Foil balls safe?

My kittens love foil balls, but I'm afraid that they might be eating/licking some of that stuff off. I find bits and pieces of foil on the ground sometimes and I'm afraid that they might ingest it. I usually pack 'em pretty tight so that they don't come apart, but you can't really get in the way of a kitten and his warpath. I know that cats in general are very fickle about what goes inside their tummies, but my kittens like trying everything out.

Even with the bits of foil aside, is it safe for cats to put their mouths up to aluminum foil? I know that if you rub foil on a rough surface, the metallic stuff comes off.

Hi there,

In a previous post someone (I forget who) mentioned that foil is toxic to cats if ingested..so just be careful they do not eat any of it..

I know my cat would eat it and swallow it right up..the other day she had a rubber band sticking out of her mouth and was trying to swallow it
I have to watch her as if she's a 2 year old child!

Foil balls are not safe for kitties. They can bite pieces off, and it will hurt them.

Go to Petsmart or another pet store. They sell mylar balls, that are shiny like aluminum foil, and crinkle when kitty plays with them. They are pretty sturdy, and my cats LOVE them! Festus even plays fetch, and brings them to me so I can flick them for her!

After reading about the dangers of aluminum foil here at TCS, I no longer give it to my cats. (I used to do so occasionally, thinking it was ok!)

string is also very dangerous to cats. A friend of mine saw the end of a string sticking out of the mouth of his cat. He pulled it out carefully and it turned out to be at least 8 inches long!! Smokey had actually swallowed it! I hate to think of what would have happened if he hadn't noticed it!

I would not let them play with foil balls. If they eat it or chew on it, it can harm them internally.

Fine for supervised batting around, but would not let them play with foil unless I was right there to pick it up and put it away.

Originally Posted by Beckiboo

Foil balls are not safe for kitties. They can bite pieces off, and it will hurt them.

Go to Petsmart or another pet store. They sell mylar balls, that are shiny like aluminum foil, and crinkle when kitty plays with them. They are pretty sturdy, and my cats LOVE them! Festus even plays fetch, and brings them to me so I can flick them for her!

After reading about the dangers of aluminum foil here at TCS, I no longer give it to my cats. (I used to do so occasionally, thinking it was ok!)

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I feel awful I gave skittles a foil ball last week because she loves them. I never see her eat them and I did the dish's hr later and tossed it out I just did not know...

HI, the other day i ended up splashing with water after retrieving it from under the fridge, and the ink just dripped off... so how safe is the coloring they use?

Meg Trema said:

 
HI, the other day i ended up splashing with water after retrieving it from under the fridge, and the ink just dripped off... so how safe is the coloring they use?

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 Hi Meg Trema and welcome to TCS!

Are you talking about a foil ball that you've made yourself, or a cat toy?  It sounds to me like, whichever it is, I wouldn't be using it as a cat toy.

Its called mylar crinkle toy balls, sold everywhere. The ink leaks with a bit of water.

Meg Trema said:

Its called mylar crinkle toy balls, sold everywhere. The ink leaks with a bit of water.

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I did a bit of research and it seems the balls are made of a shiny plastic that looks like foil.  But others have mentioned the dye thing.. one person said that the cat dropped it in a waterbowl and the water changed colour.

I've never seen them here (Australia) but my gut tells me to be wary.  Sounds like yours does too.

The Mylar cat toys being sold in pet stores are NOT safe for cats in my opinion. Our rescue group has a couple of our cats at a local PetCo and people were tossing in those mylar crinkly toys -- some of which landed in the cats' water bowls.  The water turned  the color of the mylar toy... how good can that be?