When I first got my cat a couple of years ago, I made the mistake of buying lots of expensive toys thinking he would like them, only to have him completely ignore them.

Since then we have found that he doesn't like anything that makes a noise when it rolls around (he tends to run away from it if we do that ) and we can't let him have anything with feathers or ribbons or anything hanging off it as some killer instinct seems to come out in him and he tears it to shreds (My MIL spent ages making him a big pom pom as a welcome present shortly after we got him which he loved, but I made the mistake of leaving him alone in the room with it for a few minutes and when I came back in there were bits of wool everywhere and he was sat in the middle of it all looking at me as if butter wouldn't melt )

So until recently the only toys he seemed to like were fluffy balls things which he liked to run around after...and then we bought a laser pen from the vets for him.

At first he didn't seem that interested...the first time my husband put it on he watched the red dot moving around but didn't really make much of it. Great, I thought, more money wasted. We left it for a couple of days and then my husband put it on again and this time he did show a bit more interest in it and actually got off his backside to have a look at it, although he still wasn't going for mad for it.

And then, I don't know what's happened, but in the last couple of days it's like something has clicked in his brain and now he goes crazy for it. He runs around like a mad thing after it, jumping on it and pouncing whenever he can and when we turn it off he spends a minute or so looking around trying to work out where it's gone (which I do think is a bit cruel, although my husband finds that extremely funny).

So I think I can say this one has been a success (and it's also good for him as he does need to lose a bit of weight).

So what's your pet's favourite toy?

Our dog prefers to help himself to a raw spud or carrot from the veg rack. Any squeaky toy gets a hole bitten in it within a day or so and no longer squeaks. He's got a plastic string of sausages he seems content with and hasn't destroyed yet.

My cat plays with the plastic covers that cover the pins on a plug when you get a new electrical item. She also has an old sock that is filled with catnip which she ends up drooling over and a couple of little parcels that I bought to decorate the christmas tree with. Oh and she likes chasing the reflection from a chrystal when the sun shines through failing that a torch does the trick as well.

My dog used to carry round cuddly toys with her - little teddies and stuff like that. She is a macho, musclebound bull terrier so it looked funny. She wasn't destructive and never ripped them apart or anything - something her breeder had done to encourage her to be maternal (she was 2 when I got her).

Once we had her, she seemed to lose all interest in the teddies, because she now had real kids to 'mother'!

She used to have a Kong and play ball etc but aged 4 she went blind, and even squeaky toys or toys with bells in no longer interest her.

We have a Kong we stuff with treats - she can;t throw it in the air for the treats to come out as she used to - but gently rolls it about with her nose. Also the 8 year old plays with her every day. He plays 'hide and seek' - 'hiding' treats round the living room. He is showing a keen interest in dog training but it's not really going to happen with an ancient, blind dog - so he plays little games with her instead.

She won't seek toys out though or pick them up - you have to bring them to her.

It makes me sad that she isn't playful - wasn't since she went blind. We have found different ways to play with her but she never initiates play.

My cat loves those catnip toys. She usually destroys them. She also lvoes chasing bits of trailing wool etc. She is 16 now and plays the same as the day we got her at 6 weeks old.

One of my kids saw a laser pen on TV yesterday and wants to get one of those to play with the cat - I reckon she would love it.

Amber has always loved her crappy little white mouse (which now has no eyes, ears or any fur - in fact it's effectively a piece of plastic )

She also has a teeny cushion which has cat nip in it and she goes bonkers for that. She is about 20 times the size of the cushion but still insists on sitting on it.

Current fave 'toy' is a paintbrush! OH is a decorator, Amber adopted one of his new paintbrushes

My dog has a whole toy box full of toys. Then somehow he got his jaws on a pair of socks that were drying indoors. Now each and every time he wants to play tug/fetch, it's a sock he gets me to throw. To think of the money I've spent!

I have three little cloth mice which they go mad for, so simple too, only have to throw them at them!

They like anything you can "bat", pen lids, walnuts etc, and they completely ignore the rest of the toys I actually paid for!!

Those little white plastic things that you have to pull off fruit juice cartons to get into them.

Also Tunnock's caramel wrappers (it has to be Tunnocks! ) scrunched into a ball and attached to a long piece of dark thread and then pulled around the room.

my lil ones fav is STICK
It comes from the plum tree in the garden, its a small branch from the tree.
Prior to that it was a clear plastic ruler!

Yup its a waste of money getting expensive toys for cats for sure.

I have this piece of plastic thats broken off something, and the cat bashes that around the laminate flooring like there is no tomorrow. His other favourite is some string which came off a helium balloon.

Bought a cat scratching post, but he prefers to scratch all the beds and the leather sofa.... I'm so f***ked when it comes to getting my deposit back on this place!!

MIne love plastic balls, play mice,etc but are just as happy with an empty box or the carrier bags from the shopping .

deleted
Last edited by Boom : 05-02-2011 at 21:52

Well they got a LOT at Christmas, not just from me but from my family. They play with them all but the one thing they both loved and fought over was a faux fur mouse. It lost its squeak on Christmas Day, had developed alopecia by Boxing Day, it's eyes were falling out by New Year...and all that's now left of it is its tail. It turned out to be a hollow, clear plastic egg shape which had at one point been heavily doused in glue (as the cats kept wretching every time they got hold of it)..but would they give it up? No! I had to throw it in the end except for its tail which is now tied to a fishing rod!

Their favourite, favourite toys are, however:

Cable ties
Corks
Crisp packets folded origami style into triangles
Pipe cleaners

Soft toys and socks for my old girl - her most favourite is a hot water bottle cover of Eeoyre she's had since a pup - used to pull it around by the tail before using is as a sleeping bag - now tattered and ripped still comes out every night for a play

Pumpkin loves following the light from a laser pen - it drives him barmy and will keep him amused for quite a while.

Magic likes cuddly toys - his favourite is a furry snake which he has bitten to death, he will jump on the bed and just chew away at it

Sophie's favourite toy is a piece of paper folded into a long thin rectangle with a knot in the middle tied to a piece of string. She'll carry it about everywhere, even takes it for a journey out of the garden to find someone to drag it around for her.

She's never been particularly interested in anything else, especially nothing shop-bought!!

I have a stick in the garden too. I get ordered every morning to go out into the garden to sweep the stick around so my cat can chase it. It started last summer when the weather was warm, but has been a pain through the cold weather. I have tried transferring it to indoors, but for her it isn't the same.

Mine also loves playing sticks. It started when they were kittens, I was cutting some long twiggy vine things in my garden and they were all over them. At age 6 they still love the same game. It has a brilliant dual purpose too.
When they are due for a vet visit, but go off out before I can lock them in, I go out, play sticks, then just drag the stick in the back door and they come running after it. Shut the door quick, lock the catflap and I have them. Works every time

A rubber ball - on a rope.
But unlike most dogs, he doesn't want you to pull on the rope while he tries to liberate the ball.
Nope, he likes to be the one pulling the rope - and he'll swing the ball at your legs, onto your lap, etc to entice you to 'play'

My Amber is very contrary! She won't play with any cat toys I buy, but instead loves to play with scrunched up balls of paper, also any bits of foil that she can bat around - and she loves it if I make a "tunnel" out of newspaper which she can then run through! It's absolutely hilarious watching her run around with the newspaper on her back, bless.

Lovely thread, it reminds me of when parents spend a fortune on their children's presents at Christmas - and they play with the wrapping or box!