Help my cats find their favorite toy!!
March 12, 2019 10:26 AM Subscribe
I have three adorable cats (obligatory photos inside!) and they all love their favorite toy mouse. I'd like to buy them a whole pack, but I can't find any toys that have the same combination of rattle, weight, and small size! Can you help me find some more and make my kitties very happy indeed?
I have three kitties (a senior boy and two rambunctious younguns.) They are all obsessed with their favorite toy mouse and will play with it for hours. I live in terror of this mouse going missing and when it gets stuck under the fridge, it is a National Kitty Emergency. I'd love to buy them some more, but I can't find any similar toys! So I turn to you, cat aficionados of MeFi, for help.
Size: about 1.5" - 2" long, big enough to kick around and pounce on but small enough to carry proudly around the house to show nearest human. Here's a picture of the mouse in question, with a quarter for scale.
Sound: definitely some kind of rattle component in there. Makes an audible noise.
Stuffing: The mouse seems to be soft felt over hard plastic -- it definitely has an internal structure, which apparently makes it very satisfying to bite. As far as I know, there's no catnip or any other attractants in it.
Weight: This is the best part according to my cats. The mouse is definitely filled with something, either sand or small weighted pellets. It's unusually heavy for its size (for a cat toy) and the weight shifts around a little when it's moved, which drives my feline nerds absolutely insane with joy. We've found other toys with the other qualities but they are snubbed as inferior because they don't have the proper heft.
My cats inform me that they are not wedded to the idea of a mouse toy, but would really like something roughly similar. If you have a toy that your cat loves that meets some or all of these criteria, please tell me all about it! The cats thank you in advance for your service to their noble cause.
I have three kitties (a senior boy and two rambunctious younguns.) They are all obsessed with their favorite toy mouse and will play with it for hours. I live in terror of this mouse going missing and when it gets stuck under the fridge, it is a National Kitty Emergency. I'd love to buy them some more, but I can't find any similar toys! So I turn to you, cat aficionados of MeFi, for help.
Size: about 1.5" - 2" long, big enough to kick around and pounce on but small enough to carry proudly around the house to show nearest human. Here's a picture of the mouse in question, with a quarter for scale.
Sound: definitely some kind of rattle component in there. Makes an audible noise.
Stuffing: The mouse seems to be soft felt over hard plastic -- it definitely has an internal structure, which apparently makes it very satisfying to bite. As far as I know, there's no catnip or any other attractants in it.
Weight: This is the best part according to my cats. The mouse is definitely filled with something, either sand or small weighted pellets. It's unusually heavy for its size (for a cat toy) and the weight shifts around a little when it's moved, which drives my feline nerds absolutely insane with joy. We've found other toys with the other qualities but they are snubbed as inferior because they don't have the proper heft.
My cats inform me that they are not wedded to the idea of a mouse toy, but would really like something roughly similar. If you have a toy that your cat loves that meets some or all of these criteria, please tell me all about it! The cats thank you in advance for your service to their noble cause.
Every cat I've known has loved toy mice made with rabbit fur.
and Amazon has a list.
I would buy All The Mice you can find; they will all still fight over 1 of them because, cats.
posted by theora55 at 10:53 AM on March 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
and Amazon has a list.
I would buy All The Mice you can find; they will all still fight over 1 of them because, cats.
posted by theora55 at 10:53 AM on March 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
we have these mice from Petco that, while not identical, seem like they might be pretty close?
posted by bowmaniac at 11:40 AM on March 12, 2019
posted by bowmaniac at 11:40 AM on March 12, 2019
Excellent cat tax!
Would these sand-filled mice perhaps meet the exacting standards? They are fur, but the listing claims that it is reclaimed fur.
Or these mice, though they seem rather sketchy and perhaps prone to arriving unfilled?
Or these non-fur mice? There aren't any reviews, but also under $9 for 20 of them.
posted by past unusual at 1:07 PM on March 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
Would these sand-filled mice perhaps meet the exacting standards? They are fur, but the listing claims that it is reclaimed fur.
Or these mice, though they seem rather sketchy and perhaps prone to arriving unfilled?
Or these non-fur mice? There aren't any reviews, but also under $9 for 20 of them.
posted by past unusual at 1:07 PM on March 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
The "rather sketchy" white+colored mice linked above are available from *many* Amazon sellers; I expect they all come from the same factory. One of our cats was obsessed with them for a couple of weeks, but now of course ignores them completely.
Definitely going to try theora55's rabbit-fur mice.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 1:31 PM on March 12, 2019
Definitely going to try theora55's rabbit-fur mice.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 1:31 PM on March 12, 2019
These are not mouse-shaped but they are the only thing* according to my own cat; the main attraction is the erratic bouncing when they're (person) thrown or (cat) swatted, which seems like a similar attraction to the weight-shifting that you describe. If you need to tack on an additional few toys when ordering some mice to make free shipping, and if you want to try them on something related-but-a-little-different, I can't recommend these highly enough. Not super-cheap, but they do last, and they come in packs of three -- the different foam-colours are actually slightly different densities, with slightly different bounce-styles for added feline enticement. They are very good for biting, carrying, and curling-around-and-back-feet-batting.
*well, also corks, which she will also deign to play with, but literally only champagne corks because she is An Aristocrat, apparently
posted by halation at 6:56 PM on March 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
*well, also corks, which she will also deign to play with, but literally only champagne corks because she is An Aristocrat, apparently
posted by halation at 6:56 PM on March 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
@halation Aristocat
posted by jzb at 12:00 AM on March 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by jzb at 12:00 AM on March 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
Those look to be similarly sized to these Zany Hypno Mice, which my cat loves like no other toy. Not only do they rattle, but when tossed, they bounce in an unpredictable fashion, which adds to the fun of the chase.
He loves them so much, in fact, I bought him the 48-count pack for Christmas a couple of years ago, to ensure he'd have a long-term supply.
posted by Lunaloon at 12:02 PM on March 13, 2019
He loves them so much, in fact, I bought him the 48-count pack for Christmas a couple of years ago, to ensure he'd have a long-term supply.
posted by Lunaloon at 12:02 PM on March 13, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by terrapin at 10:35 AM on March 12, 2019