best cat toy?
December 18, 2019 2:51 PM Subscribe
To gift a cat-and-kitten owning friend: what is the best cat toy now that is:
*under $15
*and that I can get in 2 days from Amazon prime?
This is really for the owner to have fun watching their kitties pounce and leap etc. When I had a cat, the cat dancer was our favorite. I'd like something that similarly activates kitty play but is a little more gifty than cardboard on wire. but nothing at all extravagant.
Does anyone know how good the Cat Amazing maze is?
This is really for the owner to have fun watching their kitties pounce and leap etc. When I had a cat, the cat dancer was our favorite. I'd like something that similarly activates kitty play but is a little more gifty than cardboard on wire. but nothing at all extravagant.
Does anyone know how good the Cat Amazing maze is?
2nding Da Bird. Our Penelope considers it the Very Best Cat Toy Ever. Plus it's a bit more attractive and fancy than the Cat Dancer's cardboard-on-wire aesthetic.
posted by Lexica at 3:16 PM on December 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by Lexica at 3:16 PM on December 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
Best answer: This is the best cat toy ever, in my cat’s opinion. I bought one when I was in Tokyo a few years ago and it was an instant hit. She’s gone through a few more (she’s really hard on toys) and it’s now my default new-cat gift.
posted by heurtebise at 3:25 PM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by heurtebise at 3:25 PM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
I find myself using this more than Da Bird because the wand telescopes to be short enough to store in the coffee table. They love it just as much. Plus, comfortable handle for me!
posted by pemberkins at 3:36 PM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by pemberkins at 3:36 PM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
Thirding Da Bird - similar to, but even better than, the cat dancer.
Not all cats love "Da Bird", but in my experience, 4 out of 5 cats love it. That is, from 5 cats I've fostered/cat-sat/lived with, 4 absolutely loved it (one would even leap and flip for it); 1 wasn't fussed, but she's also the world's laziest cat.
posted by jb at 3:37 PM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
Not all cats love "Da Bird", but in my experience, 4 out of 5 cats love it. That is, from 5 cats I've fostered/cat-sat/lived with, 4 absolutely loved it (one would even leap and flip for it); 1 wasn't fussed, but she's also the world's laziest cat.
posted by jb at 3:37 PM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
Seconding the recs above and adding one more: Go Cat Cat Catcher Teaser Wand with Mouse Cat Toy
I've had two cats who absolutely adore it, one of whom will play with it all by herself, drag it around the house, etc. The deer hair mouse is really exciting for them.
posted by miratime at 3:45 PM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
I've had two cats who absolutely adore it, one of whom will play with it all by herself, drag it around the house, etc. The deer hair mouse is really exciting for them.
posted by miratime at 3:45 PM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
2nding heurtebise. My own cat loves it. I also got it for my parents' cat, a senior cat who doesn't move often, and she will actually run after it.
posted by typify at 3:47 PM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by typify at 3:47 PM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
Catnip rainbow (also comes in a banana shape). It is the best thing I ever spend money on for my cat.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 3:48 PM on December 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 3:48 PM on December 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
Triceratops LOVES her drug banana.
posted by ChuraChura at 4:00 PM on December 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by ChuraChura at 4:00 PM on December 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
My cat LOVES LOVES LOVES her trapped ball toy, hours of fun for her and hours of entertainment for us who love watching her get really intense about a plastic ball in a circuit.
Amazon has many kinds, some under 15!
posted by lydhre at 4:31 PM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
Amazon has many kinds, some under 15!
posted by lydhre at 4:31 PM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
Catnip banana. In the rainbow family, but I've given many catnip banana gifts and it's always a hit. With cats over four months old, especially, since that's when catnip is effective on cats.
Something about the shape, the texture of the canvas, the tightness with which it's stuffed, and the catnip itself makes it get carried all over the house and chewed enthusiastically, then carried around some more.
posted by amtho at 4:43 PM on December 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
Something about the shape, the texture of the canvas, the tightness with which it's stuffed, and the catnip itself makes it get carried all over the house and chewed enthusiastically, then carried around some more.
posted by amtho at 4:43 PM on December 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
Ernest Borgnine loves foam practice balls.
Otherwise the cat cigar/banana/rainbow from Yeowww is very popular.
posted by fiercekitten at 5:22 PM on December 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
Otherwise the cat cigar/banana/rainbow from Yeowww is very popular.
posted by fiercekitten at 5:22 PM on December 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
Ginger loves shoelaces. The long ones that would work on a day hiker boot. We've tried more expensive stuff, but if you play with her with the shoelace, she's ecstatic. She has a couple of them, and she brought both of them to my office, from the other side of the house, yesterday afternoon, then added a little yellow mouse she's quite fond of, before I got the hint. She also loves these wonderful fluffy pink balls I get at the dollar store (4 toys for a dollar: what a time to be alive!) but that's no good if you don't have a Dollar General in the neighborhood.
She loves pink ball, but shoelace is LIFE ITSELF.
Pics of the resplendent Ginger available on request, of course.
posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 6:33 PM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
She loves pink ball, but shoelace is LIFE ITSELF.
Pics of the resplendent Ginger available on request, of course.
posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 6:33 PM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
My cats go crazy for the Purr-Peller. Even the cat that usually ignores wand toys. Something about how the feathers cause it to rotate as you wave it around makes my cats go up a notch from "yay, we're playing" to "must catch now". The jump in their intensity is remarkable.
I can also N'th the Yeowww catnip banana. That thing gets *mauled* in our house.
We keep being gifted fancier toys, but the classics are popular for a reason =)
posted by Metasyntactic at 9:57 PM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
I can also N'th the Yeowww catnip banana. That thing gets *mauled* in our house.
We keep being gifted fancier toys, but the classics are popular for a reason =)
posted by Metasyntactic at 9:57 PM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
It's a shame they can't be given as gifts really, as our cats favourite thing that has ever been delivered from Amazon is their boxes. They love them beyond all reason.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 10:25 PM on December 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Jon Mitchell at 10:25 PM on December 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
Laser pointers can be delightful for cats and owners alike, especially when the owner is tired and wants to run off some energy of the cats without having to move around a lot.
posted by Candleman at 5:38 AM on December 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Candleman at 5:38 AM on December 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks so much! I ordered heurtebise's suggestion because my friend also happens to be interested in Japan. I'm going to try the others -- especially catnip banana -- for future gifts. This is a useful post, so even though I've made my purchase hope it keeps going!
posted by nantucket at 6:13 AM on December 19, 2019
posted by nantucket at 6:13 AM on December 19, 2019
Yeowww toys in general are excellent - they have a very strong catnip smell. We have a fish (which we like since we can tie a string to the label - our lazy cat only likes dangling toys).
Basically: you get the shape the human would like, the cat just cares about the smell and overall size.
posted by jb at 9:36 AM on December 19, 2019
Basically: you get the shape the human would like, the cat just cares about the smell and overall size.
posted by jb at 9:36 AM on December 19, 2019
Cat. Tunnel. Usually very cheap on Amazon, endlessly amusing.
posted by agregoli at 11:57 AM on December 19, 2019
posted by agregoli at 11:57 AM on December 19, 2019
Ping pong balls are always popular and widely available. Especially fun in quantity.
posted by theora55 at 11:16 AM on December 20, 2019
posted by theora55 at 11:16 AM on December 20, 2019
I will second that the catnip banana is our cats' favorite catnip toy as well.
posted by wittgenstein at 2:48 PM on December 20, 2019
posted by wittgenstein at 2:48 PM on December 20, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
Da Bird is the gold standard in kitty toy. Imitations just aren't as good. Plus get a replacement bird if budget allows. Soooo much better than cat dancer.
posted by mightshould at 3:03 PM on December 18, 2019 [7 favorites]