Why are cat toys that move the best kind to get? It’s exasperating when your finicky felines would rather ignore those cute playthings you paid good money for. Am I right? Who tested all these things, anyway? And have you ever noticed that your cat would rather play with inanimate, ordinary objects instead?
You know how important it is for cats to be engaged in play…being nocturnal, liking to rest and take it easy during the day, in the evening they revert to bundles of energy. The term “midnight zoomies” seem familiar? Well, that’s what it is…My guys are always more krunk at night. How do I, and you, get them to wind down for the night? By actively engaging them with activity . The tricky part is understanding what kinds of playthings are intriguing to them, and which don’t as much.
There’s always exceptions, of course. Take Blaze, for example….We bought her a pack of toy balls a while back and there’s nothing e special about them, they’re just marketed to cats….When she understood what they were, she can’t get enough of scattering and chasing them around the house.This one just wants to play…period. My philodendron which always gets long and gangly, found her attempting to swing like Tarzan on one of the branches. So she had to be discouraged.
Hands-Off Toys vs Motion Activated
This is an assortment of my cats’ toys. One of the small ones includes catnip mice, feathers, and a remote controlled gerbil. The “gerbil” runs on AA batteries, and when a switch is flipped will do a little gyrating, which entices cats, supposedly.. Laser pointers are quite popular, as you push a button on the side and shine a red dot up and down and watch your cats chase it. The circular object is a popular object and multi functional as well.
The cardboard part is intended for scratching, then there is a feather dangler in the center, but the creme de la creme is the balls in the middle which are mounted in a track in the center. When the balls move, the cats get excited and try to catch them as they move.
They seem less intrigued by this one.Many times it seems to sit there ignored; for awhile, the feather on top of it, if I’d push it backward, and as it sprung back it will get Blaze’s attention long enough for her to pick up where i left off…until it gets old for her.
There’s another variation with this that works with a ball, it resembles a grid with round openings in rows (kind of like the Connect Four game) Cats can reach in with their paws and try to chase it through the maze of openings.
I’ve found hands-off kinds of toys the least intriguing to cats. There was one thing that Blaze kind of liked and that was a motorized soft fish that would flop around when she picked it up. It has a sensor on the inside, you charge it with a usb port and set the switch to on and this does keep her entertained as long as the charge does. Hands off toys for cats usually need batteries to do that function, so your best option, I’ve heard of something called the Fling a ma string. It takes batteries, and when switched on a string inside continuously moves stimulating your cats attention to keep trying to get at it.
I don’t know if the Fling-a-ma String is still on the market, but it was a great concept that ticked off all the boxes.
So, the best cat toys that move will always need some kind of battery or sensor to do their thing that entices cats.
After that, you really should be playing with your cat, the best interactive toy that involves you and your cat(s) in my opinion, is the laser pointer. They run on small watch-size batteries, but they’re very cheap as far as cat toys go and cats not only love chasing that red dot, it’s great exercise too. In all the cats I’ve used a laser pointer to interact with, only one got scared of it, and that cat was an anomaly.
Second best is objects that dangle, like feather wands. Hold the wand just above your cats head and watch her leap up to try to grab the feather, each time hold it in a different place this will stimulate your cat’s instinct to hunt and catch things.
How to Get Your Cat Interested in a New Toy
Two of the best ways to get your cat interested: a little bit of catnip some like it, some don’t) and attempting to play with the object yourself, is all it takes. When your scent is on the object, they start to get interested as cats will always follow your scent. Try not to make it look like your idea, and be patient, as cats have this way of sensing when we want them to “do something” …Cats are perverse, gotta love ’em!!
Hopefully, you understand that regular play with your cats is very important. Bored cats, lay or overweight, all of these situations can be changed. Never be too busy for your feline friend!
