In this video clip, you will see how both a kitten and a handicapable senior cat interacts with essentially a foraging pinata. This toy can be adjusted to varying heights. If they have to reach up to bat at it that increases the difficulty.
This is yet another dog toy that is great for cats too. It is a bit bulky and heavy, but if manipulated hard enough it will provide erratic movement. This toy is also great for cats that are chewers as it would be difficult to destroy. Some cats do like to gnaw on it.
Cats actually love this little treat mouse by Aikiou as a traditional cat toy and as a food puzzle. It is perfectly sized to mimic prey, dispenses small pieces of food and has a great overall feel. It is not very difficult but could be easily placed inside a larger food puzzle to create a greater challenge. Hiding it would make for a fun game too!
Who knew? Apparently Bud Light is available in plastic bottles! What that means is that when you party, so do your cats!
When someone brought these to a gathering they quickly became a must have item, just so that they could be made into a foraging toy! Now, when you entertain, you can also have foraging toys out for your cats to use to further entertain your guests. Hilarious conversation piece!
This little ball does not look like much but it is actually a great little food puzzle. It can be quite challenging as it has three levels that the food must fall through to dispense out the opening. It is small and doesn't hold too much food which is great for cats trying to slim down.
This toy is very inexpensive. In fact, acquiring a few of them would be ideal. They could easily be hidden around the house for a full day of rations. It also functions well being inserted into a larger food puzzle for increase challenge as shown in the photos below.
This is a ridiculously easy puzzle to make and it happens to be disposable and recyclable so it's great option for shelters.
Square objects, as a rule, are quite difficult. It is not recommended to frustrate your cat so please only offer this style toy if you cat is up for the challenge.
Weights, other small cat toys and smaller food puzzles can all be placed inside to increase the challenge.
Kong Pawzzles are available in four different shapes, a cube as featured here, a pyramid, a donut and a doggie bone shape. All four shapes are available in two sizes, small and large. The cube featured in this post is actually a size large and still appropriate for aggressive foragers (cats).
Remember that just because the toy is marketed for dogs does not mean it would not be an awesome addition to your feline food puzzles collection! This toy is heavier than most and quite challenging so not for beginners.
These are more difficult objects as they do not roll easily and are heavy. Notice the cog and wheel style colored ends that make the object more difficult to manipulate on a hard surface.
If your cat is a master forager combine this toy with a foraging egg mini. Fill the egg and drop it inside the gear toy to increase the challenge and make your cats work extra hard! You can also add a ping pong ball or two inside so that the food does not always make it to the opening so easily.
These ideas are great for cats on a diet plan where we really need to limit their intake or for those with boredom triggered behavior problems as this will occupy them for a longer period of time!
Yes, some cats actually get this good at working for food!
Available with large or small holes to accomodate a variety of different kibble types.
These ping pongs are a great beginner toy, great for very overweight cats when we really want to limit their access to dry food, and also great for combining with other objects to increase challenge. For example, the ping pongs can be filled and placed inside another toy such as the long gear, cubes or poster tubes so the cat must work extra hard to get food out of two objects at once!
See photos below for examples of their versatility!
Cats enjoy hooking their nails into the small holes and will even learn to pick up the toy and shake out the kibble this way.
See how versatile these ping-pongs are in this post, So you think you have a "master forager"? They are a must have to any feline weight loss foraging program!
