Jul
2
2010
Does anyone else find that it’s ironic that cats prefer household objects over toys?
I mean, I have gone out and bought some really nice toys for my cats and they will play with them for a few minutes and then never touch it again. If I’m lucky they will like it for a few days. On the other hand, they will go absolutely crazy over a water bottle cap that fell on the floor or some untied shoelaces.
I don’t buy my cats toys because they love paper and bags to jump on and hide in. They also like playing with my 6 year old son’s toys. I will buy them catnip though. They love it!
July 2nd, 2010 at 3:40 pm
Ditto, I quit buying mine store toys a long time ago. They love drinking straws, crumpled paper, plastic noisy bags, small objects on counters to push off, bugs, ect. I bought some catnip spray and sometimes I’ll spray crumpled paper or the bags and they go crazy with it lol. Cats are definetly entertaining sometimes!
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July 2nd, 2010 at 4:28 pm
My cats have everything in fact it looks more like a pet shop in my place but I guess I just wasted money because they spend more time finding wee bits of paper to throw around and my wee baby cat she’s 8 months old just loves to play with plastic or lolly pop straws which she throws under the rug then spends all day trying to get it out ha ha
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July 2nd, 2010 at 4:43 pm
You are not by yourself.I quit buying toys for mine long time ago.Cardboard boxes and paper bags are two items my six enjoy.And don’t forget the plastic golf balls.
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July 2nd, 2010 at 5:05 pm
Yes, they’re much like very young children in that sense!
Give them a great gift (your opinion)… and they play with the box it came in. Despite all the time and money I’ve spent picking out the "perfect" (yeah, my opinion) toys for my two gals… their favorites are an over-sized gift bag, the box for my electric weed whacker (to them, it’s a really cool cat tunnel) and assorted plastic soda tops/milk jug rings. Go figure!!
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July 2nd, 2010 at 5:33 pm
I don’t buy my cats toys because they love paper and bags to jump on and hide in. They also like playing with my 6 year old son’s toys. I will buy them catnip though. They love it!
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July 2nd, 2010 at 6:03 pm
All the cat toys here went in the dumpster years ago and household members are forbidden to bring any more in. The cat would play with them until they knocked them under a couch or the refrigerator and then they would lose interest.
Today the cat plays with huge balls of heavy duty foil wrap and milk bottle caps. We sweep about 10 or more bottle caps out from under the refrigerator and stove every month.
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July 2nd, 2010 at 6:47 pm
Actually mine love their toys. Scruffy and Fluffy both like to play fetch with their little rattling toy mice and they go crazy with their singing birds. When Rocky was younger he liked to fetch the soft bouncy balls. The dog is allowed to play with the rest of their toys but not the mice or birds. Still none of my cats are above playing with the silliest things, like shoestrings, foil balls, boxes, etc., and I’ve made them homemade toys that they play with too.
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July 2nd, 2010 at 7:02 pm
Totally with you there,
My cat Orion has a thing for cable tidys and his little face lights up when he gets one.
The other day whilst at work I thought to my self what have I got in my boot so I took it off and found a cable tidy (skinny ones) in there which means my cat put it there, that made my day I gave it back to him when I got home
and he ran up the stairs as happy as can be.
Another thing Orion goes barmy over is the plastic plug coverings (when you get a new electrical item the plug comes with a cover), I brought him a lovely wobble ball to chase and after a couple of mins he wasn’t interested any more.
I often find that my laces on my work boots have moved during the night and some times I even find the whole boot has moved to the other side of the hall way!
But I wouldn’t have it any other way I love my cat.
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July 2nd, 2010 at 7:21 pm
I’ve had cats that played with store-bought toys, but only if I was there playing with them. DIY didn’t do it for them. Techno stuff like laser pointers and remote control mice were also not well received.
I think the problem with a lot of store-bought toys is that they were designed and mass produced by companies to appeal to pet owners (i.e., the ones doing the buying), with perhaps minimal understanding of what piques a cat’s interest.
But non-toy favorites include tissue paper, paper bags, bows, ribbon, and believe it or not the little plastic ring that attaches the milk cap to the gallon jug. It rolls asymetrically on the floor.
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I have cats in my family