Cat Purchase Fails

[betsygee]

I bet those CRAZY pants would be a hit with kittens though. They would love to scamper through the waist and come out through the legs. Did you get the chance to try them out with kittens rather than adult cats??

We bought the crazy pants, too! See them lying on the floor in the back? The kitties were a lot more interested in the cardboard condo hubby was making for them. I could have sworn that I had a photo of hubby trying on the crazy pants but I can't find it. Maybe he made me delete it.



We had a cat tree that had seen much better days so we bought our cats a new, taller, bigger, and better one. Hauled it home, got it set up and...nada. We sprinkled catnip on it, tried catnip spray. Nope. They just absolutely were not interested in it. So a friend of ours who had just got a cat ended up with a brand-new cat tree and our cats happily went back to their old ratty one.

 

[tarasgirl06]

We bought the crazy pants, too! See them lying on the floor in the back? The kitties were a lot more interested in the cardboard condo hubby was making for them. I could have sworn that I had a photo of hubby trying on the crazy pants but I can't find it. Maybe he made me delete it.

View attachment 189737

We had a cat tree that had seen much better days so we bought our cats a new, taller, bigger, and better one. Hauled it home, got it set up and...nada. We sprinkled catnip on it, tried catnip spray. Nope. They just absolutely were not interested in it. So a friend of ours who had just got a cat ended up with a brand-new cat tree and our cats happily went back to their old ratty one.

*WE WANT TO SEE THAT PHOTO!!!*

 

[tarasgirl06]

I guess our furmily are pretty well-adjusted, happy cats! Although milk rings, foil balls, straws, pens, and boxes have their allure, the toys do too, especially anything soft with catnip inside, sparkle balls, and interactive lure toys like da Bird and Cat Dancer. My ex used to bring home hard plastic battery-operated auto-play toys, which they basically tried to take a polite interest in and then ignored. Cats (of my acquaintance, anyway) like things that are geared to their size, and that at least somewhat resemble their natural prey. Interactive, all the better. As for litter, we've always stuck to our tried and true clumping clay -- experts say it's the substrate cats prefer and I think they're right. Foods? High quality tinned and high quality dry for a snack. Of course they tend to be picky, especially in hot weather when they go on "foodstrike", but they're usually pretty good about eating and I maintain a varied diet for them.

 

[mokapi]

I guess our furmily are pretty well-adjusted, happy cats! Although milk rings, foil balls, straws, pens, and boxes have their allure, the toys do too, especially anything soft with catnip inside, sparkle balls, and interactive lure toys like da Bird and Cat Dancer. My ex used to bring home hard plastic battery-operated auto-play toys, which they basically tried to take a polite interest in and then ignored. Cats (of my acquaintance, anyway) like things that are geared to their size, and that at least somewhat resemble their natural prey. Interactive, all the better. As for litter, we've always stuck to our tried and true clumping clay -- experts say it's the substrate cats prefer and I think they're right. Foods? High quality tinned and high quality dry for a snack. Of course they tend to be picky, especially in hot weather when they go on "foodstrike", but they're usually pretty good about eating and I maintain a varied diet for them.

Da Bird is Keegan's favorite toy!! I desperately need replacements for it, though, and he's a MASTER at getting it knotted up.

 

[Shane Kent]

Taz in his winter coat.

Taz's Red Coat

• Shane Kent
• Jun 1, 2017

Taz in his winter jacket.

He hates the snow and won't go outside in the winter time. His sister Zoe has a coat as well but she also hates the winter time. They both hate the coats and Zoe runs away if she sees them.

Speaking of winter. I realize it wasn't a purchase but it was a waste of my co-workers time. I had them build me an insulated cat shelter when Kitty and Rusty were living outside. I did purchase the insulation so it was somewhat of a purchase. Kitty and Rusty opted to live in a material storage shelter instead.

IMG_20151130_160827.jpg

• Shane Kent
• May 19, 2016

 

[mokapi]

Not to hijack the thread, but...anyone have recommendations for a floor scratcher that's heavy enough to not slide around on carpet?

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I think you almost can't go wrong with kittens. If we ever have another kitten I will definitely get some crinkly tunnels (I probably still have our old one in a box somewhere.) and those ball in a track type toys.

Not to hijack the thread, but...anyone have recommendations for a floor scratcher that's heavy enough to not slide around on carpet?

I have a cheap $5 cardboard one that doesn't move too much. I got it at walmart. The girls stretch out on it and any movement doesn't seem to be an issue. They also sit on it. Mooch looks like she's hovering because she's so pudgy these days.

 

[mazie]

Taz in his winter coat.

Taz's Red Coat

• Shane Kent
• Jun 1, 2017

Taz in his winter jacket.

He hates the snow and won't go outside in the winter time. His sister Zoe has a coat as well but she also hates the winter time. They both hate the coats and Zoe runs away if she sees them.

Speaking of winter. I realize it wasn't a purchase but it was a waste of my co-workers time. I had them build me an insulated cat shelter when Kitty and Rusty were living outside. I did purchase the insulation so it was somewhat of a purchase. Kitty and Rusty opted to live in a material storage shelter instead.

IMG_20151130_160827.jpg

• Shane Kent
• May 19, 2016

That's a very nice shelter for feral cats, your co-workers must like you very much. Lucky you, again, very nice!

 

[tarasgirl06]

Taz in his winter coat.

Taz's Red Coat

• Shane Kent
• Jun 1, 2017

Taz in his winter jacket.

He hates the snow and won't go outside in the winter time. His sister Zoe has a coat as well but she also hates the winter time. They both hate the coats and Zoe runs away if she sees them.

Speaking of winter. I realize it wasn't a purchase but it was a waste of my co-workers time. I had them build me an insulated cat shelter when Kitty and Rusty were living outside. I did purchase the insulation so it was somewhat of a purchase. Kitty and Rusty opted to live in a material storage shelter instead.

IMG_20151130_160827.jpg

• Shane Kent
• May 19, 2016

All together now: *CATS!!!*

 

[tarasgirl06]

Not to hijack the thread, but...anyone have recommendations for a floor scratcher that's heavy enough to not slide around on carpet?

Have you looked at what CatClaws.com has? They have a lot of great ones.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Da Bird is Keegan's favorite toy!! I desperately need replacements for it, though, and he's a MASTER at getting it knotted up.

OH yeah. Sounds so familiar. I spend a fair amount of time untangling/unknotting slimy string and re-attaching slimy feathers. Because cats, you know.

 

[lorie d.]

I've had a few fails with Sweetie, the most recent one was a purr pillow I ordered online. It was advertised as a pillow a cat could cuddle with and it had a comforting purring sound...supposedly. When this item arrived it was MUCH smaller than I expected and the device that was supposed to make the purring sound didn't work. So Sweetie completely ignored it. I'll try to post a picture but that might fail too.

I was wrong, the picture posted after all! Other fails I've had with Sweetie have been kind of strange. For some reason I don't understand, he has no desire to go inside paper bags. I have one of those crinkle sacks I bought for a previous cat and if I get it out for Sweetie, he acts like he doesn't understand what to do and then he flattens it and uses it for a bed. Mostly, any toy that doesn't resemble natural prey is a failure with him.

 

[sivyaleah]

Based on the fact that Cocoa liked her track ball (or, used to, she's bored now) I bought one that was taller and had 3 levels.
Turns out it's more kitten sized and for the most part she ignored it. Batted at it a few times and that was that.
Now ask me why I haven't hid it away or donated it. That's the real question!

 

[moosedawg]

The Catnip Crazy Pants are hilarious! Although, I'm pretty sure my kittens would love them. They have a crinkle tunnel that they chase each other through at Indy 500 speeds, mostly at night when we're trying to sleep, of course. Also they have a bunch of those little pop-up cubes that they also race each other through. I have been lucky enough to have only a few cat toy fails, one is this: View media item 419540 It looks fun, right? I thought so anyway. They played with it for like a minute, but have never looked at it again. They only briefly play with it if I hold it and shake it for them. Currently, they are going bonkers with a plastic fork and knife we got with our takeout the other night. Go figure! I thought because they go absolutely crazy for the Cat Dancer and da Bird-type toys (feathers/bobbles/mice on a string tied to a pole) they would like this so I could give my arms a rest (I have two 6-month-old brothers) - I have one in each hand for each cat so they don't growl at each other so much while playing. Kosmo definitely monopolized the Cat Dancer and will growl at Beemer if Beemer doesn't have his own toy to distract him. Other than Cat Dancer time, they are best friends and inseparable.

Although, the toys that they've been religiously playing with are little felted catnip mice I found at PetSmart. They've played with one so much there's no felt left, just a few threads of felt left wrapped around the Poly-Fil. With that in mind, I'm going to needle felt them some more that will hopefully be more durable. Of course, I'm betting they won't play with the ones I make, that's just my luck. Although, they do like a little jingle ball I had knitted up for my older cats a few years back, so that's a win!

 

[tarasgirl06]

I've had a few fails with Sweetie, the most recent one was a purr pillow I ordered online. It was advertised as a pillow a cat could cuddle with and it had a comforting purring sound...supposedly. When this item arrived it was MUCH smaller than I expected and the device that was supposed to make the purring sound didn't work. So Sweetie completely ignored it. I'll try to post a picture but that might fail too.

I was wrong, the picture posted after all! Other fails I've had with Sweetie have been kind of strange. For some reason I don't understand, he has no desire to go inside paper bags. I have one of those crinkle sacks I bought for a previous cat and if I get it out for Sweetie, he acts like he doesn't understand what to do and then he flattens it and uses it for a bed. Mostly, any toy that doesn't resemble natural prey is a failure with him.

Has anyone ever told you your cat is bizarre? NOT LIKE PAPER BAGS?!! Are you sure Sweetie is a CAT? Seriously, I've got two little cats something like this: one is small, orange, and has rice inside, so it can be microwaved to be warm and then put in with a cat who needs warmth; and the other is larger, between kitten and cat size; it has a removable red plastic "heart" that has batteries inside; you turn the switch on and it has a heartbeat vibration. I bought this one for a kitten I rescued and I put it in with her to reassure her. She liked it.

 

[bluebirdy]

There are quite a few toys that have gone into the fail bin (mostly anything that makes noise, balls, most solo toys). What I actually did was introduce a toy a couple times and, if they cats were uninterested, I put it in a box for the local humane society. I had a rather scarily large collection by the time we moved including bowls etc since i just 'had' to get them nicer porcelin ones.

 

[kissthisangel]

I think the biggest fails are the beds and the leads I got my cats. Mojo refused to wear the harness, even after patiently moving it into her area, giving her treats and then finally putting it on her, she literally flopped off of the table like she was dead stiff and yowled like she was in pain we gave it to my mother in law because she couldn't find a small dog harness for her puppy in the end. The beds, she took one sniff and turned her back on it. So I got a different type. She sniffed that then settled down next to it for the night. When Charlie arrived, he used the bed for two nights and then decided the cat grass was the prime spot for a nap and slept on it until he killed it when he just moved to our bed instead.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Based on the fact that Cocoa liked her track ball (or, used to, she's bored now) I bought one that was taller and had 3 levels.
Turns out it's more kitten sized and for the most part she ignored it. Batted at it a few times and that was that.
Now ask me why I haven't hid it away or donated it. That's the real question!

If it's one of those orange ones I see around, it could be because it looks SO cool. Am I right?

 

[valentine319]

I bought my one kitten a cat bed. He walked over, got in it and peed. Yep complete fail.

My current cat. The tshirt box tent.
How to make a cat house in 5 minutes
I made it and she looked at me like I'm insane. The crinkle tube was interesting for a week.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I could have sworn that I had a photo of hubby trying on the crazy pants but I can't find it.

You know; this got me thinking. Maybe what the crazy pants need is your scent on them. You should wear them around for a couple days and then see what they think. I have a picture of Noodles inside the leg of a pair of my jeans when she was younger.