About Toys for Cats
Benefits of giving your cat toys and playing with them, things not to give your cat or kitten to pay with, and best buys on cat toys.
Benefits of Cat Toys
Cat toys are a great way to keep your indoor cat entertained, increase your cats motor skills, cognitive abilities, develop an interactive relationship with your cat, build a bond of trust, builds their problem solving capabilities, and preserves some of their natural instincts to hunt prey. Some cats are very playful and others are not. Usually kittens and young cats are more playful than adult cats. Recent studies on shelter cats show that cats prefer human interaction and food. "Adult cats from two populations (pet and shelter) were presented with three stimuli within each of the following four categories: human social interaction, food, toy, and scent. Proportion of time interacting with each stimulus was recorded. The single most-preferred stimulus from each of the four categories were simultaneously presented in a final session to determine each cat’s most-preferred stimulus overall. Although there was clear individual variability in cat preference, social interaction with humans was the most-preferred stimulus category for the majority of cats, followed by food. This was true for cats in both the pet and shelter population" Vitale Shreve, K., Mehrkam, L., & Udell, M. (2017). Cat toys should not become a replacement for human interaction but rather you should interact with your cat during play if possible and provide safe toys for them to play with when you are away at work, school, shopping etc. It is important for you to spend time with your pet, be affectionate with them, and play with them, just as you would a child. Playing with your kitten or cat can get a bit dangerous as they may not control their claws and you could end up with scratches. Use gloves when playing with your cat with your hands, or use toys to play with them to prevent getting scratched by your cat. See more below...
Featured Video: Cat Toys Explained-Purina
Dr. Jo Righetti (Animal Behavior Specialist) talks about the benefits of playing with your cat, the importance of making sure cat toys are safe, and helpful tips that will keep your cat interested in their toys, for example you should rotate your cats toys to keep your cat interested in playing with them.
Toys that are not safe for your cat
Cats and kittens will play with most anything that moves, love to bat around crumpled paper, balls, and tubes, and they love to play with yarn and any kind of string which can be very dangerous. The Humane Society says these things are unsafe for your cat or kitten.
Here are some unsafe things you need to keep away from your cat:
Here are some unsafe things you need to keep away from your cat:
- String, yarn, ribbon and dental floss
- Paper clips
- Pins and needles
- Rubber bands
- Plastic bags (especially drycleaner bags that could cause suffocation)
- Anything else that your cat might chew (3).
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References:
1. Cat toys explained - Purina. (2018). YouTube. Retrieved 23 August 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eut_T1rAf5o
2. Vitale Shreve, K., Mehrkam, L., & Udell, M. (2017). Social interaction, food, scent or toys? A formal assessment of domestic pet and shelter cat ( Felis silvestris catus ) preferences. Behavioural Processes, 141, 322-328. doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2017.03.016
3.Cat Toys : The Humane Society of the United States . (2011). Humanesociety.org. Retrieved 23 August 2018, from http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/cats/tips/cat_toys.html
4. Image on Pixabay - Cat, Animal, Cute, Pet, Room, Play. (2018). Pixabay.com. Retrieved 23 August 2018, from https://pixabay.com/en/cat-animal-cute-pet-room-play-3162458/
1. Cat toys explained - Purina. (2018). YouTube. Retrieved 23 August 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eut_T1rAf5o
2. Vitale Shreve, K., Mehrkam, L., & Udell, M. (2017). Social interaction, food, scent or toys? A formal assessment of domestic pet and shelter cat ( Felis silvestris catus ) preferences. Behavioural Processes, 141, 322-328. doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2017.03.016
3.Cat Toys : The Humane Society of the United States . (2011). Humanesociety.org. Retrieved 23 August 2018, from http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/cats/tips/cat_toys.html
4. Image on Pixabay - Cat, Animal, Cute, Pet, Room, Play. (2018). Pixabay.com. Retrieved 23 August 2018, from https://pixabay.com/en/cat-animal-cute-pet-room-play-3162458/