Do cats have favorite toys?

Does your cat like to play? Does she have a favorite toy? Is it maybe a wand, a teaser toy with a feather or crinkly ball or some furry mouse?

My dear fellow cat parents,

Today I want to review a toy that is called a Cat Teaser Toy or Cat Wand. You as cat parent surely have seen those teaser toys or cat wands in pet stores. And most likely you already have some at home.

Cats love to chase anything that is moving. So one of those toys is perfect to drain some energy from your cat, prevent it from playing attack with your feet or the most important thing keep your cat occupied, so she or he does not get bored.

Now let’s talk about the teaser toys. They all have a sturdy stick with a cord hanging form it. The only difference is in he attachment of the toys.

You either have a permanently attached feathery toy or stuffed animal like a mouse or bird or fish, or something like that, or a interchangeable toy. If the toy is interchangeable you usually get a package with several attachments, like a feather, some glittery threads, maybe a crinkle ball.

Now, not every cat likes every toy. But for me the most important thing is that what hangs at the end is soft. If you swish the wand around, you want something soft for your cat to pounce on or grab and bite into it. Not something hard like stiff feathers.

My husband bought a wand that has one attachment made out of extremely stiff feathers. She does not like that. It makes more of a hitting noise and she does not want to catch that.

The other attachment she loves, which is made of colored foil strings. They are soft, reflect the light and she has fun chasing and catching it.

Her all time favorite toy is the very first teaser toy I bought for her. It looks like a feathery tail. She still wants to play with that. It is soft and easy to grab.

The only downside to those toys is that when cats bite into them, the feathers tend to come off. Make sure that your cat does not swallow those feathers. This also applies to feather boas. Yes, my husband got Kati a red feather boa when we went to the craft store. And yes, she loves it. But when she plays with it, she likes to bite it and chew on it, which detaches the feathers and she literally has a mouth full of feathers. The other day I needed to help her get rid of the feathers because she was going crazy trying to shake them off.

So, if you let your cat play with one of those feather boa type toys, please supervise her, because feathers come off and can get stuck on your cat or in your cat’s mouth. Why do I say supervise, well Kati sometimes takes the toy herself and starts dragging it all through the house. That’s why I caution. Just in case.

Now crinkly balls are cute, make lots of noise and are wonderful to catch. But they are still made out of foil. Most cats don’t tear pieces out of those balls, but still watch your cat, so she does not swallow any foil. My cat still has her very first crinkly ball she got and she carries that thing everywhere. So definitely cats love those.

Besides feathery, boa like toys you also have wands with little animals on it, like mice, fish, worms, birds, etc. Many cats love them, mine does not really care for them, except the little lavender worm. That one feels different, more like fuzzy wool where you can dig your claws in it.

But the fish and similar stuffed toy wands she ignores completely. They are rather hard to the touch and not so easy to put the teeth into. They are also harder to grab with the claws. But as I said before, your cat might love them.

When you go out and buy some teaser toys for your cat, get a few different ones and see which she likes. Most pet stores let you return or exchange the toys you bought, if your cat does not like them.

Once you find one that your cat loves, play with your cat. But don’t go wild on your cat. Cats like to hunt, not fight. Mine loves it when the toy peeks out around a corner, or her favorite, sticks out from underneath a pillow. She is so excited about playing that she sometimes comes and gets me miauing until I follow her to the bed and she lays down in hunting mode and wants to play.

So go out and buy some feathery teaser wands for your kitty and play!