Those of us who are lucky enough to share our lives with cats can usually agree one one thing: We can buy all the cat toys in the word, and our kitties usually opt to play with found items. But do you think that stops us from loading up on store-bought cat toys? I know it doesn’t stop me. I think I’m always hoping to find that one toy — the one that totally blows their mind, at least more than the chewed-up bendy straw.
My cats have a few baskets of toys. Some toys I bought and others I received from conferences or from vendors to review. There are jingle balls, wicker balls and crinkly balls. There are catnip mice, catnip cigars, catnip bananas. There are toys with feathers, ones with fur and some with dangly thingies.
Here are some examples of the awesome toys my cats have at their disposal. The catnip carrot was a hot for a while with Saffy, who likes to “hunt” larger-sized toys in the middle of the night. Phoebe likes to bat around balls of all kinds, but she’s fickle. Cosmo enjoys feathers and catnip toys. He’s usually down with a new toy for a few hours and then forgets about it. He’ll probably pick it up a few days — or even months — later. I think maybe they’re overwhelmed … but overwhelmed with awesome!
Now, if I were to be honest, my cats would probably choose a few select items to store in their toy basket. And none of them can be purchased in the toy aisle at PetSmart. They are objects they nick from my desk, the kitchen counter or dresser-top. They aren’t expensive, but they provide hours of entertainment.
They especially enjoy my hair elastics, and why wouldn’t they? They can easily bat them, carry them around in their mouths … and they’re elastic. Good times. Basically, my cats love anything small they can easily swat about the house. Corks, pen caps, lip balm tubes and balls of paper are favorites. Phoebe also goes nuts for straws. She expertly moves a straw across the kitchen floor — David Beckham’s got nothing on her. And when it’s a bendy straw, she “bends it like Beckham.” Haha.
And then there’s the tape. Do your cats go nuts for tape? Mine do, especially Cosmo and Phoebe. They love chewing it off the sides of packages, and Phoebe goes to town digging it out of the wastebasket. What is it with the tape? I even have to wrap gifts behind closed doors because she stalks the tape.
So, yes, I’ll probably still buy cat toys for my fuzz-butts. I can’t help it. And I’m sure I’ll continue to find corks swatted under the sofa and tape stolen from my office wastebasket. After all, toys will be toys.
Do your cats prefer non-traditional cat toys? Tell us about them in the comments!
Laugh with us:
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- Texts from Mittens the Cat: Holiday Misfortunes Edition
Read more by Angie Bailey:
- Do Your Cats Demand Snuggle Time Like Mine?
- Texts from Mittens: The “Antiques Roadshow” Edition
- And Now, 5 Photos of My Cats Caught in the Act
- What Happens When My Cats Tell Me What to Wear
- 5 Ways My Cats Completely Own Me
- My Cats Are Addicts: 5 Reasons They Would Land in Rehab
- Do You Ever Wish You’d Given Your Cat a Different Name?
- What if Cats Held Office Jobs? Worst. Cubicle Mates. EVER!
- 3 Ways You and Your Kids Can Help Big Cats
About the Author: Angie Bailey is an eternal optimist with an adoration of all things silly. Loves pre-adolescent boy humor, puns, making up parody songs, thinking about cats doing people things and The Smiths. Writes Catladyland, a cat humor blog, Texts from Mittens (birthed right here on Catster) and authored whiskerslist: the kitty classifieds, a silly book about cats wheeling and dealing online. Partner in a production company and writes and acts in comedy web series that features sketches and mockumentaries. Mother to two humans and three cats, all of which want her to make them food.
