Tag: cattoys

* Originally written by me for katzenworld.co.uk

Dirk has one stylish new toy he wants to show off: a handmade, black&white pyramid by Minoumi.

This pyramid is almost as stylish as me 🙂

This is a really lovely and also very well-thought-out cat toy. The pyramid shape means the toy tends to roll and bounce a lot when your cat plays with it and cats love toys that move around. The toys are handmade using quality materials, which means the Pyramid is strong enough to withstand a lot of kicking, scratching and gnawing. Which is of course exactly what Dirk likes to do with it!

There is one other reason this toy is absolutely fantastic & it will make most cats go wild… It’s catnip of course!
And if you’ve previously read some of the toys Dirk tested you’ll know he goes mad.

As you will have read in Oliver & Rennie’s previous review of the Minoumi toys, this is not a toy your cat will want to share.
Not with other cats, but not with people either…

ALL MINE

My mischievous little Dirk sometimes teases me as if he wants to play together, but you can forget about it.

Really, I was only joking before. You can play with it too!!

If black&white is not your taste, don’t worry. The Minoumi toys are available in different styles and if you don’t like pyramids they have differently shaped toys too 🙂 I think Dirk will put Minoumi’s Scandinavian style Playing Roll on his birthday wish list!

* Originally written by me for katzenworld.co.uk

By now you all know Dirk loves toys he can kick vigorously! He likes to chase toys too – the fishing rod style toys with feathers drive him mad – so I was quite curious if he would chase his new GiGwi PetDroid Interactive Mouse…

I was a little sceptical myself at first, as these toys usually make a very annoying buzzing-like sound when the mouse moves around. The mouse just runs straight ahead and by the time it reaches the wall I’m usually the one walking over to turn it in a different direction (yes, my cat trained me well LOL).

This one is a little different! I really quite like that the texture of the mouse is not a soft and smooth one, but a bit rough with different textures and fabric lengths. One of the best things about it, though, is that it makes squeaking sounds much like a real mouse. This makes the experience a bit more real and when you switch the mouse on and it starts squeaking, it triggers hunting behaviour in Dirk. He was instantly curious!

Dirk does not actually stalk the mouse much – more on that later – but he loves pouncing and of course kicking it. He seems surprised that the toy does not always respond in the same way when he pounces it: sometimes it stops moving and other times it moves in a different direction.

The front wheel of the mouse can turn so the mouse moves in different directions. This unpredictability helps keep you cat interested for longer. It also stops moving when your cat touches it again so it really tries to mimic a real mouse’s behaviour. I guess it’s the closest our indoor kitties are going to get to actually getting a mouse – unless you have real mice willing to risk their lives by venturing inside your home!

The best part of playing with this toy, for Dirk at least, seems to be picking it up and tossing it away or kicking it.

In the early stages of the game you can of course easily play with the mouse together. Dirk goes through the phases of being curious about the squeaky noise first and observe from a distance. I then pounce the mouse or drag it in a different direction by its tail and the fact that the mouse keeps moving and squeaking keeps Dirk very interested. Inevitably he’ll go into hunting mode as he cannot resist having a go himself. I sometimes try and grab the mouse by its tail when he’s playing with it to get Dirk to go after it, but as you can see he usually does not want to let go of it…

The packaging rightly recommends using the toy on a flat surface and I think laminated or tiled floors (or similar) would work best. I have low pile carpet, but when Dirk is playing with the mouse the wheels seem to pick up some threads and slow down a bit. On smooth surfaces you should not have this issue and your cat may even stalk his prey 😉

The GiGwi melody chaser mouse is available via online pet shops (worldwide) as well as in selected physical stores (UK & US).

* Originally written by me for katzenworld.co.uk

What’s not to love about a mouse in a block of cheese?! And what’s even better: there are two mice inside this PetSafe FroliCat Cheese! The mice play a game of peek-a-boo with your cat. What I love is that the mice don’t take turns when appearing form the cheese: you never know which mouse is going to come out next!

I took a while for Dirk to actually start playing with it. He was curious about it and sat looking at it whenever I switched it on, but for a while that was all he did.  Maybe he was trying to figure out a logic to the mice popping out…? Sometimes he checks both sides of the cheese to see if the mouse is there, but more often he stays on one side and tries to pounce the mouse that appears on that side. I can imagine kittens really going for it and trying to pounce both mice.

Normally, Dirk eats his dinner when we’re having ours. Lately though he’s sitting next to the table staring at me and he honestly wants me to put down the cheese block and switch it on! You can imagine my surprise!

This peek-a-boo cheese has another great feature: it has a “play-while-you-are-away” mode. This means you can leave the toy out on the floor for the cat to play with during the day. In this mode your cat has 3 play sessions of 10-15 minutes spread over 4.5 hours. If you have a very playful kitten, I think they will love this. Kittens are very curious and leaving them alone for a longer time means they can get a little bored (more so than mature cats). The “play-while-you-are-away” mode helps keep them entertained at regular intervals. The toy will switch off after a session, so your cat won’t go entirely mad chasing the mice. I’ve used this mode – although I have no idea whether or not Dirk actually played with the cheese while he was home alone.

Where did it go?

If you don’t particularly like mice or cheese or are not sure your cat will like it, have a look at the other PetSafe FroliCat toys. I’m rather curious about the fox den toy and I think Dirk will like it. They also have a rotating pounce toy with unpredictable movements which I think will appeal to cats that like the ‘ball in a roller track’ type of toys.

* Originally written by me for katzenworld.co.uk

Dirk is one lucky cat as he got to try the 4Cats Premium Rustling Cushion. It’s soft, has strings, there’s catnip inside and it rustles when your cat kicks it so what’s not to like?!

I love teasing Dirk with the rustling sound. When he’s in a different room and hears the noise he is instantly curious and wants to find out where it came from. By now he knows the sound comes from the toy so he knows he gets to play with it if he can find it! This makes it a lot of fun to play together: I like to hide the toy behind my back and move it around when Dirk is looking for it 🙂 Not for too long of course, I don’t want him to get frustrated.

Finally!! I knew you had it!

It’s fun though as he get’s the feeling of chasing or hunting something and once he’s got his paws on the cushion or the strings he’s not letting go!

Now it’s all mine 🙂

Dirk loves tugging and kicking this toy a lot! I haven’t seen him cuddling with it quite as much as with other 4Cats Cushions, but it is quite soft so he does actually sleep on it.

As you know by now, there are lots of toys Dirk likes as long as he can cuddle or kick them. I would recommend this particular toy if you have a cat whose curiosity is piqued by interesting sounds such as rustling paper or aluminium foil. You may well be using foil or paper balls for your cat to chase around the house. This toy has the added benefits of strings, catnip and durable soft fabric so your cat can really enjoy this toy for a long time & you can play with him too 🙂