BarnYarn Animals Catnip Cat Toy Review

Don't worry, Meadow isn't the only one in the house that gets new stuff to try out. The Kitties are here today with a review of some new BarnYarn Animals Catnip Toys by Chilly Dog (approx. $3.00 each). Like most cats, Meadow's Kitties are extraordinarily choosy about their toys, and we have collected hundreds (thousands?) of rejected toys over the years. Often we simply by more of their tried and true favorites, but it's fun to try new toys once in a while. I've seen these adorable hand-kitted catnip stuffed animals at various pet stores, and grabbed a couple during our last Chuck & Don's shopping trip. They are available directly from the manufacturer, and you can also find them on Amazon. Check your local pet retailer to see if they carry these adorable BarnYarn toys.

BarnYarn Catnip Toys come in a variety of adorable barnyard animals, including pigs, rabbits, cows, dogs, etc. We got a rabbit and a mouse. The catnip inside smells powerful - usually that's a good sign. Catnip toys are more often that not a reasonably safe bet.

Testing out the BarnYarn Toys - Clockwise from Top Left - Reekoe, Former Foster Kitty Spring (adopted), and Slimey.

Meadow's kitties were mildly interested in these. Any new toy is usually interesting for a few minutes. Our foster kitty (recently adopted!) Spring really liked these toys. In fact, we sent one of them with her when she went to her new home. They're small enough to bat around and carry around. Meadow unfortunately got ahold of one of these toys and slobbered it up. The slobbery catnip inside turned the white yarn of the rabbit a greenish-blackish color, so it now looks kind of gross, but the cats don't really care how it looks.

All in all, despite the fact that these smell of a very powerful catnip, I'd rate them average at best for our kitties. Younger kitties (like our foster kitty Spring - who was less than a year old) who like to bat toys around might have more fun with these toys. The one toy BarnYarn toy we kept has more or less been ignored since Spring went to her new adoptive home, so it will eventually go into one of the "old" toy bins to soak in catnip for a few weeks or months.

Leaps and Bounds Catnip Lobster and Catnip Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Review

Happy Caturday! Today, Meadow's Kitties share their review of two new Leaps and Bounds Catnip Cat Toys. 

If your kitties are anything like ours, finding toys that your cat likes is like hitting the lottery. Most of the time, when I buy what I think is a cool or cute toy, the cats snub it. One trick we have learned over the years of being a multi-cat household is that the mountains of ignored cat toys can sometimes be "recycled" with a little trick. We take small lidded plastic boxes - about the size of a shoebox - fill them with ignored toys, dump in some powerful catnip - for example - Yeowww! Catnip - put the lid back on the box, stick the box away for a few weeks or months, and let the toys "marinate." Pull the box out, take the sealed lid off, and all of the toys inside will be infused with a powerful catnip smell! Plus, having been "gone" for a few weeks or months, it will be like getting "new" toys for the kitties. When they get bored with those toys, pack them back up with catnip, and open up a new "marinated" box of toys. We rotate three or four boxes of toys using the "catnip marinade" method.

On a recent trip to Petco, I spotted a couple new catnip cat toys that I hadn't seen before - the Leaps and Bounds Lobster Catnip Cat Toy (approx. $2.99), and the Leaps and Bounds Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Catnip Cat Toy (approx. $3.99). I thought these toys were adorable - especially the strawberry, and that they were a good size for tossing around, so I took a shot and bought them for the cats, despite the risk that they would end up in the "ignored" pile.

When the time came to play test these toys, I was pleasantly surprised that several of the cats were at least temporarily interested in these toys. They are small enough to bat and toss around, and the catnip is reasonably potent. I did cut the labels off both toys, and after some play-testing, cut the lobster's antennae off as well. Eddie, Reekoe, Princess, and Slimey participated in play-testing for picture taking purposes. Since play-testing, the Strawberry has definitely turned out to be the favorite. The Lobster hasn't moved around much, but the Strawberry has been all over the house, including up and down the stairs several times. It's roundish-shape makes it easy to bat around and chase. I've even spotted Blueberry and our foster kitty Spring carrying the Strawberry around in their mouths. Spring the foster kitty likes this Strawberry so much that we will send it with her when she is adopted. The Leaps and Bounds Lobster Catnip Cat Toy is available for purchase at Petco.com, and the Leaps and Bounds Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Catnip Cat Toy is also available for purchase at Petco.com. Both the Lobster and the Strawberry can also be found at Amazon.



 Do you have any tricks you use to increase your odds of finding toys your cats like?