Author: Allie Zottola

Our Favorite Cat Toys and Puzzles

I had so much fun putting this list of our favorite cat toys and puzzles together! We’ve been owned (yup, you read that correctly) by our cat, Malcolm, since September 2016. He has definitely made it known what he likes and dislikes, as I’m sure many cat owners can understand. Here are six toys and puzzles we use and love for our fur baby, Malcolm!

The best cat toys and puzzles
1. Laser Pointer
Ah, the good old laser pointer! This is something cats tend to love because of their prey drive. This is also a great way to get them exercising. It amazes me how high Malcolm will jump up a wall to try and get the laser!

2. Kitty KONG Treat Dispenser
As I mentioned in my last post, our dogs love their KONGS and Malcolm loves his! We fill it with wet food or canned pumpkin puree and he has fun trying to get the food out. I will note that this can be messy. The first time we gave Malcolm his KONG, I made the mistake of putting it up high on a counter where he usually eats. Like any normal cat with a new toy, he promptly knocked it down and food splattered everywhere. Lesson learned 😉

3. Feather Catnip Birds
Cats can go one way or the other with catnip–apparently a cat’s love of catnip is an inherited gene. If they don’t have the gene, they won’t go crazy over catnip like some cats do. Malcolm doesn’t really cat about catnip, but he is obsessed with this toy. Obsessed. The first time we brought it home, he went crazy and had a blast ripping all the feathers out until just the head remained. You can watch him (and Lola!) in action in this vlog. We then called the toy Mr. Chicken Head.

I’m convinced there’s something magical about this toy because our dogs are obsessed with it, too. All of our animals fight over this toy, and it’s literally just a head now!! The only warning I have about this toy is that it is messy if your cat pulls the feathers out.

4. Toy Variety Pack
If you aren’t sure what kind of toys your cat likes, I’d recommend getting a variety pack that has toys in different shapes and sizes. Some cats like toys that make noise, and Malcolm especially loves mice that make a rattling noise. Our dogs love the mice, too. In fact, Lola and Mavis were (playfully) fighting over one of Malcolm’s toy mice last night while Malcolm sat above them on a side table and watched, haha.

5. Feather Teaser
Feather teasers are another toy that really play off a cat’s prey drive. I like feather teasers because they really get you and your cat playing together. We have gotten Malcolm to jump so high while playing with a feather teaser and he just loves “hunting” that feathery string!

6. Food Dispensing Ball
If your cat is a fast eater or likes to play with their food, I’d suggest trying out this puzzle feeder. You can put dry food or treats inside and your cat has to roll the ball around to dispense their food or treats. It’s a wonderful way to get them exercising, too!

It’s funny how picky cats can be sometimes. We’ve bought Malcolm fancy toys and he has been so-so about them, and then we find him playing with things like Q-tips, rubber bands, water bottle caps, ear plugs, rolls of washi tape, and more. You just never know!

A few other things we’ve found that Malcolm loves are ping pong balls, Lola’s toy hedgehog (which is hilarious because it’s basically half of the size of Malcolm and he carries it around!), and a crinkle tunnel that he uses to hunt Mavis LOL.

Our Favorite Dog Toys and Puzzles

I’ve wanted to post about what Jimmy and I use and love for our pets for such a long time, and I think I’ve finally gathered together all of my thoughts. Once I started writing this post I realized I’m going to need to split everything up into seperate posts or else this would be one long post.

So, let’s start with our favorite dog puzzles and toys and be on the lookout for our favorite cat puzzles and toys in my next post!

The best dog toys and puzzles

1. Hide-A-Squirrel Puzzle Toy

I kept reading great reviews for this toy and didn’t understand what the fuss was about until I bought it and saw how much Mavis loves it. Basically, you can put the squirrels in the holes of the “tree trunk” and your dog figures out how to get them out. She thinks it’s so cool to pull the squirrels out. I also see her just playing with the squirrels a lot, too.

2. Paw Flapper Interactive Puzzle

If your dog is a fast eater, I’d recommend this feeding puzzle. You put food inside the holes and the base of the puzzle spins. Your dog first has to open the flaps and then spin the base of the puzzle to get all the food out. It’s a great way to get them to use their mind to work for their food. You can see Mavis figuring out this puzzle around the 5:00 mark in this vlog.

3. KONG Classic

The KONG is such a great toy for feeding treats to strong chewers. I usually spoon peanut butter into a KONG and stuff a treat inside to make it harder. Lola and Mavis then have to use their paws and tongues to get the peanut butter and treat out. It takes them a good 15 minutes or so and they love it. If you really want to make it last longer, you can freeze the KONG with peanut butter inside. Other fillings you can use are apple sauce, bananas, and the KONG Easy Treat (it basically looks like Easy Cheese spray and is a lot less messy than using peanut butter!).

4. Hol-ee Roller Ball

This was another toy that I didn’t get what the fuss was about until we tried it ourselves. This is definitely Mavis’ favorite toy. She loves to play fetch with this ball and sometimes I stuff pieces of old t-shirts or rags inside it with treats rolled in them and she gets to “destroy” the toy by ripping the t-shirt and rag strips out of the ball and eating the treats. If your dog likes to rip apart toys, I’d recommend this toy with the t-shirt and rag strips idea. The ball comes in different sizes and there’s also an extreme version for heavy chewers.

5. Chuckit! Paraflight Frisbee

This is actually a toy that my brother’s golden retriever, Jax, loves. He’s obsessed with playing frisbee and usually destroys frisbees pretty quickly. He once cut his tongue on a plastic frisbee and that was a bit of a disaster. This frisbee is soft, flexible, and designed to fly well. I can’t wait to see if Mavis will play frisbee once it warms up outside!

6. Trixie Flip Board

This is a bit of a challenging puzzle, so I’d only recommend spending your money on this one if your dog already has shown interest in puzzles and enjoys them. This puzzle has sliding discs, levers, and cones that need to be moved or lifted in order for your dog to get their food or treats. Mavis and Lola both love this puzzle! Trixie also has other levels of puzzles that are more or less difficult than this one that I’d recommend checking out!

7. Busy Buddy Kibble Nibble

This is a puzzle feeder that we use multiple times a day in our house. It comes in small or large sizes (we use the small for Mavis and the large for Lola). You unscrew the ball and put dog food or treats inside and then twist it back together. The top and bottom of the ball have holes that you can customize the size of (by cutting little rubber nubs) based on your dogs kibble size or how hard/easy you want to make it. Your dog then has to roll the ball in order to dispense their food or treats. We use this for at least one meal a day for Mavis and Lola and it takes them about 30 minutes to finish their meal plus they have to walk around to get their food out, which gets them some extra exercise. Bonus: it’s also dishwasher safe!

8. Dogwood Stick Chew Toy

Has anyone given their dog an elk antler? Our dogs love them but man are they expensive! This is a cheaper alternative to an elk antler and is made of real dogwood. I have no idea why dogs like to chew dogwood, but ours really enjoy this! It doesn’t splinter like a simple stick would and comes in different sizes and flavors. I keep one in our house and one in my truck for Mavis to chew on while we drive to pet sitting jobs. She gets to excited to get in my truck because she knows her dogwood stick is in there!

So, there you have it! Those are some of our favorite dog toys and puzzles. I could have listed about a million more, but I tried to pick our absolute favorites and have good variety for dogs that like to chew/fetch/solve puzzles/etc.!