The Foraging Wiffle Ball from Fundamentally Feline is a good beginner object. The many perforated holes increase scent attraction, it is round so it is easily rolled, and the cat can also see that there is food in the ball since it is not complete opaque. It is only available with onelarge hole for large kibble for obvious reasons, as it already has many small holes. Some cats hook their nails into the holes and learn to shake out the kibble!
Watch video below to see it in action!
Another excellent toy, the Nina Ottosson Dog Brick is perfect to use for cats for either canned or dry food. The cat must slide the cover to expose the reservoirs to access the wet food. This puzzle can be made more difficult by inserting a doggy bone into one of the center slots to serve as an obstacle to be removed before they can slide the cover.
Wet food can be more difficult to offer via food puzzles. If you get creative or find the right commercially available toys it can be done. Cats do not care about the doggy bone shape! This toy is very well made, easy to clean and works beautifully for this purpose. Watch Willow and friends as they show you how it is done!
This foraging ball features an inner maze coupled with an adjustable opening allowing you to alter the difficulty level based on your cat's skill level and the size of the food.
This is an excellent beginner toy.
Right: let Hitchinson show you how it is done in this short video clip!
The Catit Treat Maze is a great beginner puzzle! Some kitties may be stumped by the clear plastic cover as cats are unable to focus on objects right under their noses. They are virtually blind within 12 inches from their face and use their whiskers to locate objects right in from of them like food or toys.
One of the plates provided is easier than the other and they are quite easy to switch out and clean. Check out this video to see it in action!
The Fishbowl requires some skillful paw action! Some cats will flip this toy over if placed on carpeting. It works best and offers the most challenge on hard flooring. Once the cat becomes adept at using this puzzle it is actually pretty easy. Freeze dried meat pieces makes a nice low calorie option for filler.
If your cat becomes tired of chasing the ball around in any of these channel-like toys, simple convert them into a stationary foraging toy! Alternating how these toys can be used creates novel interest and keeps your cat mentally stimulated and engaged.
The Green is a great beginner foraging toy. This is the doggy version of the feline "Catch" toy. Because it is larger, it holds more volume for multiple cat households and provides a slightly increased challenge as the interior portion of the puzzle is harder to reach.
If you want to increase the challenge even further add a foraging ping pong ball from Fundamentally Feline. Simply fill ping pong ball and drop it into one of the sections. The cat has to spin the ball to get the food to drop into the Green and then extract it from the maze with their paw. Yes, cats really do get this skilled at foraging!
Do not let the dog photos on the packaging deter you from trying these toys out with your cats.
Cats are quite capable of using these puzzles only they do so in a different way. Dogs lick out these bowls with their tongues where cats scoop the food out with their paws.
These objects are not too terribly difficult however, each different colored bowl provides a different maze/puzzle challenge. The interior portions of the maze are a bit more out of reach and increase the challenge for the cats.
