5 New Cat Toys We Picked Up This Summer
Florida summers mean one thing in this house: everybody is too hot to move. With all our cats sprawled across whatever tile floor feels coolest, the idea of chasing a feather around the living room for twenty minutes sounds exhausting to all of us, including me. So this summer I focused on toys that either let the cats entertain themselves while I’m not actively playing referee, or toys calm enough to enjoy from a horizontal position.
Every cat in this house has a different relationship with playtime. Tofu, easily the wildest of the bunch despite being the smallest, will throw himself at anything that moves. Mystique, Atlas, and Queso are the reliable players, the three who show up the second something new comes out of a box.
Blueberry tends to hang back when there’s a crowd around a toy and prefers to investigate things on her own time. Hercules joins in when the mood strikes, which is unpredictable at best. And Cocoa, my oldest and shyest, mostly watches from a distance but surprises me every so often by actually getting involved (we will randomly see her bat something and get joy out of it- good enough for a cat her age).
Here are 5 toys we have purchased this summer (2026) that everyone is still enjoying.
Hide and Seek Toy
Here’s what we grabbed:
We have gone through several of these over the time period. Every now and again, Queso gets territorial and destroys one, and I always have one sitting in my cart. In fact, you will see 2 on this list, the one we got before this one and the one the cats destroyed. But they are so fun, we just rebuy.
This toy runs on a rechargeable battery, so there is no scrambling for AAs when the fun starts. A butterfly spins on top while a feather wand hides and peeks out from under a fabric cover, and the irregular movement keeps cats guessing instead of losing interest after the first minute. There are two speed settings, and it shuts itself off after five minutes of no activity, then sits in standby for two hours so a cat can wander back over and start it up again with a touch.
This is the toy I leave out for Tofu most often. He has zero patience for waiting around, so a toy that starts moving on its own the second he touches it is exactly his speed. Mystique and Atlas circle it too, mostly to figure out where that feather disappeared to under the cover.
Automatic Wand Toy
Here’s what we grabbed:
CATPICK Automatic Flying Bird Feather Wand
The suction cup base on this one works great on my tile. It holds onto tile, wood, and other smooth floors a lot better than the smaller suction cups on similar toys, so it stays put even when a cat gets aggressive with it. The feather wand spins in a full circle and mimics a bird darting around, which triggers chase instincts without anyone needing to move much themselves since it can be planted right next to a favorite lounging spot.
It runs on USB rechargeable power, goes into sleep mode after ten minutes without play, and shuts off completely after five hours so it is not running all night for no reason. Queso has all but claimed this one as his, and Atlas isn’t far behind him most days. The suction base has held up against both of them, which says a lot since neither one plays gently. I find that Tofu just lies under it and watches it like a pinwheel. Either way, everyone is entertained.
As a note, the little spin on the top is what suctions it to the bottom, so if you do not unspin it, it will stay stuck really well.
Plush Mouse Toy
Here’s what we grabbed:
Migipaws MigiMouse Rolling Cat Toy
This plush mouse has a furry body, little pink ears, and a super long tail that flicks and wiggles as it rolls through the house, plus a squeaker that can be switched on or off depending on how much noise you can tolerate. Once it gets going, it rolls, spins, and changes direction, stopping and starting unpredictably instead of just rolling in a straight line.
If your cat tends to be cautious around new things, let them sniff it while it’s turned off first. That’s exactly how Blueberry approached it, sniffing it out alone one evening after everyone else had lost interest and gone to bed, long before she’d ever touch it with an audience around. Mystique had no such hesitation and went after it within minutes. Once a cat figures out it’s a toy and not an intruder, the motion sensor takes over and they can set off play sessions on their own.
I did find that this has gotten caught under the couch a few times.
Silvervine Chew Sticks
Here’s what we grabbed:
Technically, this isn’t a toy, but I buy a pack of these once a month. While I cannot say they stop working, I feel like the fresh ones are the strongest and all the cats enjoy them so much.
This pack that I got from Amazon comes with ten sticks in a few different styles, some wrapped in raffia with dried silvervine fruit attached, some with a feather and bell, and a handful of small plain sticks for casual chewing. Silvervine works on a lot of cats the same way catnip does, sometimes even more strongly, and you’ll see rolling, cheek rubbing, drooling, and a lot of contented licking.
The chewing also helps knock some tartar loose, which is a nice bonus for some enrichment that asks absolutely nothing of you.
Door Mount String Toy
Here’s what we grabbed:
Please note that out of all of our toys, this is the one they lost interest in first. I put it on sparingly to keep them coming back.
This toy mounts right onto a door with a strong suction grip, and a motorized string spins and dances around to mimic real prey movement. There are three speed settings, a fast mode for the cats who want a real workout, a slow mode for anyone more cautious, and a random mode that mixes it up so nobody figures out the pattern. Tofu and Queso go after it the hardest, probably because the motion is just predictable enough to keep them watching.
If you want to know who’s who behind all this chaos, from Queso’s somersaults to Tofu’s nightly disappearing act under my chin, I introduced the whole crew here: Meet Queso and Crew.
