As the days get longer, a lot of energy goes into planning all sorts of parties, activities and celebrations for friends and family - everyone wants to get in on the fun! But while you are firing up the grill and setting up the badminton net, don’t forget to plan some fun for the cats in your life! We’ve found our cats don’t really care who is graduating, or if there’s a game of Marco Polo going on in the pool. But they were amused and delighted when we presented them with a set of interactive kitty puzzles and games from Cat Amazing.
Cats are natural hunters, and benefit from activities that stimulate their sense of play and discovery. Many inside kitties miss the opportunities their big cats cousins in the wild have to hunt and forage. Cat Amazing’s line of puzzles satisfy the need to hunt, and offer the motivation of a treat!
First, we introduced our tabby tribe to the Cat Amazing Classic. Easy to assemble and made of rigid cardboard, the Classic folds together to become a maze-like toy that, when a tasty treat is added, can provide loads of fun and stimulate natural curiosity. The Classic has a series of paw-sized holes and baffles inside to make things interesting but not impossible. Cats can see and smell the small reward you choose to add, but it’s not so easy to actually retrieve it. We had enormous fun watching how our cats’ brains worked to deduce the best way to get to the end goal. Of course, a more aggressive or younger kitty might not stop once the reward is found, and cardboard is not exactly Kevlar© so you may need to keep an eye out to make sure that fun doesn’t lead to accidental destruction!
Two of our test cats, Theo and Zeke, enjoyed tearing into the games, and we mean that literally. While they enjoyed looking for their treats, they also enjoyed eating the actual games, almost as much as the treats. So, game longevity should be weighed against your feline friends respect for structure and architecture. Theo and Zeke demonstrated an anarchist’s zeal for destruction and willingness to tear down symbols of authority. They are still adolescents so that might have something to do with their less-than-patient attention span. When we tested with Grayson and Sandy, our adult cats, they were more patient, searching for the treats as a problem-solving skill. We think they imagined themselves back on the Serengeti, proving their status as fearless and mighty hunters.
Cat Amazing uses reinforced, durable 100% recyclable cardboard that is 30% post-consumer waste, and printed with metal-free ink, thus lowering your cat's global pawprint. The suggested retail price of the Classic is just $16.95.
Once your cat has mastered (or possibly even shredded) the Classic, he can move up to the Sliders ($27.95), with multiple levels and a more challenging design including box shapes that - yes - slide from side to side. The Mega is even more challenging ($35.95) with three levels to up the game and keep your little kitty Einstein’s brain engaged. We did find that it was best to supervise while the Cat Amazing puzzles were in use, to make sure they didn’t meet a premature end, especially from the claws of one very curious cat. It was a joy to experience our cats’ cleverness and problem-solving skills. This is definitely an activity that cats can continue to enjoy through the year, long after their humans pack up the croquet set at the end of summer. The Cat Amazing Puzzles come Highly A-Purr-Roved!
Nancy Burlan, Harris Fogel, Thomas Fogel, Sandy, Grayson, Theo, & Zeke, Posted 6/5/2023
For more information on Cat Amazing Puzzles visit: https://catamazing.com
