Cat Toys – Interactive Toys for your Cat
The most common cat toy is the toy mouse. You can find toy mice that are attached to string, that are battery powered and that have little pockets for catnip. You can also find simple stuffed mice in a variety of colors and patterns. Nobody is sure why cats respond to these toys more than toys shaped after other animals, but they do seem to favour the mouse’s shape. One way to interest your cat in a mouse toy is to toss it into the air or attach a sound device (like a little bell) to it.
Cats also love strings—anything resembling string whether it is a shoelace, a piece of yarn, a bit of rope—if you can slide it across the floor, they will chase after it. Sometimes all you have to do is leave it alone and they will do the playing all by themselves. An easy to make and fun toy for both you and your cat is the stick that has a piece of string tied around it. This is great for you because you won’t have to crawl around and it is great for the cat because it will give the cat the chance to jump around after it’s “prey.”
The other shape that is loved by cats is the ball. Cats will chase after just about anything that is spherical in shape and small enough to be batted around. One of the reasons they are so entertained by balls is the way they will keep moving. Cats don’t often play with things that simply sit still. They like to chase and jump and roll. Balls provide all of these opportunities to them.
Of course, the lazy person’s ideal cat toy is the laser pointer. The laser pointer allows the human to sit still and gives the cat the opportunity to run all over the house, trying to catch the little red dot that always seems to slip away.
The only toy that you really want to stay away from is the squeaky toy. Cats aren’t often strong enough to push on the toy so hard that it makes a sound and in the rare event that they do, the squeak will startle them more than entertain them. Cats don’t like sharp sounds like those that come from a squeaky toy. Save the squeaky toys for the dogs and get your cat a catnip mouse instead.
These cat toy ideas are just a few ways to play with your pet. Cats are very inventive; you can turn just about any household object into a game.