The 3 tiered cat toy with 3 balls:
 

Well, we now have THREE various cat toys with tracks/balls.

The first one we bought years ago (the light blue plastic one in a photo I am including) Which is a simple circle and has been the mainstay favorite for many of our cats. Weezie still plays with it sometimes.

The second is a track you assemble that has a heavy ball they can push around. We bought this in 2 parts and connected them, from Amazon.

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So I found this on FB and decided it would be fun for Maya and Weezie.... a 3 tiered toy...

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It came yesterday so I added it to our collection ;)

Here are some photos.
These are taken near the other two, along with the very popular papers. We move the papers off the Catit long track, but they move them back overnight to cover part of the track. They like it best that way.:o
A short play time today ended up with Maya zooming under the papers to break Weezie's stalking attention on the balls. The papers always seem to win. ;)

Thanks mrsD.

I will see if any equivalents are available here - anything which helps to keep my two entertained is a bonus ;).

Hubby decided to put a small bit of our freshly grown catnip on the middle tier. Seems the cats don't like the odor of the plastic ...but they are still playing with it some.

Yesterday Weezie zoomed in from lunch and lay on her side and did a 4 paw attack. Front 2 to move the balls and rear paws to push them back to her.

She sometimes does 4 paw treading on Hubby too.

Our cats are 4 and 5 yrs old. They are a bit hesitant to work the new toy together...some form of cat etiquette? I think younger cats would play more together with this toy.

It will be a long winter with cold temps and both indoors so I am hoping this gets lots of action. I think this will fit inside the Catit long track so I will slowly move it over to there.;)

Thanks mrsD :).

I can relate to 4 paw treading...

Thanks for the idea about catnip - when I get an equivalent I will get some - hope that it will help my two to play nicely together :rolleyes:.

We have noticed that kittens don't respond to catnip much... they have to be adults. Maya (age 4) even as an adult is only modestly affected by catnip.

However, Weezie is quite habituated to it...and asks for it daily if we don't offer it. There seems to be a variation to catnip response in our home, over the years. They play alot and chase each other after a catnip splurge. I put it in a large paper grocery bag, to keep the mess down, and this also concentrates the vapors. I grow my own in a very deep planter/urn outside, and can get 3 crops of bushy plant....by cutting it back every month or so leaving 4 leaves behind. I then dry it upside down, in a paper bag, and then put the leaves (throw out the stems), in an air tight jar or ziploc plastic baggie. When I give it to them I rub the leaves between my fingers to release the scent and oil for them. This works better for us, because the soil in the planter is better than that in our yard! Catnip grows best in partial sun and good moisture.

How on earth did I miss this thread!!??? :o

I'm going to get Miss Panda one of the tiered cat toys. She tends to get very excited and I'm concerned she may hurt herself the way she bolts around and skids on the wood floor. She slammed into a closed closet door at the end of the hall a couple of days ago and I know it had to hurt her hip. She was playing with her mouse toy we call "baby". All I have to say is "where's baby" and she's off looking for it. :p

I think something like this will be good for her. Enough play to keep her interested and safer in that she doesn't have to gallop through the house. Honestly, she sounds like a horse when she starts running around at full speed. She has no fear. :rolleyes:

Here she is resting on her heating pad. She's so spoiled! :o

Kitty, that is a lovely pic of Miss Panda :).

I hope that the toys work for her.

Maya does that zooming around thing too. We call it the "maddies". LOL

Panda looks so much like our late Oreo. I still miss her... sigh

When there is alot of Maya zooming, I try to play with her more. Usually it only takes 15 minutes or so for her to discharge her hunting instincts. A string game usually works for her. Weezie also gets tense but not really as much as Maya.
Maya came from a feral colony and I guess she is just a higher strung kitty. Weezie is more phlematic. ;)

Panda's "spazzy kitty time" is usually around 5 PM. I can see it in her eyes and body language when she's gearing up to spaz out.

She gets very wide-eyed and sits crouched and close to the floor. All I have to do is whisper "get it Panda" and she's off and running. I don't do that much anymore because she isn't careful about slowing down when she rounds a corner. I'm really concerned she's going to break something (like a bone.) :eek:

I've ordered the three-tiered cat toy and it should be here tomorrow. I hope she likes it.

Now that it is getting past Autumn and winter is approaching, Weezie is playing more and more with her cat ball track (Catit Senses), since she is inside more.

She has dragged her large paper over to it and covered it up. She then lies on top of the paper waiting for the ball to move slightly
and make a noise. Catit Senses make light up balls, with motion sensers in them, and I thought this might shine thru the paper some at night when she is playing there. So I ordered them from Amazon today. They are not expensive, only about $6.00 for a pack of two of them.

Many years ago I read a magazine called Cat Fancy. It had a story in it about cat "games", and explained 3 major play styles for kitties.

1) mouse--- This is where you create movement under cover, of a cloth, sheet or thin blanket or newspaper, and the cat then pounces on it. Many people discover their kittens attacking their feet and toes under the bed covers!

2) bird--- the toys with long plastic or graphite sticks with feathers or small toys/strings etc tied on the ends, can simulate birds flying around, and satisfy this hunting instinct. This was Maya's first toy when we got her ... she really loved it.

3) rabbit--- this is played with 2 cats, or a cat and a pet friend...it is the hide, jump out and surprise, and chase the other all over. When very vigorous, we call this having "the maddies". In our home sometimes this becomes a "rumble" as my husband calls it.

Well, Miss Panda was unimpressed with her new toy. :rolleyes:

I put it out for her at various different times, in different places in the house an she had NO interest in it whatsoever. :Hum:

She does, however, play with her "baby" (a little purple mouse) and bats it all over the place. She must just prefer toys that she can run after and "catch".

I ended up giving the toy to a friend of mine that does cat rescue and always has a room full of cats and kittens. She said they all love it!

Oh well, I tried. Panda has a basket full of "babies" she can bat around and chase after.

Sometimes it takes a while to learn a new toy. We've seen toys ignored for days, weeks or months. Then all of a sudden there is a turn around and it becomes a favorite!

We put a fresh catnip leaf in our ball toy to expedite acceptance.

What is taking a long time here, is a bird toy with feathers, which both cats ignore because it has a chirping motion detector inside! It has been lying around the living room for months now, and today Maya has started to play with it.
I propped it up using the stick end in one of the cat trees and
after playing a bit with her, and she glombed it off and carried it away stick and all!

But the rescue cats loving your gift is a fine thing too.

Weezie has covered up her whole blue track ball game. Today, and has been lying on the papers listening for the balls to move so she can pounce on them.. This is not how they were advertised for sale for sure! LOL The balls make a clicking/clacking sound as they roll around.

There are plastic springs sold as cat toys and our late Oreo and now Maya love these. Easy to carry around and they move in ways like mice run... they move in unpredictable ways and are easy to set off into motion.

So we have had great luck with these:


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They don't break and even still work if you accidently step one here or there. They are easy to snag with paws too.

The lighted Catit balls finally came today.. Amazon was very slow with this order... 2+wks! So I put one lighted ball in the flat Catit track...and Maya instantly was attracted to it and had a great time. Now she has the maddies and is running around all over. The balls flash red.

The motion activated gizmo only runs a few seconds unless more motion is provided. Quite the techie toy IMO.
$5.95 for a pack of 2 .

Weezie is hiding after their little morning rumble. I think she will like these too...since she is the big track ball player compared to Maya.


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This is so funny.. I've got to share this.

Both cats are now playing with the lighted ball in the flat Catit tracks now.

Just a few minutes ago, Maya has thrown herself under the papers, and moved herself to the track area and is batting the lighted red ball back and forth on one end of the track. It is sparkling on the radiator as it rides up on the end track which is slightly elevated and zooms back to her. Quite a nice game she has created.

Then after about 15 or so minutes she zooms out in a loud rustle and zooms around the house having a maddie attack. LOL Weezie plays with it now too, but only at night, so far.

What a lovely story mrsD :)!