Blog - Page 2 of 12 - Food Puzzles for Cats

The Nina Ottosson Dog Treat Maze

New version, new color combination.

This is a very complicated food puzzle. It is two sided, features a maze within the toy on both sides and requires the cats to wobble or flip the toy entirely to dispense food. As this video demonstrates, not all hunting expeditions are successful. She walks away without success but that is ok, intermittent reinforcement keeps the animal doing the behavior! Practice makes perfect. Remember that novel food is helpful to stimulate interest and drive motivation. If your goal is weight loss or busting boredom the toys should be challenging and make them work hard!

Notice the name change. Sadly, the Cat Treat Maze is no longer available. The toy is identical.

No joke. A client's cat did this!! She would pick up the toy and shake it.

This toy comes apart for easy cleaning and snaps back together.

The Flower Tower by Trixie Pet

This is an intricate, brains over brawn, food puzzle originally designed for dogs, but that won't stop us! This puzzle features four swiveling layers but access is only granted once the large base cones are removed. That is the challenge, the cat must do one section of the puzzle in efforts for the next to be revealed. All levels can be rearranged for constant variety! This is definitely a toy for the experienced forager

The Snoop

Toy can be used with opening folded in.

Watch video clip above to see it in action!

Yet another toy designed and marketed for dogs that is great for cats as well. This toy can work for dry or wet food and can be manipulated to achieve different challenge levels, though as a whole it is a beginner toy. The idea is for cats to use their paw to extract the wet food, but as you can see in the video, some kitties are rebels!

Or the opening can be extended out.

The Bob-A-Lot

This is a weighted and challenging food puzzle designed originally for small to medium sized dogs, but is no match for an experienced foraging cat! Featuring an adjustable opening and a difficult to grip exterior, this toy is sure to slow down a cat that eats too quickly.

Watch video above to see if your cats are up to this challenge. Remember the goal is to find your individual cats greatest challenge level. Do not be disappointed if they are not able to master a specific toy. Everyone is a unique individual!

It's lip lickin' good fun!

"Whatcha lookin' at? I'm busy here."

Fun for the whole family!

The Kong Wobbler for cats

This is a challenging, weighted and rather large foraging toy for cats. This puzzle is geared towards the experienced forager and cats that are very driven. The challenge can be increased if need be by placing various cat toys inside to occasionally obstruct the opening or by placing smaller food puzzles inside such as foraging ping pong balls by Fundamentally Feline!

Scratch pad with treat dispenser

Step 1. Purchase treat ball attachment.

Step 2. Purchase traditional scratch pad.

Step 3. Attach treat ball to scratch pad.

Step 4. Poof! Instant food puzzle!

A clever little two in one toy. This scratch pad offers a feature that allows you to make it two toys in one! This is not a very difficult toy, but a fun spin on this classic corrugated cardboard scratch pad nonetheless.

The Catit Play stationary foraging board

This stationary foraging board offers a myriad of different obstacles, can be used for wet or dry food and can be enjoyed by both novice and experienced foragers. Placing the food only in the center of the board increases the challenge and requires the cats to then extract food from a secondary puzzle at the perimeter. Not only is this toy stylish, it is well made, easy to clean and versatile.

Busy Buddy Twist ‘N Treat

This small dog toy is great for cats too! Do not let the puppy logo fool you, cats are quite capable of working a wide array of dog puzzles and this one is no exception. This toy is easy to fill and works with many different sizes of dry food. This toy is a bulky & heavy which can present a bit of a challenge for felines!

Small dog toys are not just for dogs!

Easy to fill & accommodates a variety of kibble sizes.

Knock Out weighted foraging egg by SmartyKat

This weighted, opaque egg by SmartyKat can be quite a challenge for some kitties. Opaque toys are more difficult because the cat must go on learned previous experiences no longer having the visual cue that there is food inside. The weighted base of course provides more difficulty and to increase the challenge even further this toy can easily be placed inside larger foraging objects like the yogurt cup shown here. Now the cat must get the food out of two puzzles at once!

Green base is weighted for greater difficulty.

Opaque toys do not allow for a visual cue.

Place inside another toy (yogurt cup) to increase challenge.

Cat Epic!

Cat Epic! is brought to you by the maker of Cat Amazing. This is an intricate and difficult stationary food puzzle that offers three challenge levels. The pieces inside can be reconfigured to make it easier or harder based on the cat's skill level.

A peek inside. Upper level adjusts for varied difficulty.

See cats interact with it below

"I tried Cat Epic! and I liked it!" ~Finn

Really cool how many cats can participate at the same time.