This morning I missed a one in a million camera opportunities with Alexa. I was walking across the kitchen floor in a “must have coffee” stupor when she caught my eye. She was obviously stalking something, which always leads to two questions:
Mouse?!?!?
Have one of my youngest daughter’s hamsters or guinea pigs gotten loose?
Either option would involve me running (either in the opposite direction if it proved to be number 1 and toward the escapee in rescue mode if it were number 2). As I was weighing my options, She leaped into the air and did a pirouette that any ballerina would be jealous of. It hit me then that it was a moth she was having so much fun with. Stalking, jumping, showing off her speed, agility, and beautiful grace.
Then she ate him.
Grace flew out the window.. the moth, not so much.
She was having so much fun for those brief moments that I HAD to look around a few of my favorite websites for cat toys that would simulate this sort of fun and reckless abandonment. I found the perfect thing, the Go Cat Teaser Cat Catcher Wand Cat Toy (46″ Length), pictured above.
Product Description:
Cats will love to jump and play with this teaser cat toy. The flexible wire provides quick movement to test your cat’s agility. He or she will love to try to catch the mouse on this cat toy in mid flight. Great for encouraging interactive play, this cat toy will entertain your kitty for hours.
Cat toys are as popular with cats as they are their parents. Cats love toys and they love to play. After all, why wouldn’t they – cats are simply children wearing fur!
The cat toys in this post are so ridiculously cute I can’t stand it! These adorable cat toys are called “HONKERS.” They’re under stuffed for easy clean up and have 7 squeakers hidden inside to entertain and delight your cat. This toy lays flat or the ends can be attached to make it stand up. Click on any picture or link for more information. When you do so, you’ll see that you can order each individually or buy all 3 in a pack and save.
Take it from someone who spends oodles of time playing with cats, the Petstages Green Magic Boomerang Buddy is a kitty party just waiting to happen.
Like all kids, cats LOVE new and original toys. They love when mom and dad present them with something fresh, fun, and fabulous – you know, something deserving of their attention!
The Green Magic Boomerang Buddy is filled with 100% premium catnip for a powerful catnip scent, meaning your cat(s) will be over the moon.
Remember, playing with your cat isn’t just fun for you, it’s wonderful fun for you cat. It’s also very good for his or her health – physical, emotional, and mental. Cats need the stimulation to stay mentally fit and the exercise keeps them physically fit and healthy. Playtime is also a very special time to bond with your cat, so be sure to make time several times a day to just lose yourself in your cat’s world.
Earlier today, I was sitting outside with our outside cats (Hannah, Jelly Bean, and Queen Fatima). I was playing with Hannah (with a long wildflower). She’d paw at it, then go behind my back and pounce on it. As you may remember, Jelly Bean and Queen Fatima were FERAL kittens when they came into our family. It took months of extreme patience to get them to the point that I could even touch them! Thankfully, today I’m able to pet, rub, and babytalk them just as easily as I can Hannah or Alexa.
However, they’d never shown any inclination to play. They’d always watch me and Hannah. They’d sit right beside me, allowing me to pet them – and they’d even purr the entire time, but they never actually caught on to PLAY.
Until today.
As I slowly drug the wildflower on the ground in front of Queen Fatima (a tiny, adorable little grey cat), she pounced on it – kind of catching herself off guard. I have no idea why, but tears sprang in my eyes as I tried not to laugh too loudly (they’re still really jumpy). When I passed it in front of her again, she swatted at it and looked at Hannah as though to say, “Am I doing it right?”
Jelly Bean came over and decided to take part as well. The only problem was, he decided to lay down right on top of our wildflower!
Game over.
He rolled over, exposing his belly, so of course I had to tickle it. He playfully grabbed my hand, and I was very thankful he left his claws in. I gotta admit, I was a little nervous. I’ve tried to get pictures of them to add to the site, but they don’t pose nearly as well as Hannah and Alexa do. They still aren’t sure about the whole camera thing and I’m not about to push things with them. I’ve seen a lot of feral cats than NEVER let people touch them, I just feel extra blessed that my babies have come this far!
To take a closer look at the toy shown above, and treat your baby to something extra fun, click the following link: Petstages Green Magic Boomerang Buddy
I’m astounded (and, truth be told, saddened) by the number of people who go to Google and enter the words “How to Be Happy.” It can be hard to phantom being so down that you have to LITERALLY search for ways to be happy. Then again, I suppose some people who are “happy enough” search for ways to be even happier.
Who can blame them?
We all want to be as happy as we possibly can be but have you ever stopped to consider that the same can be said of our beloved cats? They want to experience as much happiness and contentment as possible. Naturally all cats are different. Some enjoy sleeping more than playing, some enjoy playing more than sleeping… and some enjoy few things in life quite as much as they do a good meal.
However, regardless of which activities are their favorites, all cats have pretty much the same requirements for happiness:
Food
Fresh water
Clean, quite, private Litter Box or a safe yard
Several comfortable, special places to sleep – free from disturbances and drafts
Scratching posts
Plenty of playtime!
Most loving cat parents provide the best food possible, plenty of fresh water, a clean litter box, scratching opportunities, and great beds – and many even buy their cats plenty of great toys. However what many of us fail to realize is just how important playtime is. Not only does a cat love to play with their toys, they love for their humans to get involved.
Different cats prefer different types of toys. Some cats love toys with crinkly cellophane inside of them, some love toys with bells, while others prefer that their toys look and feel like real prey. Alexa has absolutely zero interest in the crinkly cellophane or bells. She loves nothing more than playing ball, though. Her favorite game involves someone rolling one of her toy balls to her as she bats it back. She seems to especially love it when she bats it past one of us and we have to get it.
Sometimes it feels like she’s “playing fetch” with us… and we’re her pets!
She also loves toys that mimic prey – Cat Toys with feathers, fur, or toys that look like bugs. Like most cats, she loves any sort of playtime that involves her stalking or chasing something.
Sometimes a cat will even create their own “game.” For example, at least once a day, when I go into the back of the house (to put something in the master bathroom or in our closet), Alexa will slink in and hide on the opposite side of our bed. She crouches down and expects me to get on my hands and knees and sneak up on her.
When I get to the edge, she loves for me to put my arm and hand underneath the covers and move it along, making a scratching noise on the mattress. She’ll stand up (ears pinned back in full attack mode), and wait for just the right time to pounce on my poor hand. I learned pretty fast that she pounces with her SHARP claws out as far as they’ll possibly go, so I have to be fast.
That, or reach for the band-aids.
This routine goes on everyday, for about 10 minutes each time. She has a ball, I have a ball, and she looks so stinking cute when she’s stalking my hand I can never keep from laughing (which, I’m sure draws the claws out even further).
Something else I’ve learned over the years with my cats is this: They love the unexpected! If you cats, like ours, have a great number of cat toys and “play pretties,” rotate the collection often. Place different toys in different places – sometimes in places they won’t expect them to be. Alexa has 4 different places in our house where that she “hangs out in” the most: When I’m working online during the day, she sleeps nearby – until lunchtime, of course. Nothing interferes with that girl’s lunch.
During the evening, she has a certain area in the living room, one in the family room, and one in the master bedroom. I kind of rotate different toys amongst her favorite hangouts.
I’ve also found that cats, just like human kids, LOVE it when you come back from the store with something special for them. I’ll often (okay, very often) pick up a little bag of treats, or a special cat toy, that I know she’ll adore. Fortunately, we have a PetSmart in Owensboro, so I’ll never run out of great toys to bring home to her. (By the way, here’s a tip that I think is pretty special. If your cat has certain toys she or he isn’t interested in, bag them up, mark CAT TOYS and take them to Goodwill. How much would it mean for someone who might be a little down on their luck to also have the opportunity to take cat toys home to their precious cats?!)
Speaking of Pet Smart, within this post are a few new toys they have that Alexa speaks highly of. You can always trust Pet Smart to have quality cat food, cat toys, and other cat items (as well as everything you’d need for other pets as well). What’s more, they have the prices I’m always looking for. (Content continued after the cute cat video!)
Cat toys and playtime don’t just lead to happier cats, they lead to healthier cats as well – both physically and mentally. But that’s not all (though it’s certainly enough!), playing with your cat is a perfect way for YOU to relax and unwind. The benefits are amazing, and they definitely go both ways.
Need a toy box for you cat’s toys? Check out the Martha Stewart toy bin below (from PetSmart). Love it! Click the image for a closer look.
Now tell me your cat isn’t going to love this! Cats love, love, love laser toys and this iPad Cat Game takes full advantage of the fun. All cat parents know that it’s very important to keep your cat or kitten mentally and physically active. Mentally and physically active cats are the healthiest and happiest cats, after all.
Check out the video!
You can actually download this adorable game for free by clicking HERE. Hopefully there’ll be a lot more iPad games like this for cats and the people who love them like family (and for good reason, that’s exactly what they are!).
Moderncat is giving away a gorgeous, stylish, and outrageously fun Scratch Tower. What cat wouldn’t want to climb to her heart’s content on such a great tower. Our cats love scratching posts, so we try to keep several on hand… rather, on paw.
What’s more, they’re elegantly pretty for those of us “parents” who like to keep the home at least a little sophisticated-looking. Well, as sophisticated as you can with catnip toys, little stuffed animals, toy mice, and balls strewn from front to back!
As a matter of fact… just now…. on the way from my bedroom to the kitchen, I stepped on two catnip toys and accidentally kicked a purple easter egg toy. Alexa thought that meant it was playtime, so she took off after the egg. We batted it back and forth until we both decided it was snack time.
That’s another great thing about cats – they’re always ready to play and have a great time AND “now” is always the perfect time to grab a snack.
Be sure to hustle over to Moderncat for your chance to win a Cat Scratch tower. Good luck, and if you win one instead of me, I’ll try not to be too disappointed. I might even congratulate you! Might.
Presenting your precious cat with a new toy is every bit as fun and rewarding as presenting a child with a new toy. And why not, our pets are our babies after all! Not only are cat toys fun for cats to play with – giving them entertainment and enjoyment, cat toys are also vital to a cat’s health. They provide a little exercise for your cat (or a lot, depending upon your cat’s energy level!).
Cat toys also keep an inside cat, who doesn’t have other cats or dogs to play with, from getting bored. They keep her mind active and provide a level of the unexpected that she craves nearly as much as she craves tuna. Nearly.
I recently bought Alexa a new toy and she has delighted herself with it for hours since.
Her favorite toys are balls and she’s absolutely on top of the kitty world when we’re in the floor playing baseball. I roll it to her and she swats it with her paw back toward me. She can’t be bothered with running the bases, of course, because she’s conserving her energy and has been since she was a day old.
She also doesn’t go for any “loose” balls if I happen to roll it too far to the left or too far to the right. It’s up to me to retrieve all of these, as well as the ones she swats pass me.
I get quite a workout crawling around like a 12 month old.
Alexa has a toy box (actually a basket) that she loves to grab toys from – but, of course (like all kids) she never puts them back. That’s also left to me.
Since she is one pampered little girl, it’s jut a matter of time. I look forward to chasing this cute little cat toy around… and then putting it back where it goes.
One of us has to.
*** Cat Toy Safety: Be sure to examine your cat’s toys for pieces that have come loose – small parts that could choke your cat. Also, never allow anything near your cat that she could get wrapped around her neck.
Alexa once had, somehow, found a long paper ribbon left over from Christmas. She managed to get part of it down her throat and was as struggling to pull it out. Thanks be to God, I happened to be walking through the room at the time and pulled it out.
How adorable are these cat toys? They’re Perfect Pairs – a boy bear and a girl bear who will amuse and entertain every cat they meet. Anyone with cats in their family knows that their just like children – just shorter and furrier.
Alexa loves toys and little stuffed animals as much as any human kid ever did… and she doesn’t pick up after herself either!
These cat toys, and many others, are from J-B Wholesale Pet Supplies. J-B’s prices are so extraordinary that you can buy more things for he or she who rules the roost.
From the website:
Your cat will be walking down the aisle for these Perfect Pairs. Adorable brides and grooms dressed in their wedding finest, filled with organic catnip.
* Made from soft plush material.
* Grooms all have bow ties and the brides are done up in lace and flowers.
* Filled with genuine organic catnip.
* Package of 2 includes bride and groom.
Order your baby their Perfect Pairs by clicking the link!
One of the things I cherish the most in my e-mail inbox is the daily Cat Age Tip of the Week newsletter. (Click the link to find out how to sign up!)
In today’s tip, we’re reminded how important it is to keep out cats toys and playthings safe.
Here’s the daily tip:
Whether your cat prefers expensive store-bought toys or items found around the house, take care to keep your cavorting cat safe.
To prevent choking, avoid toys with parts that can become detached during play. Bring out the pounce in your pet with safe choices such as a ping-pong ball or a catnip mouse. Playtime with string or yarn should be carefully supervised to prevent your cat from accidentally swallowing it. Finally, secure free-standing kitty condos and cat towers to the floor or wall to keep them from toppling over.
Great advice! I’d also add the following:
Decorative ribbon that’s used for gifts is very enticing to pets. It’s fun to play a great game of tug and catch with them using the bright ribbon. However, this kind shreds pretty easily and could be a real choking hazard to an animal. Last year, Alexa found a strand beneath the Christmas tree and took off for the back of the house. It was as though she knew she had something I didn’t want her to have! I followed to get the ribbon to throw away and, in that little span of time, she had one end down her throat. This year I didn’t even buy this type of rolled ribbon for our presents. I subscribe to the theory of “better unbelievably safe than unbelievably sorry.”
Inspect toys just as you would inspect them for a child. Think of each conceivable possibility – will this small piece come off…. can that get wrapped around her/his neck… that sort of thing.
I love the tip above about securing their towers and condos to the wall. Just because you don’t think it could possibly topple over doesn’t mean it won’t. I never in a gazillion years believed Alexa would be able to turn an ironing board over on herself, but she sure managed. (Yes, as a matter of fact, she does have to be watched like a toddler!) In fact, we have bamboo shelves in the kitchen that she occasionally likes to climb, I need my husband to anchor them to the wall. Our little girl is more of a busy body than Prissy ever was. Prissy rarely climbed anything beyond the couch or the nearest bed. Alexa’s convinced she’s part mountain lion.
Watch out for newspaper left lying around. If your cat is as inquisitive or playful as Alexa (Heaven help you), they probably like to attack the paper and see how fast they can shred it. Little pieces of newspaper can get stuck on the back of the cat’s tongue and become a choking hazard quickly.
While we’re talking about chocking hazards, watch out for the green grass that’s popular in Easter baskets. Like the ribbon and paper, it can become dangerous very fast. Be sure it’s out of your little one’s way.
I guess that’s all of the tips I can think of for now… at least until Alexa gets into something else! If you have any to add, please do so in the comments.
Click the following link for a wonderful article: 10 Ways to Make Your Cat Younger. Oy. I’m almost certain Alexa has no waist definition. I mean, I know she has a waist… somewhere…. She’s all over the other 9 though. She just needs to eat a little less… Maybe cut back to just 1 lunch instead of 3…
Let’s just be honest – few things are anywhere near as cute as a dog or cat with a toy. A dog with a toy bone or a cat with a catnip mouse could melt the coldest heart.
But are their toys actually harmful to them? Of course, every good pet parent knows to look out for small items that their babies could choke on and we all know to avoid anything painted or sharp. However, as a recent article on ASPCA shows, there are some things we might not know.
For the health and safety of your furry babies, read the article linked below, then double check the toy box (or, in our case, toy baskets!)
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