Cat Toys for Cats Who Don't Like Cat Toys

My precious baby has never really been wild about toys. Instead, she likes to rip up plastic bags, paper towels, magazines and paperback books. Fuzzy mice with catnip inside them and round balls with bells inside them go ignored in favor of pulling stuff out of my purse or knocking things off the nightstand. Comfy cat beds with plush cushions are not as good as stacks of newspaper and bills as places to sleep. Expensive high tech cat towers with intricate nooks and crannies go unnoticed compared to hair ties and ballpoint pens for my Miko. Carpeted cat scratching posts with dangling mice, forget about it - the corner of the bed is much better. The more expensive the cat toy or product = the more ignored.

After 12 years of living with my little one, I have learned what “toys” are the favorites for her anti-cat toy nature. The following is a list of the best distractions that keep Miko out of trouble:

• Emery cat boards or scratcher boards or boxes that are basically corrugated cardboard. I get the flat kind that are the refills for the scratcher boxes because it is cheaper to buy the refills than the boxes. You can usually flip it over and use the other side when one side gets worn out. Miko loves to use it to scratch and also lie down on it and take a nap. Pieces of cardboard end up all over the place but can be picked up pretty easily by hand. And, the corrugated cardboard usually will help preserve your furniture.
• Cardboard boxes are second best to the corrugated cardboard. If you can’t afford to get the scratcher boxes, you can try a simple cardboard box on the floor. Having a bunch of cardboard boxes on the floor is not a pleasant sight, but it gets the job done. Miko doesn’t scratch as much on the cardboard boxes, but she loves to sit in them and rub her face all over the edge of the box.
• In keeping with our cardboard theme, empty rolls of toilet paper or paper towel rolls also make a good hunter toy that can be pounced on and grabbed on by all paws and killed.
• Shoestring. For some reason, my cat ignores the stringy cat toys like dangling sticks with feathers but loves shoelaces. Just a simple old shoelace on the floor can provide lots of distraction and amusement. The hunter instinct will come out for the great shoestring hunts. Ribbon also works just as well.
• Junk mail. Slick advertisements have that magazine feel. Miko loves to tear them up for fun. Already read newspapers provide the same type of fun. Shredded newspapers can still be recycled at the end of the day. So, let your cat go for it!

If your cat is like mine and has a general distaste for most cat toys, you can save your money and try one of the above items. Cats can sometimes be like children who on Christmas ignore that very expensive gift in favor of the box and wrapping paper.