This puzzle is not for the faint of heart. It could be scary for some cats. But if your cat is a master forager and does not mind some noise this is worth a shot. Much like the children's vacuum or lawnmower toy that had the popping balls in it, this toy works on the same mechanism of action. The food is the popping balls in this case. A fun game if your cat also enjoys when treats or kibble are thrown.
These cute little mice from Petstages are such great foraging toys! They are small, easily manipulated, offer appealing textures, and can be picked up and carried around the house just like real prey! They do not hold a lot of food so they are great for portion control as well. They really require some batting around to get the food to dispense and are not quite as easy as one might expect.
These adorable food puzzles from Goli Designs are handmade from colorful nylon strapping and feature a small bell inside to create interest. They have two holes so these are definitely a beginner toy. These would also work nicely being filled with food and placed inside a larger food puzzle or of course used solo as just a fun ball to bat around. So many cute, fun color combinations!
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!
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.
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.
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!
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!
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 food puzzle for every budget! You can do so much with toilet paper rolls or paper towel rolls.
Left: a one holed food puzzle. You can make it as easy as you'd like with as many holes as needed.
Right: a catnip dispenser! Cats can forage for other things beside food. Catnip scratch and sniff paper can be used or poke many teeny-tiny holes to dispense loose catnip, valerian, or silvervine!
You can easily turn these cardboard tubes into foraging pinata's that hang and dangle from doorways.
Simply poke a hole in the tube and run a thick piece of cotton string through and tie a knot. Fold in the ends. Make as many openings as desired to dispense the food and boom! A homemade foraging pinata! Hang and let your cats enjoy.
