When we started rescuing our cats as kittens, we invested in a lot of cat playthings to keep our growing brood occupied and exercised. The cat tree and scratching mats were not only for exercise, but served a vital purpose in keeping our furniture in one piece, a partial solution at best. Different cats liked different toys. The dangling doorknob hanger was virtually ignored by the first group of insurgent kittens, but totally trashed by the second group the next year. Little balls were of varied interest, except for those made of a soft spongy material. These seemed to be of particular interest as they got stuck on the claws. Shotzi would sit and wave her paw frantically until the ball dislodged, then tear after it. The first rescue group loved to chase the red laser light in the darkened stair or hallway. After the second wave started to arrive, it became just too crowded to play this way safely. Besides jumping over and running into each other constantly, it was harder to be sure I was not going to catch someone’s eyes with the beam. So in the interest of safety, this toy has been abandoned.
Probably the most successful purchased toys have been the ordinary “mouse”. We have had mice of all shapes, sizes, colors, and materials. Furry mice in typical shades of white, gray, black, and brown, were replaced with green, orange, purple and red mice. Some rattled, some did not. Waldo particularly favored the orange, rattling mouse. Sunny’s favorite was also orange, but the body was covered with orange sisal cord. We had plush mice with longer fur, and some with very little fur at all. The mice were even popular after they fell apart. Waldo’s orange mouse lost its covering at one point, and they played with the covering. When the toy box started to get empty, I would go around and sweep under all the furniture with a yardstick and collect the mice pulled out. The largest harvest I ever made was 38 toys, mostly mice.
But we’ve discovered that our cats can be easily entertained by our trash. Small waste cans, beware! All they need is a piece of crinkly paper, say from a candy wrapper, and they are quite happy. The Crystal Light plastic tubs are also highly favored. I had to abandon my bathroom “Dixie” cups. They kept disappearing from the sink to reappear elsewhere in the house. I finally identified Waldo as the thief. Whenever I use aluminum foil in the kitchen, a clean piece is balled up and tossed to the cats.
The best “non-toy” toy is kibble (dry food). Several of our cats do not eat kibble out of the bowl. They use their paws to pull the bits out onto the floor, and then eat it. There is always dry kibble outside the bowl. This gives rise to heated games of kibble-hockey. Two or three cats will engage each other, passing the flying chunk of kibble to each other, stealing it from another, and bouncing it off the baseboards, frantically trying to keep up with it on the smooth kitchen floor. Many time, the water dish was violently emptied as one of the cats flew through the area. This prompted us to put the lighter stainless steel bowl into a heavy ceramic soufflé dish. Haven’t had to clean up too many hockey spills since then. The best advantage of playing kibble-hockey, is that in the end, they can eat the puck. Unfortunately, much is not eaten, and we have to frequently sweep the kitchen floor, or else we cannot walk on it.
So, while purchased toys certainly have their place, we have found our cats can be self-entertained, with supervision. You do not want to let them have anything out of the trash, but many things can keep them entertained for some time, and be picked up later for disposal. It works for us.