Are Plastic Cat Toy Balls Safe for Kittens?
Given the current scenario, cats are much safer from dangers such as traffic and diseases. However, there is also a downside to cats living indoors all the time. Cats are gaining weight due to inactivity and this is affecting cats, just like it does humans. Physical activity assists cats in building muscle, releasing stress. Exercise also prevents any undesired behavioral patterns from emerging in cats. This is where balls for cats come into the picture, as you can easily get a cat to move around with the help of a cat toy ball. However, cats owners are often apprehensive about letting their cats play with plastic cat toy balls. Why is that? Are plastic cat toy balls safe for cats? Let’s find out.
Why is playtime so essential for cats?
Before unpacking the question of whether cat ball toys plastic is safe for cats or not, let’s first find out why physical activity on a daily basis through adequate playtime is so important for cats.
Playtime ensures that cats are exposed regularly to physically stimulating activities. These activities are extremely vital for maintaining the mental wellness and health of cats. As cats play, their energy finds a natural outlet of release, and it also satiates their intrinsic drive for hunting. Not to mention, you would be able to forge a deeper bond with your pet, if you routinely spend time playing with them. Therefore, it is safe to say that playtime is absolutely essential for cats.
Why do cats like to play with balls?
We have already established that cats ought to be playing at least for some time, on a regular basis. But why do cats seem to prefer cat toy balls with bells, over other kinds of toys?
The primary instinct or motivation that gets triggered into cats, when they are playing, is to go attack and hunt prey. Not many toys are able to mimic the behaviour of a prey, like a cat toy plastic ball with a bell does. A plastic toy cat ball, usually, bounces off as the cat tries to grasp it in its paws, just like a mouse would. This perfectly recreates the hunter-pray dynamic and makes the game more real-world-like for cats. With cat balls with bells inside, the playtime of cats could be made much more exciting and fun.
Moreover, there are several new fun additions being made to balls for cats, nowadays. You would find many attractive looking cat toy balls with bells that are real-attention grabbers. Be it catnip balls, noisemakers, or balls with furs and feathers inside, there are a host of options to choose from.
Is it safe for kittens to play with small toys?
We know two facts- 1. Playtime is absolutely necessary for cats and 2. Cats prefer cat ball toys plastic because they mimic prey behaviour. Based on these facts, it can be said that led motion activated cat balls are the go-to option when it comes to cat toys. But then the most important question arises, is it safe? Let’s address this question.
It is agreed upon that cat balls with bells inside allow kittens to express their natural hunting instincts. With kitten ball toys, cats are able to play at all those wild hunting behaviours that they are not able to express otherwise, in a domestic setting. And thus, there is no harm whatsoever in letting cats play with balls for cats. However, there is one caveat, which is that the toys should not be smaller than one inch.
Any small toy could harm kittens or younger cats. Particularly, if the kittens are not being watched and are left on their own, they can end up chewing and even swallowing small toys. This could harm their health, and in some cases, irreparably.
Therefore, it is important to make sure a few things:
- Let kittens play with led motion activated cat balls, but only when you are playing with them as well, or at least keeping an eye on them to make sure that they do not chew and swallow the ball.
- Young cats should only be allowed to play with toys that are at least over an inch in size.
- If you are leaving them unattended for a while, make sure that you leave them with bigger toys such as a tall cardboard cat scratchier or the cat toy plastic ball with a bell, so that there is no possibility for a choking or swallowing hazard to take place.
A fun and exciting toy for your Cat
Even though there are some legitimate fears about letting cats play with cat ball toys plastic, which we addressed above, we cannot deny the very obvious benefits as well. Hence, it is better to mitigate the dangers, while taking advantage of the numerous benefits that balls for cats offer. Below mentioned is an amazing cat toy ball that you can use to make your cat’s playtime fun and exciting.
Waterproof Automatic Rotating LED Cat Dog Toy Ball
This is a truly wonderful toy that your cat can play with. This LED toy ball is fit for pet play, be it with cats or dogs. More importantly, this ball is waterproof and therefore, you can even play in the rain with your cat, with this ball. Inside the ball, there is a LED light. The ball evades barriers automatically because it is an automatic rotation ball.
Below are the steps that you have to follow, in order to operate this ball:
- You would need to press the button for 3 seconds in order to turn the ball on. You will know that the ball is turned on as soon as you will see the light flash 3 times.
- The sound could be changed by pressing the button.
- You can switch off the ball by pressing the button for three seconds. Again the light would flash 3 times, indicating that the ball has been switched off.
Conclusion
You don’t have to worry about the LED light inside the balls for cats. These will not harm your pet, as long as you don’t leave your cat unattended and it ends up chewing or swallowing some part of the ball. There is virtually no distinction in terms of safety, between LED or any other kinds of lights available on the market. In fact, if you were to actually compare the effects of LED and normal lights, you would find that LED lights are superior to all the other alternatives currently available, in terms of the safety of your pet. So go ahead and let your cat play with a cat toy ball.