The Best Toys for Cats
If you’re the proud owner of a cat, you’ll know how much fun it is to play with them and how much they love toys. Their faces light up and their eyes and ears are alert as they jump and pounce, and they might even purr with pleasure. Playing with toys is also really good for your cat. Many cats are kept indoors for their health and safety, and playing with them stimulates them and stops them from getting bored. An added benefit is that playing with your cat helps you to bond with them and you get to know what they like.
With all this in mind, what are the best toys for cats? To answer this question, let’s get back to basics.
Cats Like to Climb and Scratch
Let your cat climb and explore to their heart’s content with an indoor cat tree. Depending on how much space you have, you can craft quite elaborate setups. Cat trees can include perches, scratching posts, rest stations, holes, and hanging toys. Hopefully, a scratching post will stop your cat from damaging your furniture too, when he or she feels the needs to flex those claws.
Cats Like to Stalk and Hunt
Cats are natural hunters and they love to creep up on their prey, eagerly anticipating a tasty meal. Kong’s, or treat dispensing toys, play to this natural instinct and will entertain your cat while you’re away. Strong, sturdy toys that you fill with treats, kongs are designed to be rolled around the floor, pounced on and bitten as your cat tries to get the food out. You could hide several kongs around the house to encourage your cat to move around and search out their snack.
Cats Like Toys that Encourage them to Chase and Pounce
Cats just love chasing small moving objects, including tiny lights. You can get toys that project a laser light onto the wall which you then wave around as your cat tries to catch it. Other hand-hand-held toys that cats love include snake-like lengths of fabric on a stick, bees, mice, fish or pom poms on a wand, perhaps with a bell, a flashing light, pom poms or feathers.
You can get toys that your cat can enjoy while your hands are safely out of the way. These include devices that you place on the floor and feature balls or toys that move around and encourage your cat to chase them.
The key to a happy cat is to recognise what they like, how they like to play and then identifying which toys will be best to keep them entertained. Their favourite toy might be a paper bag, a cardboard box, a ball or a length of string. Some cats like tunnels or chasing bubbles. Or, your cat might like to watch the TV, look out the window, or watch the fish swimming in the fish tank! Just make sure your cat – and any other pet – is safe, and enjoy the playtime – you’ll both have heaps of fun.
Explore Pettrotters extensive range of Cat Toys here.
Sources:
https://www.mypetwarehouse.com.au/my-pet-blog/pet-care/cat/best-toys-for-indoor-cats
https://www.petsecure.com.au/pet-care/10-ways-keep-cat-entertained-youre-house/
