Best (Unintended) Cat Toy?

Post by **cutestkittycat** » Tue Oct 11, 2016 2:31 pm

We've a very spoilt indoor cat, and we are constantly buying her the latest toys.

However, her favourite to date cost us absolutely nothing. It's basically the brown packing paper that often comes when you get an item delivered from Amazon etc. She loves hiding amongst it and chasing in and out of it. Our living room is more paper than carpet these days, but she never tires of it because it can be constantly reassembled in different ways (and eventually flattened each time by her!).

Does anyone have any similar story, of something their cat loves which was not an intended cat toy?

https://cutestkittyhq.com

Post by **Lilith** » Tue Oct 11, 2016 2:47 pm

Hi and welcome

Ohh yes!

The little plastic cover that fits over the prongs of the plug on a new appliance

A wine bottle cork

An empty cotton reel

A loo roll inner

An uncooked pasta shell

A little bit of screwed up rustly paper

I could go on. Who needs to buy cat toys?

Post by **alanc** » Tue Oct 11, 2016 4:58 pm

Two off-cuts of sash cord from when I was doing some window repairs 20 years ago! My then cat Sally pounced on them and they have done duty with all my cats since!

Post by **Nikki C** » Tue Oct 11, 2016 9:40 pm

Grape sticks.
Eat a bunch of grapes and throw sticks onto floor= happy George running around living room in hot pursuit lol

Post by **MarkB** » Wed Oct 12, 2016 12:12 am

Nt sure about the sticks, but grapes are highly toxic to cats and dogs

Post by **bobbys girl** » Wed Oct 12, 2016 8:19 am

With mine it is the plastic ring around the top of the milk carton. We call them 'ringy-things' and they turn up all over the house.

The other 'toy' is the cardboard box. Christmas is chaotic in this house. This is my darling Tommy (RIP) in a 'modified' box.

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Post by **cutestkittycat** » Tue Oct 18, 2016 11:19 am

Aww cute, cats definitely love boxes.

This is giving me ideas of new potential "toys" to try

Oh another one she likes is a spongey microphone cover, it sort of sticks to her paws and she juggles with it

Post by **bobbys girl** » Tue Oct 18, 2016 9:46 pm

I remember one of ours getting the foam cover of some old earphones stuck on he paw like a slipper. She sat waving it at me 'DO something with this will you?!'

Post by **Crewella** » Wed Oct 19, 2016 4:34 pm

bobbys girl wrote:I remember one of ours getting the foam cover of some old earphones stuck on he paw like a slipper. She sat waving it at me 'DO something with this will you?!'

Post by **Mayday21** » Wed Oct 19, 2016 10:00 pm

Mittens/slippers for kitties I would have loved to see the look on the kitty's face Bobby's Girl

laser lights are good time wasters for humans while kitties chase the lights around. And the pic of Tommy (RIP) lovely - did he have some Abby in him? Vivian

Post by **catslave16** » Thu Oct 20, 2016 3:02 am

Am I the only person who is sightly uneasy about playing with laser lights? I know lots of cats chase them - we say 'love to chase them' but do we know if they love it? - but there's nothing to catch in the end. Isn't that a bit unfair on the cat, or am I being ridiculously oversensitive here? I also get quite upset when I'm on the beach and people throw stones for their dogs to chase. The poor mutt will swim round and round the spot where the stone went down but of course there's no chance the dog will find it, ever.

Why not throw a stick, something that floats?

Post by **Janey** » Thu Oct 20, 2016 6:15 am

catslave16 wrote:Am I the only person who is sightly uneasy about playing with laser lights? I know lots of cats chase them - we say 'love to chase them' but do we know if they love it? - but there's nothing to catch in the end. Isn't that a bit unfair on the cat, or am I being ridiculously oversensitive here? I also get quite upset when I'm on the beach and people throw stones for their dogs to chase. The poor mutt will swim round and round the spot where the stone went down but of course there's no chance the dog will find it, ever. Why not throw a stick, something that floats?

Lol, I thought it was just me! I think the cat’s probably enjoy the first bit but I also wonder if they get fed up when they never, ever get to catch it. There’s other similar toys like that as well such as those balls in a track which they can’t get the ball, and I got that Cat’s Meow toy for mine and she chases this tail, but can’t ever get the mouse. She gets bored of it after a while and wonder if she’s thinking - sod this

I do think it must be frustrating for them

Mine was having loads of fun with a box the other day. I had something delivered and it had shredded paper packing inside and she was having a great time jumping on the box and pulling the shredding out over the floor!!

Dental floss is something my cat is fascinated with! she loves anything stringy, and nail files, and straws, and one of my old foster’s loves those plastic bottle tops, his owner spends hours throwing them for him.

I also remember our very first cat, and at Christmas when we had sweets in a bowl, she loved to hook them out with her paw and flick them around - all over the floor next morning they were!

Post by **meriad** » Thu Oct 20, 2016 9:49 am

catslave16 wrote:Am I the only person who is sightly uneasy about playing with laser lights? I know lots of cats chase them - we say 'love to chase them' but do we know if they love it? - but there's nothing to catch in the end. Isn't that a bit unfair on the cat, or am I being ridiculously oversensitive here? I also get quite upset when I'm on the beach and people throw stones for their dogs to chase. The poor mutt will swim round and round the spot where the stone went down but of course there's no chance the dog will find it, ever. Why not throw a stick, something that floats?

No, you're not the only one. What I usually do when I play with a laser pen, is have some dreamies to hand and then when finished, throw some in the direction of the spot so the cats at least get something

And agree re the dogs and throwing stones - a stick would be so much better

Post by **bobbys girl** » Thu Oct 20, 2016 11:35 am

Mayday21 wrote:Mittens/slippers for kitties I would have loved to see the look on the kitty's face Bobby's Girl laser lights are good time wasters for humans while kitties chase the lights around. And the pic of Tommy (RIP) lovely - did he have some Abby in him? Vivian

As far as I know Tommy was pure moggy!

But in some lights he had a very spooky look of Scotish wild cat about him. If it wasn't for the fact we live in Ireland I'd say he could well have been a mog/wildcat cross. Bless his Charlie Chaplin feet.

Post by **bobbys girl** » Thu Oct 20, 2016 11:39 am

catslave16 wrote: I also get quite upset when I'm on the beach and people throw stones for their dogs to chase. The poor mutt will swim round and round the spot where the stone went down but of course there's no chance the dog will find it, ever. Why not throw a stick, something that floats?

Our Lurcher, Katie, LOVED the water - odd for a Lurcher - and you couldn't keep her out of it. I've seen her dive for stones AND come back with the right one.

Sticks can be very dangerous for dogs. We never had that trouble with Katie, she always chose 'sticks' that an elephant couldn't choke on! She would run down a path with 4' of sapling hanging out each side of her gob, whipping people's legs out from under them. 'what our dog? No nothing to do with us!'

She turned up one day with a sand-filled car tyre and threw it down - 'go on throw it for me'. Throw it? I couldn't lift it! Some dog, she was never as friendly with the cats as Rosie dog but she would always rush to their rescue if a wandering stray cat tried anything. Very protective of 'her' family, can't believe it's 10 years since she left us.

Post by **meriad** » Thu Oct 20, 2016 12:22 pm

Katie sounds adorable - I grew up with dogs and do miss having one around. Thankfully my brother has two so I get my fill

Post by **Crewella** » Thu Oct 20, 2016 3:05 pm

I thought it was just me too! I even feel a bit guilty with those 'thing on a string' toys as they usually don't seem all that robust, so I try to avoid them getting caught and 'killed'. I usually keep a tougher toy on hand that I swop in at opportune moments so that the cats get to go through the full range of emotions from 'chase' to 'catch' and 'kill'.

This is why I love forums, you get to find out that you're not quite as mad as you thought you were .... or at least, if you are, you're not alone!!

Post by **catslave16** » Thu Oct 20, 2016 4:32 pm

"This is why I love forums, you get to find out that you're not quite as mad as you thought you were .... or at least, if you are, you're not alone!!

"

Crewellla, you've absolutely nailed it

And thank you for your responses and stories, some of them made me laugh out loud
'what our dog? No nothing to do with us!'

I have no idea how to quote people.

Post by **Janey** » Thu Oct 20, 2016 4:45 pm

catslave16 wrote: And thank you for your responses and stories, some of them made me laugh out loud.

I have no idea how to quote people.

I had a good laugh too

Re: quoting there’s two ways. Before you go to reply just find the post you want to quote and click on the quote/“ icon top right of their message box, and your reply message box will open up with their quote in yours. Or when already typing your message you can scroll down under your message box and see the other replies and click on the quote/“ icon in the top right of their message box and it will also put the quote into yours.

Post by **catslave16** » Thu Oct 20, 2016 5:28 pm

Thanks, Janey, that's helpful. I'll try it.

Post by **bobbys girl** » Thu Oct 20, 2016 7:18 pm

I know we're a cat site but this is our Kate. Does anyone remember a song with the line 'That's my Katie, little lady and I love her'? That's MY Katie, she's NO lady but I love her.

Post by **Lilith** » Thu Oct 20, 2016 9:39 pm

Aww I do love Katie! She's a bit like my Lizzie, who was a wirehaired Jack Russell and looked like a miniature bearded collie - and thought she was a cat; she came from a catty home into mine. I used to sing her a silly song:

I love a Lizzie, a bonny blooming Lizzie,
She's as pure as a Lizzie in a ditch.
She's as fair as the Lizzie, the bonny bonny Lizzie,
Lizzie, my terrier bitch!

Ohhh dear the depths we sink to with animals eh?

Post by **bobbys girl** » Sat Oct 22, 2016 9:17 am

I know, daft ain't we? Love the song!

Of course the OBVIOUS song is 'I want to be BOBBY'S GIRL!

Post by **Ruth B** » Sun Oct 23, 2016 9:09 pm

Two things to mention.

First, while it isn't an unintended cat toy, Freyja has been enjoying herself with one of the jingly balls, the type that is a plastic cage with a bell inside. The reason I mention it is her play style. It is normal (in my house at least) to throw the ball up the stairs, for the cat to chase after and knock back down. Freyja will do this herself, carefully pick up the ball, carry it up the stairs, she has an odd little meow when she has a mouthful of jingly ball. Knock it around the landing a bit then back down stairs chasing after it, just to pick it up and carry it back up.

As for the wand toys, look up Fly Frenzy, they are wands with string and toy, but the toy is a separate attachment, so when the toy has been well killed you can just get another one out of the bag and attach it. The also come with a lot longer rod than most seem to, one I have is about 5' of rod and the string is even longer. They also do a whole range of attachments, though I find the basic feathers or wiggly worm are the most popular with mine.

Post by **Mrs Kane** » Sun Oct 23, 2016 10:23 pm

Sofi's favourites:
Tin foil balls from sandwiches
a piece of elastic string from my socks
A tiny cardboard jewellery box lid
All pencils and pens (om nom nom)
pen lids
My USB "union jack sperm" (from a friend that's a paediatrician)
A shoe box lid
A lattice style light cover that roommate planned to use as an earring hanger

Post by **bobbys girl** » Mon Oct 24, 2016 6:22 pm

I thought Purdy had caught a mouse yesterday, when I went to investigate I found she was playing with the brown plastic top off the gas cylinder we cook with - it does look very mouse-like when it shoots past you in the mouth of a cat.

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