A bored kitty soon finds mischief, so keeping your cat entertained is very wise! In this post you’ll discover 5 best cat toys for bored cats.
All reviews are based on my own opinion and ratings from customers. In addition, I may receive a small commission from any sale which in no way reflects the price you pay.
As a cat parent I’ve always provided plenty of toys. I believe they’re essential even if your cat spends a lot of time outside. Whether you have a young active kitten, or a golden oldie, it’s important to provide mental stimulation.
Your cat is a highly intelligent being and may soon get bored or depressed without any stimulation. Imagine how you’d feel if left alone all day with no tv or smart device to entertain you.
If you go out to work and your cat is left alone, providing a few toys will keep her out of mischief. Apart from saving your sofa from being torn to shreds, toys encourage exercise.
Which is the best type of toy for your cat?
There are so many different types of cat toys you may find it hard to know which is best. From felt mice to high tech interactive toys, there is a vast wealth to choose from.
It’s worth bearing in mind that leaving a few static toys lying around may not get your cat’s attention. All cats are different though, and one of my late cats who sadly passed away, used to carry stuffed toys around in her mouth. Most though need encouragement.
Some robotic toys are designed to get your cat’s attention and can provide hours of fun for your feline friend. Many are not at all expensive and prevent boredom while you’re out. If you have multiple cats, providing a game they can all join in together is a great idea.
Windmill Cat Toys, Spinning Cat Toy with 2Catnip Glow Ball and 1 Led Ball,Catnip Toy with Scratch Hair Brush Grooming Tool for Cats
Windmill cat toys are very easy to set up as they come with suckers. This means you can attach the toy to a door, wall, or even a table.
Spinning a windmill toy helps develop your cat’s IQ as well as keep her occupied. The windmill toy comes with 2 catnip balls as well as a ball that lights up. This is great for attracting your cat’s attention, even when left alone.
The windmill arms have transparent globes in which you can place catnip, bells, or light balls. These will definitely attract your kitty, encouraging her to spin the blades.
Another great feature of the cat windmill toy is it’s made from eco friendly silicone. In addition, a dome in the centre of the toy contains 182 grooming tips. If your kitty rubs her head against the dome she’ll enjoy a gentle massage!
Massaging helps stimulate healthy oils on the skin, giving your feline friend a shiny coat. Cats often rub their heads against objects they claim as theirs. Encourage her by spinning the windmill, and rubbing the silicone dome.
Once your cat gets used to playing with the toy windmill she’ll probably play with it when you’re not around. A few buyers found the suction cups didn’t stick.
However, making sure both surface and suction cups are clean may help. In addition, try smearing vasaline along the edge of the cups if they don’t stick.
You can buy the windmill cat toy here.
2020 Newest Pop and Play Interactive Cat Toy, Low Noise Robotic Cat Toy with 900mAh Rechargeable Battery & Auto Shut-Off,3 Adjustable Speed, Electronic Cat Toys for Indoor Cats, Includes 4 Accessories
Pop and play is a dome shaped toy with holes in which smaller toys poke in and out on robotic arms. These can be feathers or toy mice and designed to encourage play.
Only the laziest kitty can resist the chase, and this type of cat toy is ideal for developing hunting skills. All cats are hard wired to stalk and hunt, even the most well fed!
You get several brightly colored feather toys that easily screw onto the arms. This allows you to chop and change making it fun for your cat. In addition, a brightly colored LED light flashes inside the dome, holding your cat’s interest.
The Pop and play cat toy also comes with a rechargeable lithium battery, saving you money. Batteries can work out expensive on toys.
A 3 speed option allows you to control the rate at which the feathers pop in and out of the holes. This means you can up the challenge as your kitty’s skill increases.
The toy moves across the floor encoraging chase and excitement as it goes. You may find however, the pop and play toy appeals more to a young active cat. So, if your cat is older with less energy she may not show as much interest in the toy
The battery takes 3 hours to charge and it’s claimed you get 4.5 hours of play on normal speed. As the toy goes into standby after 5 minutes of non activity, power is conserved.
A fully charged toy may keep your cat entertained for a few hours while you’re at work. If for any reason your cat hates it, you get a refund. A 30 day money back guarantee gives you and your kitty plenty of time to try the toy.
A couple of buyers reported that their cats were scared of it. My advice is to be patient. Cats can easily get spooked by sudden moving objects. Spend time playing with your cat so gets used to the toy. Also, start with the lowest speed first.
Average rating 4.2 out of 5
UPSKY Cat Toy Roller Cat Toys 3 Level Towers Tracks Roller with Six Colorful Balls Interactive Kitten Fun Mental Physical Exercise Puzzle Toys
Upsky roller cat toy is ideal if you have several cats. Colored balls spin along the tower tracks as your kitties try and catch them. This not only provides mental stimulation to ease boredom, but gets your cats exercising as well.
Lack of exercise soon leads to obesity in cats just as it does with people. You get 6 balls, 3 of which have bells inside. The tower is very easy to put together and once the balls are placed on the tracks it’s claimed they don’t fall off easily.
However, a few buyers reported their cats losing the balls. If this happens you can’t replace with ping pong balls as they won’t fit. A good idea though is to try and stock up on a few balls of the same size just in case.
Four anti-slip stoppers on the base help protect your floor. This is great if you have wooden or laminate flooring as they can get scratched easily.
The roller cat toy is extremely easy to clean. As it’s made from durable plastic it should stand up to rough treatment from feisty felines!
This is definitely the type of toy you can leave out for your cats to play with while you’re working. Although it’s not robotic, the colored balls are attractive, prompting play.
A few buyers reported the toy as being easy to knock over. This may be something to bear in mind if you have very playful kitties!
Average rating 4.3 out of 5
You can buy UPSKY Cat Toy Roller Cat Toy here.
HAUEA Interactive Robotic Cat Toys Remote Control, Automatic Feather/Ball Teaser Toys for Kitten/Cats with Build-in Spinning Led Light Large Capacity Battery.
Haue interactive robotic cat toy is a fun device with 2 wheels on which sits a brightly colored teaser toy. As you get multiple teaser toys included in the pack you can easily swap them round.
The teaser toys are attached to a pole, making it fun for your kitty to chase. As well as feathers you also get a caterpillar and 2 extra plush toys. This ensures your cat never gets bored.
The wheels are made of soft silicone, so your floor won’t get scratched. In addition, the poles are made from toughened PP to help stand up to biting and clawing. The wheels change direction at random, and as they’re lit up the toy will hold your cat’s attention.
Controlling the toy using the remote will allow you to change direction, speed, and avoid any collisions! This is great if your cat appears to be scared of the toy.
It’s not uncommon for cats to be afraid of objects that move suddenly at speed! Introducing a new toy gradually is always the best approach.
Once your kitty is used to chasing the feather on two wheels, you can try the device on automatic mode. It will work for a few hours and stop every ten minutes to give your cat a rest.
As the battery is rechargeable you save money on disposable ones. However, the remote control requires 3 AAA batteries. These are included, but you may want to buy extra if the remote is going to get a lot of use.
Average rating 5 out of 5
You can buy HAUEA Interactive Robotic Cat Teaser toy here
Pakoo Interactive Cat Toys Ball, Smart Automatic Rolling Kitten Toys, USB Rechargeable Motion Ball + Spinning Led Light with Timer Function
Pakoo smart toy ball has a red LED light and changes direction at random to attract your cat’s attention. It’s advertised as providing 3-4 hours of running time. As it stops every 40 minutes your kitty gets some rest. While exercise is great, it’s natural for cats to chase prey in short bursts.
The Pakoo interactive toy is advertised as working best on hard flooring. Tiled, laminate or wooden flooring would be ideal.
A Rechargeable battery is included and saves buying disposable ones that never last long. This type of interactive toy is ideal if your cat is alone and helps stop boredom.
Made from non-toxic ABS plastic, the ball is strong enough to withstand rough treatment, and won’t harm your kitty if she bites it.
A USB charger is included, and the ball is advertised as taking 2 hours to fully charge. Connecting the USB charger is easy, and the port can be found inside the ball.
Even if you’re at home all day, you may be working with limited time for playing with your cat. Knowing your feline friend is getting exercise gives peace of mind. I know that guilty feeling if your kitty wants to play but you don’t have time!
Average rating 3.9 out of 5
You can buy Pakoo robotic cat toy ball here
Indoor Cat Interactive Swimming Fish Toy
This toy is great for entertaining your cat and is ideal for multiple cat households. You get 4 colorful fish that start swimming once placed in water. colored LED lights and robotic fins that move are designed to attract your cat’s attention.
As the fish automatically turn off when taken out of the water, you save on batteries. In addition you get 8 extra batteries in the pack.
The bowl isn’t provided, but a small washing up bowl will do fine. It only needs to be big enough for the fish to swim and grab your cat’s attention. This is great for stimulating hunting instincts and stop your kitty from getting bored.
Some buyers found the batteries didn’t last very long, so be prepared to stock up on a few more. The fish aren’t designed to swim to the bottom of the bowl, but instead, just below the surface.
Average rating 3.8 out of 5
You can buy the Indoor Cat Interactive Swimming Fish Toy here
Shredded sofa or not!
I hope you feel inspired by these 5 best cat toys for bored cats. All cats are different, but every single one can get bored very easily! Finding a toy your feline companion loves is great. It’s even better if that toy encourages exercise!
Whether you decide to try one of the toys reviewed here, or or from another source, keeping your cat entertained is important for her wellbeing. As mentioned previously, cats are highly intelligent beings and need mental challenges. Robotic or interactive toys are great for reducing boredom and can make the difference between a shredded sofa or one that stays intact!
If you’ve enjoyed this post please share.
Also, if you have any questions, or would like to share your experiences, please leave your comment below.
Wishing you a purrfect day:)
Kathy
Wow, all these cat toys sound and look amazing. My personal favourite would be Remote Control Automatic Feather and the last one with robotic fishes is awesome too. It’s highly important to keep your cat entertained all the time because as you said, they are very intelligent and could easily get depressed if they get bored too often. In any case, I’ve got some great ideas here. As always, thanks for sharing!
Thank you Ivan:) My favourite is the remote control feather toy as well. In fact I’m seriously thinking of getting one for my cat! He loves interactive toys and they help keep him entertained while I’m working! Yes, cats certainly need mental stimulation to challenge themselves. Thanks for stopping by and glad you enjoyed this post:)
We did not know there was so much to learn when it comes to cats we are not much of animal people but we do have family that does own cats. They have toys all over the house like little kids and they play and get board as well they need to be entertained all day.
These toys look like they will keep this cat super busy for the day the toys have lots of moving parts to entertain the cats.
Cheers,
Mathew&Deloris
Hi Mathew, Yes, any one of these toys would certainly keep a cat entertained for a few hours. :)Thanks for stopping by and glad you enjoyed this post.
Wow, cat toys have come a long way in the last few years.
When I was young, we just used a piece of string with rolled-up paper tied on the end, or a twig from the tree outside.
I think these days pets are getting pampered just like kids do, and as you say, exercise and mental stimulation is very important.
I best time I was able to have with my cat was when we used to go for long walks on the neighbor’s farm many years ago. However, I would normally end up carrying him home as he always got tired from chasing everything he saw in the bushes….. real or imaginary, sometimes I couldn’t tell!
Hi Andrew, yes cat toys certainly have come a long way over the past few years. In fact some are incredibly sophisticated and hi-tech. Definitely just right for relieving boredom! How amazing that your cat used to go for long walks with you. I had a cat once who used to follow myself and my boyfriend to the park. We’d take the dog for a walk and the cat would join us! Thanks for your input and glad you liked this post:)
Hi Kathy,
Thanks for this article full of so many really cool cat toys! My cats have the classics (balls, fake mice, chew toys, a feathery thing on a string, ect) and they also have a 3-tiered toy that’s just like the UPSKY cat toy roller. I do have to second your recommendation of it, because my cats LOVED it! They got so much use out of it for so long; it was awesome! (Especially when they were kittens.)
I do feel like my cats are starting to get bored of that toy and their other ones, so I will be consulting this list when I’m ready to get them their next toy.
Thanks again!
~Jade
Hi Jade, glad to hear your cats enjoyed playing with their toy tracks game. Sadly, like kids, cats do get bored with toys after a while, so it’s always a good idea to get new ones from time to time. My cat has suddenly taken a new interest in one of his feather mice, and has been batting it around the house. Glad you enjoyed this post and thanks for stopping by:)