Best Toys For Pets?

[jeffrey]

I have found that when it comes to pets (my wife takes in all the strays we come across), the best toys are often ones that aren't specifically for pets. For example, by far the best toy we have purchased for our cats is a laser pointer - gives them hours and hours of entertainment - absolutely love it. Wondering what other "non-typical" toys you use for your pets that they love.

[threebeansalad]

My mom discovered her cat was very found of chasing pipe cleaners after she dropped one on the floor during a craft project. We tried it on our cat--and she loves it, too!

[jodi]

We sacrifice (by that, I mean we "accidentally" leave them on the floor) old stuffed animals to the dog. I don't mean the teddy bear that our son sleeps with, but all those little, generic ones that somehow seem to multiply when your back is turned (what DO they do in that toy chest anyway?). The kids never miss them. Since we are running low, I was thinking of asking for more on freecycle. I remember a gentleman who bought all of ours from a garage sale years ago and told us they were for his dog. Of course, be careful of eyes and pieces that could be swallowed.
Our dog, aptly named Chewy, finds lots of other things to play with (like DH's new slippers he received for Christmas), but not with our approval
Our cat never once played with her scratching post/dangly cat toy we bought her She did love her little pillow stuffed with catnip though.

[PrincessPerky]

When I was a kid, our dog would chew on pop bottles (empty) Mom drank a ton of pop, so there were plenty of toys around.

[lexi_kaye]

Something that I buy for my dogs, but if you have kids, can use leftovers. They like baby toys. Usually soft, but not always. Some have squeakers and some have rattles, but they love the noise and have a whole toybox full. They rotate through them and find one on the bottom they haven't seen in six months and it is like it is a new toy again. Because they were meant for babies, you don't have to worry about small pieces that might fall off in their mouths. Also, a binky works excellent when they are puppies and teething. I suppose this might not work so well for a large breed pup, but mine are all real small. The empty pop bottle works too! Put a treat inside and see how long it takes them to learn to undo the top to get to the treat. My only problem with this trick is my 5 year old cocker spaniel can't understand why she can't play with the two liter bottle of pop I just brought home from the store! LOL!

[puppypal]

Oh, my boston just loves tug toys so Since I had a huge amount of no matched sockes running around I just tie them together. She loves to fetch so we throw the bundle of tied socks and it is simular to a ball. She will play for hours and never runs out of play steam.

[boefixepa]

Dollar store stuffed animals with any things that needs to be cut off, cut off. They are going to 'kill' and 'de-stuff' it in a matter of minutes, so I don't spend $$ on them often. I get scrap bones from the butcher and they LOVE those. They will chew on them for hours. I also have gotten those 'cubes' or 'balls' that you put food inside of and they have to push them aroud and then a few kibbles of food fall out. They really like those and even after they are out of food those stay 'unburried' in the snow. So I guess they play with them often or they would be a few inches under if you know what I mean. They also play with each other. My thoughts are that you should have at least two animals. They make the best play mates and are always around.

[LuxLiving]

Our hands - our dogs both love to try to catch our hands stuck from under our legs and wagged at them...they try to capture it as you slide it back out of sight. Goofy, but free!

One of our dogs loves the sticks in the yard from falling limbs. Also free.

[tinapbeana]

my cats: rubber bands (either office or hair variety), the piece of plastic that keeps the top on a milk jug, twist ties from a bag of bread, the classics (string, box, paper or plastic bags), my wet hair (OW!), fingers and toes under a blanket, dust bunnies, cabinate doors, wildlife from the yard that they proceed to try and sneak in the house such as shrews, mice, kangaroo mice, squirrels (adult and baby), birds (adult and baby), crickets, and a bat. all of these have wound up in the house at least once, which is why i no longer have a way for the cats to let themselves in the house!

dogs we've had in the past: chewed the tops off pop bottles and milk jugs, teethed on a sledge hammer, ate the foam from flip-flops and the crotches out of underwear (EW!), welding gloves, countless stuffed animals, children's toys, wildlife on a slightly larger scale including rabbits, squirrels, wild turkey, a beaver, and a deer leg (?!??)

[scfr]

Good suggestions so far. Others include ...

CATS: Crumpled up pieces of paper or candy wrappers, Piece of Fabric Ribbon tied to the back of a chair and left dangling toward the ground

DOGS: Ice Cubes [Cautionary note about anthing you give a dog: You have to be careful because they can be pretty voracious chewers, so make sure there is nothing they could chew off and choke on.]

Not a toy, but little pieces of their kibble food work just as well as expensive treats when you are doing training exercises. The best thing you can give a dog is your time (for walks, training, etc).

[Ima saver]

Don't ever buy those big real bones you see at a grocery store. I gave my dog one and she drank water for hours. They ar too salty!

[sakigt]

Always make sure your doggy doesnt get too excited about their home-made toys. Eating the cloth could back up their digestive track and ruin your savings by a huge amount in surgery costs.

My fat cat will play with NOTHING except the little plastic piece around milk jugs. The little one plays with rabbit-fur covered mice, which arent that expensive anyways.

[Gruntina]

I forget what you call these things but it’s like an old keychain or the type of metal chain you pull on to turn on the fan/light. It’s a chain made up of small metal balls with a clip hook to connect them.

My cat goes excited when they make sounds. I tied a long piece of string with that metal chain on the tip.

he also loves chaseing after a hawian lui (those plastic ones.) I came home from a party with one of those and the cat imediately went after it.

[boefixepa]

All my cats have loved the scruncci's I use for my hair. When I first got my cats one threw up 'normal' rubber bands, and milk jug rings.....so be careful with those. I've always been careful to keep things like that picked up even if they really do like them....vets are expensive. Scruncii's are a bit large to eat, but they would bat them all over and carry them around and hide them....I miss my kitties....