.
A PEANUT IN THE SHELL! They have a blast batting it around the kitchen floor.
I think my kitty's have more toys then most kids have. But hey, their worth it.
A HOUSE IS NOT A HOME WITHOUT A CAT!