Your pet doesn’t have to be bored while you’re away
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In addition to being fun for you both, playing with your cat is essential for its healthy development as well as for keeping him or her interested and active. This is especially important if you have a cat who lives alone or only indoors and doesn’t get much stimulation.
While many toys have various functions, they all help your cat maintain a healthy weight and keep their senses alert (especially if the toy encourages lots of jumping and pouncing). Interactive cat toys that help you bond with your cat might lead to many cuddles after playtime is over. Cats, however, can be incredibly picky about what piques their attention and what leaves them completely bored, as any cat owner is aware.
To help you avoid wasting money on useless items, we’ve put together a list of the best cat toys.
Best Overall: BENTOPAL Automatic Cat Toy
A versatile motorized and robotic toy, the BENTOPAL Automatic Cat Toy is designed for cats. It has two substantial wheels that move in an erratic manner throughout the room as they spin, turn, and rotate. With this toy, your cat will skulk, chase after, and pounce. There are two settings (fast and slow), so you may adjust it to your cat’s temperament and degree of activity. It may be used on carpet as well as other types of flooring because of its large wheels.
Additionally, it has an automated mode that will run continuously for 10 minutes, turn off for 90 minutes, and then turn back on for another 10 minutes for a total of eight hours. If you have to leave the house for the entire day, you may feel easier knowing your cat might find it amusing.
Best Interactive: Kong Active Feather Teaser Cat Toy
Playtime is one of the finest ways to improve your relationship with your cat, and this interactive toy from durable electronics company KONG is a terrific way to get your cat interested in pursuing, hunting down, and catching this “prey.” A person is restrained by an 18.5-inch rope in the Dangle Feet Teaser, which stretches, retracts, and just swings around. The protagonist might be a bird, flamingo, or anything else that looks like an owl.
The colorful feathers on the figure and the crinkly sound of the filling will entice your cat to try his hardest to acquire the toy. Each toy contains high-quality catnip, which keeps your cat interested, active, and entertained. As with other wand toys, it’s crucial for your cat to only play with this toy while being closely watched to avoid any mishaps.
Best Laser: FurryFido Laser Cat Toy
Cats enjoy playing with laser toys, but many of them are fragile or require tiny watch batteries, which the majority of people don’t keep on hand. But the Laser Cat Toy from FurryFido modifies the laser experience. Remember that some cats find laser toys frustrating, so you might want to play this game with treats or other toys that your cat can actually catch.
This high-end laser not only has a stainless steel finish, but you can also use the built-in USB to connect it to a computer or a charger, eliminating the need for batteries. It also has two other modes, including white flashlight and UV light. The flashgentle can be used to search beneath the couch for forgotten toys, and the UV light can be used to search for hidden pet stains on the carpet or upholstery.
Laser Safety
Never shine a laser directly into any pet or person’s eyes, because it could result in vision damage.
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Best Motorized: HEXBUG nano Robotic Cat Toy
Anyone who has ever had a moth flying around their room or an ant crawling across the floor can attest to the fact that cats are naturally insect hunters. With the HEXBUG nano Robotic Cat Toy, your cat may indulge in its instinctual hunting behavior without leaving behind dead insects for you to dispose of.
This vibrating robotic cat toy, which is designed to seem like an insect, moves around your home to attract your cat to chase, pounce on, and swat it. When it runs into obstacles, it turns around and moves backwards; when your cat finally knocks it over on its back, it will then stand back up. To playfully tease your cat, it also dangles a beautiful feather tail behind it.
Best for Indoor Cats: SmartyKat Skitter Critters Catnip Cat Toys
Keeping your cat indoors is the safest choice, but because cats are natural hunters, they can easily get bored if they don’t have enough stimulation. However, the SmartyKat Skitter Critters can be helpful. These reasonably priced mouse-shaped toys get your cat excited and encourage play before relieving stress and promoting relaxation thanks to the catnip inside. Additionally, they satiate your cat’s innate desire to hunt. Your cat may play with the toys on his own because of their fluffy bodies and convenient carrying shapes, or you can throw them and watch him chase them around.
You’ll have more toys on hand in case your cat accidently swats one under the couch or eats out the insides because this pack of ten comes with them.
Best for Older Cats: Petstages Tower of Tracks Cat Toy
If your senior cat seems a little less active these days, the Petstages Tower of Tracks is the ideal solution. This three-tiered toy features three colorful spinning balls that are housed on three tracks. When your cat hits the balls, they roll and twirl but remain on the rails. Although the hunting urge is satiated, your senior cat won’t have to chase the balls around the room or look for them under the couch because they stay in the tower.
This toy is a great choice for cat parents who are also employed. Your cat can keep themselves entertained even when you aren’t home.
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Best for Exercise: YVE LIFE Automatic Cat Laser Toy
The amount of running needed is obvious if you’ve ever used a laser on your cats. On occasion, you can even get tired before your cat does. This makes the YVE LIFE Automatic Cat Laser Toy one of the best cat toys for fitness.
This autonomous laser toy has both slow and fast settings, and it can be charged through USB or AA batteries. The slow option sweeps the laser around the room gently, contrary to the rapid mode, which speeds up and causes your cat to sprint around the room in an effort to catch the light. Your cat can throw the laser around the room or draw circles to truly keep itself busy.
Best for Food-Motivated Cats: Trixie 5-in-1 Cat Activity Center
The Trixie 5-in-1 Activity Center is an excellent toy for getting a food-motivated cat to interact with a toy. You can stow dry food or your cat’s preferred goodies in fish bowl-style globes, pegs, lanes, tunnels, and tongues using this device.
When cats use their claws to fish the goodies out of the obstacles, their curiosity is aroused and their senses are stimulated. This not only allows cats to employ their hunting prowess and brains, but it also rewards them with treats when they are successful, keeping them from losing motivation. When your cat is done playing, you won’t have to worry about how you’re going to clean every nook and cranny. Plastic that is dishwasher safe is a durable substance.
“We like that the bottom has rubber, non-slip feet to keep it in place, so it won’t budge even if our cat starts playing too rough. We found that the board held its place on hard floors, but not just as much on carpet.”
– Joline Buscemi
Best for Lazy Cats: OurPets Catnip 24 Karat Cat Toy
If your cat isn’t especially interested in chasing after objects or running, the OurPets Catnip 24 Karat Cat Toy might assist. Catnip, which is stimulating and comforting to cats, fills the entire robust canvas carrot. Your cat can wrap his paws around the carrot and munch on the canvas or swipe at the feathers if he really wants to give the carrot some major bunny kicks. In order to satisfy your cat’s natural need to hunt, you can also use it as a dangle toy to lure him to paw or swipe at it.
The canvas is designed to last infinite hours of play, but the feathers may come off fairly quickly depending on how much your cat enjoys biting things.
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Best Ribbon Toy: Cat Dancer Cat Charmer Plaything
The Cat Dancer Charmer is a classic chase toy that will have your cat leaping and pouncing all over the place. Because it includes four cloth feet, this interactive toy is a great way to keep your pet entertained and active. The handle is almost indestructible, making it safe to use when playing with cats and kittens. The fabric itself is strikingly bright and reasonably priced. Kids like creating intriguing ribbon designs while dancing about with ribbon toys like these.
What Editors Say
“My cat goes crazy for this rainbow ‘dancing’ toy. If I don’t pull this out to play at least once a day she will meow at me incessantly. The long string makes enchanting patterns when you whip it through the air or across the floor, mesmerizing my cat each and every time. Our favorite way to perform is when I drag the string behind me slowly and after she tracks it from over the room, comes her inevitable pounce.”
– Emily Manchester, Editorial & Strategy Director, Home Group
Best Kicker: West Coast Pet Products 15 Inch Denim Refillable Catnip Kicker
When they’re feeling frisky, cats prefer to roll around on their backs and bunny kick. A long, lean kicker is the best toy for this situation. It can be intuitive. There are several toys marketed as “kickers,” but if your cat is an adult, be sure to look for one that is at least 12 inches long.
The refillable pocket on this 15-inch-long, handcrafted kicker from West Coast Pet Products on Etsy can hold catnip. Although this company also offers kickers wrapped in a variety of materials, the strong denim covering makes it less prone to rip into ribbons. The toy’s core is actually a soft polyester stuffing, which gives it flexibility and makes it fun for cats to play with.
Advantages of How to Choose a Cat Toy
The majority of toys are intended just for fun, but a few can have benefits for your cat. Toys with built-in scratchers, for instance, help cats maintain healthy claws, while those with chewable elements encourage proper oral hygiene. With a range of toys, your cat can move around and exercise their muscles. Consider these health advantages as you shop.
Perform alone
Are you looking for something in particular, such as a toy that you can give your cats to play with when they are left home alone? Depending on how important solo play is to you will determine the type of toy you should get.
Engagement
Since you know your cat better than anyone else, you are the best person to determine whether or not it would use a certain toy frequently. Cats are finicky and typically only play with a toy once before putting it away permanently. If you are doubtful of whether they would like it, it is best to choose a toy that you are certain they would love playing with. If your cat loses interest in a toy quickly, you might also consider allowing them to play with it just occasionally. This will keep the gadget fascinating and new.
Why Do You Think The Cat Product Is True?
Our writers and editors tested dozens of toys on our own cats in order to help our readers pick the best ones.
Cat mom Lindsay Boyers, who has three cats, has regularly come under fire for having an unhealthy obsession with her pets (as if such a thing really existed). Before making any pet-related purchases, she meticulously researches them and tests items for The Cat Product. All but the last two of the toys on this list are owned by her cats (the rainbow wand and kicker).
This essay was edited by Margaret Badore, whose cat enjoys the Petstages Tower of Tracks toy.
