# Impromptu pet toys that weren't meant to be pet toys **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 9, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impromptu-pet-toys-that-werent-meant-to-be-pet-toys/675898 "2013-12-09T15:38:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impromptu-pet-toys-that-werent-meant-to-be-pet-toys/675898/41 "2013-12-09T23:59:02Z")
I had a black cat named Spam who loved to play tag. She’d come racing through the house and swipe against my leg as she went by. That was my signal to follow. Up the stairs she’d go and I’d come up on all fours (Please don’t tell anyone about this) and go from room to room peeking around doors until she’d eventually decide I’d found her and jump out at me, tag me and race off again. I never got to win. In fact, sometimes I’d be slowly peeking around the door and she’d be right there, knowing right where my face would appear. But that doesn’t involve a toy so I guess it’s off subject. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impromptu-pet-toys-that-werent-meant-to-be-pet-toys/675898/42 "2013-12-10T01:16:55Z")
Oh yes, it involves a toy, **Tethered Kite** ; the toy is YOU. ---
**Author:** ![AuGratin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e95f7d/32.png) [@AuGratin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuGratin)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impromptu-pet-toys-that-werent-meant-to-be-pet-toys/675898/43 "2013-12-10T05:05:02Z")
My husband uses a [Passy-Muir](http://passy-muir.com/) valve (link goes to a site for a tracheostomy medical device, no yick factor, just a heads-up) to speak easily with his tracheostomy. It’s just a little plastic cap that fits over the end of his trach tube. With his first one we didn’t realize that there’s a “leash” you can attach to it to avoid what happened next. He has a strong cough (a good thing), and we were sitting in the living room one day when he coughed and wheee, it flew off the end of the tube and shot across the room, where both cats immediately attacked it and eventually knocked it under the coffee table while he and I collapsed with laughter 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impromptu-pet-toys-that-werent-meant-to-be-pet-toys/675898/44 "2013-12-10T13:41:08Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > Our now departed tuxedo cat Rocky loved soda bottle screw-off tops, but they had to be fresh. When we replaced our refrigerator, there were approximately a gazillion of them under and behind. He had no interest in them any more; they were stale. The paws that refreshes. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impromptu-pet-toys-that-werent-meant-to-be-pet-toys/675898/45 "2013-12-10T13:42:38Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > Oh yes, it involves a toy, **Tethered Kite** ; the toy is YOU. You mean it’s not a mutual relationship? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impromptu-pet-toys-that-werent-meant-to-be-pet-toys/675898/46 "2013-12-10T13:49:27Z")
My cat loves yarn balls. Especially when I’m trying to knit a hat! Oh and she’ll take my hair ties off the nightstand and play with them. Helps that we have wood floors and they skid pretty far. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impromptu-pet-toys-that-werent-meant-to-be-pet-toys/675898/47 "2013-12-10T14:06:32Z")
This is timely. Just last week I discovered my Maxie tumbling a slice of bread between his silly paws. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impromptu-pet-toys-that-werent-meant-to-be-pet-toys/675898/48 "2013-12-10T14:26:09Z")
Our German Shepherd loves to carry around things. At some point we began referring to her toys/things as her baby. I could say, “get your baby” and she would run off and grab a toy. She also likes to shake soft stuffed animal toys. I watched for the shaking behavior and taught her, “shake your baby” as a command. When friends with youngsters come to visit, I put her toys away _except_ for a soft baby doll I bought at a yard sale. When we’re all sitting around relaxing I say, “get the baby!!” She goes to her toy area and retrieves the baby doll. Then I say, “shake the baby!!” And she does. Maybe you have to be there. ---
**Author:** ![Minnie\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Minnie\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minnie_Luna)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impromptu-pet-toys-that-werent-meant-to-be-pet-toys/675898/49 "2013-12-10T16:05:47Z")
We bought those “as seen on TV” static dusters at Target. Minerva loves the big one and carries it around proudly like she killed it. We can put it away in the closet and she will retrieve it (closet door doesn’t shut well) and we will find it at the food of our bed or at the top of the stairs. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impromptu-pet-toys-that-werent-meant-to-be-pet-toys/675898/50 "2013-12-10T18:33:55Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > \ > > When friends with youngsters come to visit, I put her toys away _except_ for a soft baby doll I bought at a yard sale. When we’re all sitting around relaxing I say, “get the baby!!” She goes to her toy area and retrieves the baby doll. Then I say, “shake the baby!!” And she does. Maybe you have to be there. I would LOVE to be there to see that! ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impromptu-pet-toys-that-werent-meant-to-be-pet-toys/675898/51 "2013-12-10T21:21:24Z")
Years ago we bought a 100 pc box of colored bendy straws from IKEA for all of $2 or something. I think we used about ten of them if that until a month or two ago. Then our three year old found the box and likes to take one and play with it. Then the cat grabs it and runs around the house with it. Then she eventually plays with it by the front room rug until she pushes it under the rug, can’t get it out, the little guy wants to know where his straw is and grabs another one. Then the cycle begins anew. I lifted the rug once and found about twenty of them stuffed under there before I figured out what was happening. Then again, the little guy chases the cat down the hall, then she chases him back the other direction, back and forth, back and forth (yeesh, those two). So I suppose he counts as a cat toy himself. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impromptu-pet-toys-that-werent-meant-to-be-pet-toys/675898/52 "2013-12-10T22:12:25Z")
I had a hell of a time putting an old keyboard I was replacing into the box the new one came in because the cat wouldn’t get out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impromptu-pet-toys-that-werent-meant-to-be-pet-toys/675898/53 "2013-12-12T22:06:51Z")
My late dog (a bitch) loved to chew on unplugged electric plugs. I could never catch her on it. About once a year I could get her to fetch something 3 or 4 times. After the 4th time she would spit it out at my feet as if to say “There, that’s the last thing I’m fetching this year!” ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impromptu-pet-toys-that-werent-meant-to-be-pet-toys/675898/54 "2013-12-16T06:24:02Z")
We recently helped rescue a chihuahua puppy from a garbage dumpster. She is currently finding pretty much anything to be a chew toy, and we’re having to make her focus on other things. That said, the Scooby-Doo tater tot plush she likes was not originally to be a dog toy, but it works pretty well as one. We also let her play with her chew treats. But the biggest unintentional toy is our other dog–a dachshund. He hated her for a while, but now he lets her play with him a lot. Sure, we decided to keep the puppy to keep the dachshund from being bored or sad after our other chihuahua died, but we didn’t expect such a fast turn around. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_I\_Am](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@Sam\_I\_Am](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_I_Am)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impromptu-pet-toys-that-werent-meant-to-be-pet-toys/675898/55 "2013-12-16T12:56:10Z")
My older kitty loves to play with stuffed animals (he has a few of his own, but also steals them from my girls), and my long hair. It is dangerous to snuggle with him on the bed, he is all cuddles until that moment…must…kill…hair. One day he’s going to get me in the eye with his claws. My younger kitty will systematically knock anything & everything off the table. She will chase crumpled paper balls, and her favourite, crumpled candy wrappers. Going from Halloween to starting the advent calendar has been like Christmas for her 🙂 She is also a traditionalist, loving balls of yarn. My daughter recently started knitting, one day kitty thought the ball of yarn looked like a great prize. She ran away with it, winding it all around the furniture downstairs and trying to carry it upstairs. It reached a knot though where it wouldn’t unwind further. She got 1/3 of the way upstairs, stretching it more and more tight, until it pulled her back down to the bottom. She looked confused, tried again twice more with the same backlash. So she gave up, and killed it where it lay at the bottom of the stairs. Reading these made me wish I had the $$ for vet bills for a dozen kitties. 2 is not enough! ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impromptu-pet-toys-that-werent-meant-to-be-pet-toys/675898/56 "2013-12-16T14:48:18Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I just discovered my cats’ new favorite toy: I was eating a bunch of grapes while watching TV. When I finished the grapes I was left with a little tree-like bunch of stems. For some reason I threw it at one of the cats, who immediately started throwing it up in the air, chasing it, and batting it across the room toward the other cat, who joined him in his little game. > > Got any other impromptu pet toys? Allie likes wads of paper, and keeps stealing a particular small stuffed animal from me. She also loves ponytail holders (I try to keep them away from her, but can be absent-minded and she’s very persistent). I had another cat who liked playing fetch with balls of foil. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impromptu-pet-toys-that-werent-meant-to-be-pet-toys/675898/57 "2013-12-16T14:51:41Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Is a laser pointer a “toy” or an “enemy/threat” to a cat? I’ve never seen a cat not driven crazy by one. Felix (current cat’s predecessor) couldn’t have cared less about laser pointers. He’d just look at the dot, then look at my hand with the “yeah, right, whatever, Mom” expression. Allie, on the other paw, LOVES her laser pointer. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impromptu-pet-toys-that-werent-meant-to-be-pet-toys/675898/58 "2013-12-17T00:48:07Z")
I’ve got another two cats that love batting around those plastic milk circles. Also any small furry thing that has the audacity to show it self in their territory. > [@MissTake](#): > > Mayme: Loves her babies. She has a mouse toy that she carries around, but lately her favorite is a small McDonald’s pink teddy bear toy. She carries it in her mouth, meowing so proudly, showing it off. Old cat does the same kind of thing with folded pairs of socks. She’ll hold a pair in her mouth go “mmMMROWL” until you take it away from her. I don’t think it’s “look at my baby,” thing, though, at least not with my cat. I think it’s a “look, I killed this thing!” thing. > [@Alma](#): > > Coins. Frieda would sit on the edge of a table and paw at a coin until it dropped to the floor, then she would stare at it. She’d never look at me, she’d just be fixated on the coin until I put it back on the table, and she would start batting it off again. Old cat does that to get attention. If you fall asleep with the door closed and her in room, for example, you’ll wake up to the sound of change hitting the floor. If you’re lucky. If you’re unlucky, you’ll wake up to the sound of something small and fragile shattering on the floor. > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > The same weirdo cat has some kind of bitter, longstanding hatred for sheets. She likes to come around when I’m making the bed and attack the sheets if they dare move around her. [Hey, I got a bit of video of her killing a sheet!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT7tFjGPJ0M) Younger cat does the same thing to rugs. I love watching her do it. ---
**Author:** ![r\_u\_serious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b5e925/32.png) [@r\_u\_serious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/r_u_serious)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impromptu-pet-toys-that-werent-meant-to-be-pet-toys/675898/59 "2013-12-17T09:04:14Z")
General Sterling Price, our male ragdoll kitty loves black shoelaces, drinking straws and pens. Blueberry, our female Siamese mix loves sporks, insists (very vocally) on drinking out of the bathtub faucet and will beg for Craisins. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impromptu-pet-toys-that-werent-meant-to-be-pet-toys/675898/60 "2013-12-17T13:26:21Z")
We had a little Bichon that absolutely loved playing fetch with rolled up pairs of socks. The way he’d come over with them in his mouth looking so lonely and forlorn would always get us to toss them around and play tug of war with him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impromptu-pet-toys-that-werent-meant-to-be-pet-toys/675898.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impromptu-pet-toys-that-werent-meant-to-be-pet-toys/675898.md?page=4)