Fabulous Cat Toys

April 25, 2017

Eli, one of our Weight Loss Challenge contestants, is looking forward to more play time with his owner!

Best Cat Toys for Weight Loss & Mental Stimulation

Kitty toys provide environmental enrichment, exercise, and help facilitate weight loss in overweight cats. Aim to have a regular “play date” daily with your cat for at least 15 minutes. Interacting with them using cat toys allows them to “be cats” by hunting and catching their “prey”. Play also provides mental stimulation, decreases boredom, and can significantly decrease or eliminate behavioral problems!

DIY Cat Toys

What are good cat toys? If you’ve ever walked into a cat toy aisle in a store, the choices can seem overwhelming! Many cats are perfectly happy with toys that can be made at home.

• For example, a paper bag with the handles removed will provide you and your cat tons of enjoyment! Cardboard boxes can provide hours of entertainment! Add crumpled paper and your cat may not leave
• You can also use the cardboard cylinders from paper towel or toilet paper rolls or crumple a piece of paper into a ball for great, inexpensive toys.

• Laser pointers are also a lot of fun and an amusing way for a cat to expend their energy, just make sure not to point it into your cat’s eyes.
• Supervised play with a cat wand, found at most pet stores, is an excellent choice. However, we want to make sure the object at the end of the tether is not something they can chew up or swallow, and always put it out of sight and reach when you are not playing with it with your cat.

Dangerous At-Home Cat Toys

Objects that are dangerous for your cat include string, ribbons, thread, dental floss, rubber bands, hair ties, and really anything they can ingest.  We’ve seen cats ingest a sewing needle because it was on the end of a thread! Be careful with curly ribbon used to decorate gifts as cats love to chew on them. If ingested, these types of things can get stuck in your feline friend’s intestines, making your cat very sick and possibly requiring surgery to remove it.

Mental stimulation is just as important as the physical exercise. And only the coolest cats can make neck ties look this great.

Interactive play between you and your cat is entertaining, increases your bond, and provides stress relief for all involved! Make sure to incorporate it into your daily routine!