# I'm saving money on pet toys. How about you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 21, 2004, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-saving-money-on-pet-toys-how-about-you/235488 "2004-03-21T01:40:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Innanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecd19e/32.png) [@Innanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Innanna)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2004, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-saving-money-on-pet-toys-how-about-you/235488/21 "2004-03-21T18:52:06Z")
> [@screech-owl](#): > > HyperKitty (one of Mud’s many other names) has discovered a small piece of mango that had fallen on the floor. She’s so cute, poking at it, sniffing it, licking her paw, and THERE IT GOES, ACROSS THE KITCHEN FLOOR!! I swear it’s like watching a hockey game. Our last cat loved ice cubes. It _was_ just like watching hockey. The sound of ice cubes scares the new kitty. Plus she seems to think, “Eww. Cold AND wet? No, thank you!” ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2004, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-saving-money-on-pet-toys-how-about-you/235488/22 "2004-03-21T20:19:05Z")
My cat LOVES to play with my hair elastics. Sometimes, when I take one out of my hair, I’ll wrap it around my finger like a ring. My cat is known to come up to me for a petting, notice the elastic, and try and claw it off my hand so that she can play with it. It hurts. There must be a dozen or more of these things around the apartment, probably under the couch. We also give her store-bought rabbit-hair mice. These end up under the couch too. We probably bought a dozen of them in the past year, and we can’t find a single one of them. Otherwise, pens, balls of paper, aluminium foil (cadbury egg wrappers, lately) and pretty much anything that ISN’T her cat toys makes a great toy for this cat! ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-saving-money-on-pet-toys-how-about-you/235488/23 "2004-03-22T00:19:12Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Not quite the same thing, but I learned long ago that instead of buying those made-for-dog stuffed animals at the pet store, I go to the local equivalent of the Salvation Army and buy a whole pile of small stuffed animals. My cheap cat toys are similar to these. At the Jersey Shore, I played one of those claw machines and won two little dolls. They are exceedly ugly: one is a rainbow owl and the other is a turquoise elephant with no back legs. My calico carries them around in her mouth and makes weird mewling sounds. I find these dolls in the strangest places: in my bed, buried in the laundry basket, in the arm of my coat, in my suitcase if I’m packing. I think she wants me to have her dollies when I leave the house. So cute! ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-saving-money-on-pet-toys-how-about-you/235488/24 "2004-03-22T00:34:41Z")
I can’t believe no one has mentioned shoe strings yet! My cat is completely obsessed with them, and will drag hers around the house mewing until we take pity on her and play. ---
**Author:** ![Sangre\_Azul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@Sangre\_Azul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangre_Azul)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-saving-money-on-pet-toys-how-about-you/235488/25 "2004-03-22T02:58:53Z")
The cats I had in college had a rather bizarre makeshift toy - the rubber inset that goes over the mouth of the garbage disposal (not the plug - the actual inset). Every time I’d want to do dishes, I’d end up having to fish the thing out from the kitties’ lair under the bed. I caught them extracting it once - two black cats perched on the sink, working together to pull the inset out. Then one would bat it off the counter top onto the tile floor and it was a wild game of hockey for the next hour. What drove them to get it out the first time, I’ll never know. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-saving-money-on-pet-toys-how-about-you/235488/26 "2004-03-22T03:19:16Z")
A small square of chainmail makes a good cat toy. At least the cats think so. And to clarify, our kitten gets **inside** the Coke case, and rolls it around to floor my trying to pounce _while inside_. With her tail sticking out. ---
**Author:** ![hardygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@hardygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hardygrrl)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-saving-money-on-pet-toys-how-about-you/235488/27 "2004-03-22T03:51:43Z")
> [@Celyn](#): > > the cardboard cynlinders left over when a roll of bathroom tissue is finished I give those to my birds to gnaw on. They like to balance on them like wee circus performers and chew on them. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Serpentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3be4f8/32.png) [@Silver\_Serpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Serpentine)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-saving-money-on-pet-toys-how-about-you/235488/28 "2004-03-22T05:09:15Z")
I tried buying toys when I first got cats, but they ignored most of them. Here’s what they DO love: Milk rings: I haven’t thrown one of these things away in months. They only end up in the trash if they’re no longer rings because they’re been chewed apart. Wadded up candy wrappers: I let these stay on the floor for about a week, but my female loves them, and glares when I finally get around to tossing them. Craft store feathers: They just looooove chasing these around. Carboard boxes: Our big male loves to chew these apart. Also, the kitten loves when you turn them upside down - he crawls under it and skoots it around the room. Then the big boy will hop on top of the box and trap him. Good times. ---
**Author:** ![Mariemarie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58f4c7/32.png) [@Mariemarie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mariemarie)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-saving-money-on-pet-toys-how-about-you/235488/29 "2004-03-22T06:15:52Z")
My kitty Boogie brought me _two_ dead voles today. I think he really loves me. He is obsessed with the shredder. When I shred a paper, he whacks at it real fast with his paw, then jumps back. When I turn it off, he stares at it, waiting for it to make the evil noise so he can kill it again. Clouseau the cat likes kiwi fruits: they are furry and round, and they make a fun sound when you roll them off the kitchen table! ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-saving-money-on-pet-toys-how-about-you/235488/30 "2004-03-22T06:46:38Z")
Our kitty, Dusty, loves to play with a Winchester red AA shotgun wad. It’s a hollow column of soft plastic about 3/4" in diameter and a couple inches long. She bats it around like a demon in the living room. Just this afternoon she was sitting on my monitor with her head and paws hanging over the front. She typically faces the other way to watch birds our the window and has her tail hanging in front of the screen. I noticed her eyes tracking sometihng and realized she had fixated on the pointer as I moved it with the mose. She tracked the pointer for a few minutes then I put it at the top edge of the screen directly where she was laying on top. It took her a seocond to realize it “crawled under her” and she got disoriented and slid off the monitor and thudded on the desk. Laser pointers are good too but make sure kitty is wearing OSHA approved safety goggles. Oh, TheLadyLion swears by crumpled up tinfoil as a cat toy. ---
**Author:** ![meyer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@meyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meyer)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-saving-money-on-pet-toys-how-about-you/235488/31 "2004-03-22T06:51:15Z")
My cat has this pipe cleaner that she just LOVES - any other pipe cleaner is treated with normal cat-like disdain, but her special red pipe cleaner elicits hours of excitement, rolling on the floor and purring. Amazingly, she doesn’t chew it, so it’s still in one piece, and has been around for about two years. Every once in a while, we go a few weeks without seeing it, but then, suddenly, it appears again! Amazing! ---
**Author:** ![Lobelia\_Overhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@Lobelia\_Overhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobelia_Overhill)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-saving-money-on-pet-toys-how-about-you/235488/32 "2004-03-22T22:11:24Z")
Y’know them plastic tubes that 35mm films come in, put some small stones in one of them and let 'em at it … ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-saving-money-on-pet-toys-how-about-you/235488/33 "2004-03-23T00:00:59Z")
Let’s see. My former roommate’s cat would play fetch with wadded up paper for hours and then when we got sick of it, he’d bat them around for more hours. And he’d pounce on my head (I had long hair at the time), probably because it amused him to hear me swear when 3 pounds of warm, clawing cat landed on my head. He’d also hide under the dresser and poke his head out. And he liked feet in socks. And just plain socks. Brown paper bags were endlessly amusing. Bugs. My hand was a fun bite and scratch toy… ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-saving-money-on-pet-toys-how-about-you/235488/34 "2004-03-23T00:34:39Z")
Uncooked pasta shells. A household favourite. (The game usually ends with crunching sounds.) ---
**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-saving-money-on-pet-toys-how-about-you/235488/35 "2004-03-23T01:32:15Z")
Since you said “pet toys” not specifically “cat toys”, my old dog used to love playing with two liter soda bottles and paper grocery bags. The soda bottles lasted longer, but the bags made way more noise. First they’d get attacked, then shredded. I have one of those clip on ALF toys. I don’t let my pets play with it though. ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-saving-money-on-pet-toys-how-about-you/235488/36 "2004-03-23T01:45:05Z")
> [@Rue DeDay](#): > > …I have one of those clip on ALF toys. I don’t let my pets play with it though. I tried taking it away from “Your Majesty” (aka Mud, since she has managed to take over my computer chair every time I’ve gotten up in the last half hour) once, but she actually hissed at me. That defined that relationship and ownership right their. Otherwise, “Your Majesty” is a very good kitty. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-saving-money-on-pet-toys-how-about-you/235488/37 "2004-03-23T04:09:57Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > We also give her store-bought rabbit-hair mice. These end up under the couch too. We probably bought a dozen of them in the past year, and we can’t find a single one of them. Oh good Lord. I buy those for Max (Huey doesn’t care for them) and he goes through at least one a day on average, i.e., loses them under the appliances and couch. Recently I had to flip over the couch and found about 50. That’s only about half of what I’ve bought over the last couple years; the rest are undoubtably what’s making the fridge make scary groaning sounds, and making the dryer smell funny. The cats love 'em because it’s the scent of real animal flesh, you know. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![whistlepig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/73ab20/32.png) [@whistlepig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whistlepig)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-saving-money-on-pet-toys-how-about-you/235488/38 "2004-03-23T04:58:22Z")
> [@screech-owl](#): > > So what handy household items do double duty as pet playthings at your place? Dead cow parts, neighbors cats, me - the object with opposable thumbs. Huskies are low maintenance. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-saving-money-on-pet-toys-how-about-you/235488/39 "2004-03-23T05:39:01Z")
Whiskey’s favorite toys are generally the ones he finds late at night, and which can make the most noise as he bats them around the wood floors. He also loves to lick whatever exposed bit of my skin he can find. The same spot, over and over, right down to the bone, if I could stand the pain. A while back, we watched a friend’s Jack Russell terrier for a few weeks while they were moving. Whiskey would lay on his back pawing at the terrier’s face while she tried to nip at the cat’s neck. They would do this for 20 minutes at a time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-saving-money-on-pet-toys-how-about-you/235488.md?page=1)