Best cat toys to keep indoor cat amused please

[JanuaryBluehoo]

We have beautiful girl, not sure whether she will always be indoor but she had tummy issue's and not spayed yet.

It's really very cat-specific. We have two indoor cats. One loves most of the toys we give her, and the other can't be bothered with any of them. You have to buy an assortment and see what she plays with.

Sparklingcat only really likes the wand toys and is hopeless at entertaining herself.
Mum’s cat loves a ping pong ball, and drinking straws to play with.

Water fountain - cat mate is good as they prefer running water.

b&m do £3 scratch box/boards you put car nip on. Brilliant.

lots of scratching posts!

Cat not 🚙 !

Cat TV on YouTube keeps mine entertained.

Mine are obsessed with Da Bird, together with a three-branch cat tunnel. They position themselves at one entrance of the tunnel while you wave the feather toy at the other, then zoom through and grab the toy.

Also any cardboard box, tin foil rolled into a tight ball a bit smaller than a ping pong ball, or balls of scrunched up paper.

Male Cat-
laser light , he menaces DH to put his light on
flapping fish soft toy but only if it's switched off

Female Cat-
little mouse toy , long parted from its string
a box , any empty box and its hers

On the "No ,Give That Back" list
hairbands and elastic bands but we always take these off her and keep them out of reach in case she swallows them
emery boards , she likes the texture

Oh yes, Magpies For Cats !
Little Boy get very animated by this

Wand toys are the number 1 for all three of my cats. At least twice a day for ten minutes they get a proper run around the house with me and a wand and it's invaluable to keeping them fully stimulated as indoor cats.

Tunnels

Scratch posts and cat trees of all sorts- preferably situated around windows.

They LOVE the laser but I use it sparingly as I worry that in the absence of getting to "catch" the thing they'll feel unfulfilled.

Cat grass mats are cheap recyclable and a pain to get out, quickly ruined, but it's a few hours of proper fun especially for kittens!

Toys that are only attractive if rotated! - Scrunchy balls and springs
Electric fish
Door hung mouse
Treat dispensing ball
Electric mouse house thing
Kickers

Agree it's cat specific. We got a Kong kickeroo, which seems to be in every top 10 list of best cat toys. Mine is terrified of it

Egg-shaped ping pong balls are good as they roll in unpredictable directions. Also a tunnel.

My childhood cat loved a ball made of tin foil and would play fetch like a dog with it.

Cardboard boxes, shoe laces, balls, the top of the milk bottle.

If you want a real toy, we've had most success with these for kittens and young cats in our experience of fostering:

www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/cat_toys/miscellaneous/other_interactive_toys/626847

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224159561285 (we got one of these as an Aldi or Lidl special, although they seem to be available from ebay etc)

www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/cat_toys/valerian/372162 (I think valerian is similar to catnip).

Plus laser mice if you want to play with them, but they seem to get really frustrated trying to catch the laser, so I'm not sure if it's actually fun for them.

Cat tunnels - we have one made of fabric the other of cardboard. He likes the sound of objects being pulled along them or grabbing them through the holes.

Loves wands with caterpillar/worm attached. Made it double length and he chases it up the stairs. Likes it being pulled back and forth over the tunnels.

Massages with a wooden spoon. He was obsessed with wooden spoons for a while.

He carries a small fabric bird toy around with him.

A fabric fish with a wiggly tail you can charge up.

Balls he can chase. He can also catch a small ball.

Maybe Google clicker training - my cat can do different commands like sit/down/beg and high five.

Our Siamese particularly like the wand type , probably because it means someone has to play . They also like the small Kong cat soft toys which they carry about and for Christmas I bought them some chirpy soft birds ( Amazon) and they have chewed them so much they are disgusting and need replacing already .

Also a tunnel

The tunnel is hugely popular with our masters cats. We made one with three cardboard boxes from Amazon stuck end to end. They run through them at speed or hide in them.

My indoor cats like anything that takes their attention at that moment. They live their cat trees and hammocks, soft balls, toy mice, flippin fish toy, bits of tinsel, bouncy fluttery birds which hang of the doors, scratching boxes/posts, cat tunnels and best of all their catio and a selection of my most expensive yarns which are tantalisingly hidden in a cupboard.

Current 'not my cat' loves:
Wand toys, preferably feathers that look like birds when flicked around, or soft and fluffy that he can lick to death once caught

Anything that makes a rustling noise that he can pounce on/hide under/run through e.g. Cat tunnel, thick brown packing paper, an old shower curtain (yes really)

Being chased by me up and down the hallway ('Cos yes of course i have TIME for that when working for home!)

Cardboard boxes he can hide in, preferably with a hole cut out so he can run through it when being chased by me (see above,..)

Silvervine sticks to chew and anything with Catnip in it

'Flipping fish' (though was not keen at first, try with the flippy tail off first)

An old piece of yoga mat & an old flat cushion that he can kick the shit out of

Anything dangly and which he shouldn't touch (handbag straps, charging cables, fairy lights etc)

Has never climbed the cat tree but does like the scratching posts (and my wicker laundry basket...grrr). Not remotely interested in chasing balls of any sort, laser toy, 'proper' kicker toys or food puzzles (even with Dreamies in it). All of which have been enjoyed by previous cats, one used to carry his favourite little mouse soft toy everywhere - so cute.

Mine love the cat springs that you can get on Amazon

One of these
www.amazon.co.uk/Kerbl-Catch-Tail-Feather-Cat/dp/B07349PHVG/ref=psdc_451109031_t1_B07X8SYYXK

When people say wand do they mean teaser toy?

We have those light balls and she absolutely loves those. Not the heavier ones so much with bell.

She likes the teaser toy , boxes and we have one small tunnel she loves will definitely get a longer one.
Re toys i was hoping for something that moves without us.....

Like a scuttling mouse?

Earthly yes, something like that....

@JanuaryBluehoo The motorised mice toys only seem to be any good if 1) you have smooth floors ideally Lino. 2) a human on hand to stop them from getting stuck in corners/carpets/under chairs etc.

not tried the static motorised toys like the bird on a wand which just spins around a base type toys - but I know my cats would either break it in 5 mins tops, or ignore it completely after realising it does nothing else but spins round and round in the same place.

@70isaLimitNotaTarget - I second Magpies for Cats.

I was on the computer the other day updating paperwork and Haribo came in from outside, stormed up the stairs and plonked himself on the desk between me and the screen as he wanted the magpies. He didn't have the decency to wipe his paws and left muddy footprints everywhere. His cat slave put on the magpies for him. I've noticed there are muddy smears on the screen as he was giving them a swipe.

He also loves Da Bird and his Wilko collapsible cube which he jumps in and slides across the room and frequently squashed it. He loves a box and if he wasn't so wary of people I think he would follow the Amazon delivery driver.

What is. Magpies toy

Cat sensory videos on iPad, I feel borderline neglectful for giving them screen time, but they love watching them on YouTube.
Have not heard of magpies, will look that up for them.