Cat Toy Hall of Fame: Cheap Cat Toys

In my previous post I showed you just some of the cat toys you can make at home for free. Today I want to highlight five cat toys that are less than $5 apiece (read: CHEAP!). Now, I always say 'You get what you pay for,' so these toys certainly aren't going to last forever. But if you try them and your cats love them as much as mine do, I think you'll agree it balances out. So here we go!

1. Laser toy. Lasers are no longer avant-garde technology, so you can actually find keychain laser pointers for cheap at a dollar store or super center near you. This particular toy is specifically marketed as a pet toy; you can find it at Ace Hardware for $2.29, but it often goes on sale for $1. Now, not ALL cats enjoy chasing a laser, as a rule, but many younger cats, especially, will go bananas for it. It's a fantastic way to exercise your cat without having to move much yourself. Experts recommend tossing your cats a real toy throughout the chase, so they have something to 'catch.' A reward with a few treats after playtime is always nice, too. 

2. Grreat Choice Feather Tailed Catnip Mouse. I call these "mouskies", because they're so furry they must be from Russia. They are very inexpensive ($1.19), and can be purchased from the bulk toy bins at PetSmart or online. They feature a tail of feathers and rattles inside. Make sure you pick one that rattles really good. My cat Baby has always really enjoyed these mice, though he prefers the grey color over the tan color in the picture. 

3. Grreat Choice Crinkle Ball. Some cats love the crinkly sound of these foil balls, which can also be found in the bulk toy bins at PetSmart for only 0.99 - so cheap you can go ahead and buy a few. Pick some that aren't too flattened - the ball shape makes it perfect for tossing and rolling.

4. Big Ol' Catnip Sack. In store, I have only been able to find these at Pet Supplies Plus, and there may not be one of those near you. But you can buy them online at various sites for around $3.  Two things I love about this toy: one, the catnip is very potent, and two, the canvas construction is quite durable. My outdoor cat Ollie adores this toy - he slobbers all over it until the whole sack has turned green. You probably don't need to buy this specific catnip pouch. There are plenty on the market, and you may even be able to find someone locally who makes them by hand. But I recommend this one because my cats seems to prefer it over any others I've tried. 

5. SmartyKat Skitter Critters Catnip Mice. I buy these at Target in packs of three for $1.97, but they are also available online from various retailers. They used to be made of a canvas-type material; now they're made of a furry cloth, but no matter! The cats love them anyhow. Their small compact bodies fit perfectly in a cat's mouth, just like a real mouse. They feature twine tails, sewn eyes, and fabric ears, which in my experience have never fallen off, so extra points for durability. My cats will play fetch with these mice for a long while, up until they push them out of reach under the sofa, which I'm sad to say is the fate of most of their toys. 

These are my recommendations for cheap cat toys, one tier up from free. There are SO many cat toys on the market that you may find many others. It's important to experiment and find the toys that really get your cats excited for playtime, and since most of these only cost a dollar or two, how could you go wrong???

Cat Toy Hall of Fame: Thrifty Cat Toys

Activity is a very important part of a cat's day, although some might think otherwise. It's actually not normal or healthy for a cat to nap all day and night, contrary to widely-held popular opinion. Cats have an instinctive drive to hunt; even if they have never set a toe outdoors, you may catch your cat 'hunting' stray socks, light reflections, dust bunnies, or even his own tail. It's important for your cat's hunting drive to be satisfied, or he may start acting out in inappropriate ways, such as attacking YOU or guests to your home. A bored cat is an unhappy cat. But you don't need to spend a small fortune on the latest and greatest cat toys to keep your cat happy. In fact, you probably don't need to spend anything at all. Here I have compiled a list of cats toys that are certain to keep your cat busy, and, best of all, are FREE.

1. An old shoelace. Dangle it, drag it - eventually a wiggly string will catch even the laziest cat's eye. The string in the photo was once the drawstring of one of my hoodies. It came out in the wash, and you know how impossible it is to get those things back in. Now it is now one of my cats' most favorite toys. *Note: It is not recommended to allow cats to play with strings unsupervised.

2. Wire bread ties. I call them 'twisty ties'. Call them what you will, there's just something very attrative about the way it looks coupled with the way it flies across the floor with a flick of a paw... My cat Spike in particular goes nuts for these things. He steals them when I'm making lunch. There are probably 40 under our fridge right now. For similar reasons, both of my cats also adore chenille craft sticks (pipe cleaners). *Note: It is recommended that you supervise playtime with these toys as they can pose a choking hazard.

3. A ball made from an empty toilet paper tube. Talk about up-cycling! How many of these do you throw away in a week? This doodad is so easy to make: just cut the tube into chunks and stuff them together into a ball. My cats like these so much I was hardly able to snap these photos before they swiped it.

4. An empty paper towel tube. You could go out and spend $15 on a Kong Kickeroo...OR you could just rescue one of these from the trash instead. Spike really likes sinking his claws and teeth into one of these, and I much prefer he do that than sink his claws and teeth into my arm. He also likes to lie in his side and kick it with his strong back feet. This 'thumping' (as I call it) is a hunting device used by cats in the real world, and really burns up some energy. You can variate the old paper towel tube in many ways: cut some fringe into one end, seal the ends and fill with dry rice or beans or even catnip, or even snip a few small holes throughout and fill with yummy treats. The possibilities are endless.

5. Crumpled-up paper. My cat Baby loves nothing more than a wadded up paper napkin. I guess he likes the feeling of ripping it to shreds with his teeth and claws. Regardless, it's probably the easiest (and laziest) way to keep him busy for a few moments. 

With a little creativity and a pair of scissors, you can turn all sorts of useless things into super fun cat toys. And cats DO like them, I promise! Spike and Baby had so much fun helping me make this post that I made a video to share with you - proof that cats don't care how much or how little you paid for the toy as long as they get to kill it! So, no more excuses. Have some fun with your cat today!

Trouble Is A Friend

Is it possible to have too many cats in your life? Yes, I suppose it is. I myself have had moments where I've had just about enough of cats.

Spike likes to be involved in
everything I do. Here he is
'helping' me with the dishes.

Today, for example, Spike the Terror sneaked up to the table at lunchtime and as soon as I turned my back, he stole a slice of ham right out of my sandwich! Later, when I had just gotten home from work and really just wanted to rest for a while, Spike the Terror struck again! What fun it would be, he thought, to chew on this wire connecting your phone to the wall. Not long after I distracted him from that game, he decided to play 'chew on a plastic bag and see how long it takes human to come stop me from choking to death'. Ultimately, I shut him out of my room so he could be someone else's problem for a while.

Sometimes having cats is not unlike having small children. They need to be fed and cleaned up after, they keep you from your sleep, they sometimes need to be entertained or distracted, and if you aren't consistent with discipline, they turn into real terrors. They also need to be closely watched to ensure they don't stick their little fingers into an electrical socket, or something of that nature. I can't tell you how many times Baby has been caught trying to swallow lengths of ribbon and string. Like an infant, anything he finds on the floor goes right into his mouth. It makes me worry what they get into when I'm not home.

Baby likes to hide in the tunnel and attack unsuspecting passerby.

But I'm pretty sure that when I'm not around, they're innocently sleeping the hours away. Waiting. Conserving their energy for when I get home, at which time they will tear through the house like wild animals, knocking over potted plants and glasses of water, and just in general make nuisances of themselves.

On the other hand, those rare moments when they're being sweet and cuddly and paw-pawing your lap kind-of make up for their unending shenanigans. Sometimes I wonder, why do I have these cats? They're more trouble than their worth! I often threaten to take them back where I found them. (Not that it makes any difference.) But then there are days like yesterday, when I woke up just before noon, and all three cats were tucked up next to me in a row--a rare moment indeed! In moments like that - when you wake up with a smile on your face - you remember why they are worth it.

A picturesque Sunday morning: Baby in the foreground, Ollie in the middle, and Spike at the end.

Just Your Typical Crazy Cat Lady

I have often been fondly (or not so fondly) referred to as a 'Crazy Cat Lady'. I always smile and go along with the joke; after all, I can't deny that I'm crazy about cats. Yet I am not your typical Cat Lady.

The term 'Crazy Cat Lady' tends to call to mind a single, older woman, living alone in a tiny, cluttered house with about two dozen cats. You know who I'm talking about: she wears sweat pants and a bathrobe; her hair is frizzy and flyaway; and a certain 'cat' smell lingers all around her. She doesn't really have friends, except maybe other cat ladies, because she really just prefers the company of her furry, four-legged 'family'.

In the mornings you'll see her step out onto the stoop, hear her call aloud to all the neighborhood felines while she dumps inordinate amounts of dry kibble into plastic bins lined up on her porch. You'll not see her much beside that, and you'll notice that no one comes to visit her because they can't abide the overwhelming odor of cat pee that permeates her home.

That, and the fact that she's half-mad. Each of her 'babies' has a name and a unique personality (even though they all look the same to you), and she spends her days having full-blown conversations with them. One of her cats will look up and meow at her, to which she will eagerly reply, "Yes, I know! I know!" and promptly go to fetch the treats. Sometimes she'll even respond with a meow of her own. It's almost eerie how she and the cats seem to be on the same wavelength. For these and other reasons, she tends to be ostracized by her community.

This a "Crazy Cat Lady Action Figure" that you can buy online. What makes this funny to me is that she only has, what? Six or seven cats? She really ought to be called "Average Cat Lady Action Figure".

Sound familiar? That's the age-old portrait of the Crazy Cat Lady, and, sure, even while I was writing it, I felt at moments that I was writing about myself. But let me tell you why that label doesn't quite fit me:

1. I'm not old. I'm only in my mid-twenties. Though I've had cats all my life...

...Okay, reading back through, I've realized that just about everything in the description I provided also applies to me. Except the smell thing -- for the record, I bathe daily and I keep the litter boxes clean and odor-free. Also, I don't have 24 cats. Yet.

But it's true that I don't have many friends, and I don't go out much, and I'm 'terminally single', as I like to call it. I don't care too much about how I look or what others think of me. And I talk to my cats ALL the time. ...Let's just say I'm a budding Cat Lady.

This was a gift from a friend who may know me a little too well.

But, hey! What's so wrong with that? I know many ladies who, it's likely, have also been labelled as Cat Ladies, and they are some of the most intelligent and compassionate people I have ever been blessed to meet. Why should being a cat lady be a stigma? Is it wrong to care about and even love those that may be considered beneath you? Is it unhealthy to surround yourself with the things that make you most happy? Are we degrading ourselves by committing our personal time and money to the care of those who would otherwise be hungry and homeless? If so, then so be it. I'm pretty sure all of us 'Crazy Cat Ladies' would just keep doing it anyway.

What I'm driving at is that, as humans, we all have our own unique passions and interests, and many of us feel a sort of responsibility to focus those passions toward helping others. Is that crazy? After all, the men and women who zealously protect our country aren't called 'Crazy Soldier People', are they? Those who feed the hungry and heal the sick in Africa aren't laughingly called 'Crazy Africa People'. No; instead, they are respected and admired for their contributions toward the betterment of our planet.

Perhaps our society should think of the Crazy Cat Lady in those terms. She may not be saving human lives, but she is giving everything she's got to help another living creature. Her contributions may be slight, but if everyone on Earth gave as much as she gives every day, imagine what a world it would be! Her heart is filled with love, and her home is always open to 'just one more'. If only everyone could each find the 'Crazy Cat Lady' inside of themselves.

"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."

-Immanuel Kant