Which toys?

**Scrapdragon** · 22nd February 2010, 07:51 AM

Last night I found an online pet shop in Australia and went through the toys...

$100 later in my cart...

oops me bad...

but I stopped and thought I would have another look... especially as it's still 6 weeks before I even get him!

But which toys would you recommend????

Gryfn will be home during the day when I'm at work (even though sometimes dh will be home) but I want to make sure he doesn't get bored.
He will be going outside into a cat run so I'm thinking of hanging some fun toys for him out there too.... but not really sure what to get.

**harrymc** · 22nd February 2010, 10:05 AM

OOOh, it's easy done Scrpdragon but I have found with Harry that an empty toilet roll, pens, rolled up socks, laptops, tv's keep him more occupied than many of the toys that we have bought him. His latest is my daughters hairclips which he steals and hides, I did find a cat dvd which sounds bizarre I know but it's made for cats to watch. I haven't bought it because hubby thought I was absolutely crazy ! ;)

**Scrapdragon** · 22nd February 2010, 10:17 AM

welll actually the cat dvd isn't that silly really... we have a cat who used to always sit and watch tv... especially animal planet!
I might save my money then and make some home made toys for him.

**Tomiam** · 22nd February 2010, 03:16 PM

Im working on a thread entitled "Cheap Cat Toys" where the idea is to come up with easily sourced stuff to make free / cheap toys. I too nearly spent a fortune, but then quickly found that they play with a £1.00 item as much as a £1000.00 item. Ive got a small collection of ideas and video + photos to accompany them at the moment.

Easy ideas like:
1: Some form of stick (garden cane / old duster handle) + string + ball of newspaper tied to the end. (Note this needs to be put away after playing due to the string. Dont want it getting swallowed and stuck)

Cant promise but I will try and get it posted asap.

**RiaBoo** · 22nd February 2010, 03:36 PM

It's amazing what things they take to. At the moment, Hank loves my daughters hair bobbles (the furry ones), he also loves playing with toilet roll tubes, fluff, my handbag, buttons, basically anything that he can push around, shiny or fluffy! Lol.

I even filled a paint tray with water (in the shower) and he paddles in that all the time.

Looking forward to your ideas Tomiam, could do with saving some money, lol.

**missdiane** · 22nd February 2010, 07:30 PM

I wouldn't spend money either, mine just seems to destroy anything I spend money on

At the moment she is destroying/playing with...
ping pong ball, beads, lids off various things, sellotape roll, folded crisp packets, Xmas bows, various string type things, a wind up toy

**mcguy** · 22nd February 2010, 07:43 PM

Our cats do play with lots of everyday things, though many of their favorites are not what we want them to play with (e.g., bottle lids, tube caps, things that we do not want lost). I have always thought that the toilet paper rolls would be great fun, but not a single one of our MCs has ever done more than bat one a couple of times before walking away. Total bust. Cats vary!

Besides the obvious small soft/furry mice, if I had to pick the number one favorite toy of most of our cats as kittens, it would be these:
Petmate Looney-Loops Cat Toy at PETCO

I have spent hours and hours shooting these around the house for the cats to chase, and current kitten loves batting them around by himself on the kitchen tile. They are pretty cheap, but you have to own quite a few of them because they keep getting temporarily lost. I think we have bought 4-5 packs of them. Only ever seen these at Petco unfortunately.

A more pricey classic favorite of all our cats is the Star Chaser (*every* breeder has these):
Star Chaser Turbo Scratcher Cat Toy at PETCO

By contrast, the more enclosed ball loops are fun for young MC kittens, but their paws quickly get too large for most so I would not recommend buying them. The open Star Chaser is much more practical. Even if they are only mildly interested in the ball, they will probably love the scratching part.

**Scrapdragon** · 23rd February 2010, 03:30 AM

I decided today to do a search on Google and found this article.
Has some good ideas in it....

How to Make Cat Toys - wikiHow

If I find more I will post them.

**Scrapdragon** · 23rd February 2010, 04:49 AM

Here is another...

Make Your Own Cat Toys: Inexpensive Do-It-Yourself Playthings For Your Pet

I went to our local cheap shop and craft shop and bought a bag of feathers, large pompoms and some cord and bells all for under $10AU so will have a go at making some fishing lures. I have some dowell at home so I will use that.