Best Toys for Cats To Play With Alone: 6 Top Picks for Cats and Kittens!

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Cats love to play, and providing them with stimulating and safe toys is crucial. Popular cat toys include interactive toys like laser pointers and feather teasers and chewable toys like stuffed mice and balls. Let’s look at the best toys for cats to play with alone.

Entertaining your cat remains crucial to owning one, so they can feel loved and appreciated. While you should interact with your cat and play games with them, your furry friend sometimes needs alone time or ways to entertain themselves. Puzzle feeders and treat dispensers, scratching posts, scratching mats, hide-and-seek boxes or tunnels, climbing towers, and window perches are all great options.

Instead of expecting them to find their own entertainment, you can find the best toys for cats to play with alone, so they’ll always have fun and remain entertained. It’s important to provide variety and rotate toys regularly to keep your cat interested. To ensure they stay safe, look for high-quality materials free from toxins and potential choking hazards.

This article will look at the best toys for cats to play with alone, we’ll also discuss what to consider before choosing a toy for your pet.

What To Look for When Buying Toys for Your Cats

Considering what your cat needs should help you decide what to look for in a toy. Doing so will benefit your cat in multiple ways, such as keeping them entertained, making the toy attractive, and making the cat happy.

Do your best to review those points to know what works for your cat:

Know Your Cat

Ultimately, you must understand your cat to buy a great toy for them. Don’t purchase a toy if you know your cat doesn’t like something or may fear. However, if you notice loud objects attract your cat, get a toy that makes plenty of noise to make them happy.

Look Through the Features

When choosing the best cat toys, it’s important to look for high-quality materials that are free from toxins and potential choking hazards.

You should compare the features associated with each toy to get a feel for what you can expect. For example, some may last a while, and others may break easily. The same applies to anything that requires batteries if it runs electronically and interacts with your cat.

Pick Something Enticing

Generally speaking, you want to choose an enticing toy for your cat. Pick something that draws attention to itself by making noise or moving so your cat has a reason to interact with it. Cats love toys that allow them to activate their predatory instincts, so keep that in mind.

Identify Potential Problems

Do your best to identify problems your cat could face from the toys, such as safety issues before you buy one. For example, if you think the toy could put your cat in harm’s way or if the toy could damage your house, you may want to choose a different option.

It’s also a good idea to inspect all new items before introducing them to your pet – remove or repair any damaged parts and discard toys with loose strings, ribbons, or other small pieces. Additionally, opt for age-appropriate toys that are sized correctly for your cat’s size and activity level.

Five of the Best Toys for Cats

Now that you know the important points regarding toys, try the best ones on the market. Knowing and understanding the types will help you pick a great toy, see what your cat likes, and help them avoid boredom.

Toy Balls

You can also purchase toy balls for your cat since they offer multiple points that make them ideal for felines.

They roll around the room
They can bounce and move
They’re always interactable

Since the ball rolls around the room, your cat can easily hit and chase after it. The bouncing and movement make it ideal for simulating hunting, which cats enjoy. It also remains interactable and something they can always play with, meaning they won’t get bored for a while.

You can buy more toy balls of various sizes to add variety to the play sessions. See which interests your cat the most, purchase those options, and let your cat have fun even if you can’t be in the house.

Cat Towers

Cats always enjoy climbing and playing, making cat towers ideal for most situations. You can build them high, and some even allow you to adjust them how you want, making them more fun for your cat.

Not only can your cat jump and climb through the cat tower, but they can rest on it if they become tired. Cat towers also work well for scratching since your cat can quickly put its claws into the posts and other areas without damaging essential items in your house.

Your cat may even want to sleep and play on the cat tower when you’re at home, making it a versatile and common toy you can keep around the house.

Scratching Posts

Regarding cat towers, scratching posts can also make a difference while entertaining cats. They want something they can put their claws into and use, making the scratching posts ideal for their uses.

If you train them to use the posts and avoid scratching other parts of the house, they can have fun with minimal problems. You can also buy more scratching posts or replace them as needed to keep your cat entertained while also encouraging their instincts.

Treat-Dispensing Toys

Many cat owners purchase treat-dispensing toys for their cats. These devices require cats to interact with, play with, or solve them to get the treats. As they keep trying, the treats will fall out of the toys, allowing them to enjoy the snack.

Not only do these keep your cat entertained and distracted, but you teach them to enjoy those toys and associate positive emotions with those interactions. That way, whenever your cat sees the treat dispensers, they’ll want to play with the toy and see what it drops.

You can also find toys with catnip in them, which can be appealing to cats, but they can also cause a mess.

Budget-Friendly Toys

Sometimes, you don’t have the money to purchase multiple toys for your cat, so it doesn’t hurt to look through budget-friendly options. Doing so means looking at potential items around your home or purchasing cheap items to make something for your feline.

Toilet paper rolls with holes in them
Cardboard boxes with holes
Tie old, ripped T-shirts together

Toilet paper rolls work well since the cat can interact with them, move them around, and scratch them up. A cardboard box with T-shirts in the holes can let the cat run into them and have fun while popping out of the T-shirts.

You can also tie T-shirts together by ripping them apart and knotting them. Again, ensure you have them in thinner strips and not too long, so your cat won’t get tangled in them.

Some of the most popular DIY cat toys include crinkle balls made from paper bags or aluminum foil and stuffed animals crafted from fabric scraps. You can also use cardboard boxes to make hide-and-seek tunnels and scratching posts out of carpet remnants or sisal rope – just be sure to avoid items with glue, staples, or other sharp edges that could be hazardous.

Additionally, look around the house for items like ping-pong balls and plastic water bottles to turn into fun playthings.

Best Toys for Cats to Play with Alone: Final Thoughts

As you understand the best toys for cats to play with alone, you can determine which works best for your furry friend. So review the best options, see what your cat will like, and purchase them to cover your feline’s needs.

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