You buy a new toy. Your cat comes over, sniffs it for a few seconds, and walks off. Why? Because a cat doesn't choose a toy with its eyes. It chooses with instinct. A toy that doesn't resemble prey, and doesn't allow for a hunt, won't engage a cat - no matter what it cost.
In more than 14 years of breeding pedigree cats, I watch cats play and hunt every single day. Play isn't entertainment. It's a substitute for hunting - one of a cat's most fundamental behaviours, and going without it leads to frustration, excess energy at night, and attacks on the people they live with.
Every hunt a cat carries out, including play at home, follows a fixed sequence of behaviours known as the hunting chain. It has six stages: stalking (searching for prey), lying in wait (watching from cover), the chase (a fast attack), the catch (seizing the prey), the kill bite (dispatching it), and eating, followed by rest.
Good play should take a cat through the whole chain, from stalking to the catch. If play ends at the chase stage - the cat chases, but never catches - adrenaline and noradrenaline flood its system: hormones that raise arousal instead of lowering it. The result is a cat that's more wound up after playing than before.
That's why play should always end in success for the cat: catching the "prey". In my own breeding cattery, every play session ends with the cat catching the toy, giving it a good shake, and carrying it around the room. Only then comes food, and rest. The whole chain gets closed.
In the wild, cats hunt in short, intense bursts. A single hunt lasts a few minutes, rarely more than fifteen. Longer play isn't more effective - a cat scratching from sheer overtiredness isn't satisfied, it's overstimulated.
15 minutes of active play a day, across one to three sessions, is the minimum needed to work through the hunting instinct, reduce night-time activity, and cut down on attacks on the people in the house. In my own cattery, cats who play regularly before their evening meal are calmer overnight.
The best time to play is right before a planned feed. The sequence hunt → eat → rest matches a cat's natural rhythm.
A wand toy lets you play the role of fleeing prey. You can use it to mimic a mouse (fast, jittery movements close to the floor), a bird (rising, gliding drops) or an insect (trembling, sudden jumps).
In my experience, cats respond to a toy's movement, not its looks. A toy lying still doesn't trigger the hunting instinct. A toy that moves, disappears round a corner and suddenly darts away does.
One key rule: a wand toy should flee away from the cat, never towards it. Prey doesn't run at a predator. That one small detail makes play far more engaging for a cat.
Not every game needs an owner involved. Cats also play on their own - shaking, tossing, carrying around the house and hiding small objects that resemble prey.
That's why we design PRASKA toys so a cat can comfortably grab them in its mouth, toss them, shake them and carry them somewhere else. Soft premium fur mimics natural prey. Rustling foil sparks curiosity and invites attack. Catnip gets many cats playing. It's this combination of touch, sound and scent that engages a cat's hunting instinct.
Every new model is tested in my own cattery. I watch whether cats come back to a toy, whether they carry it around the house, whether they play with it unprompted. Only once testing goes well does a toy go on sale.
No. A handful of well-chosen toys works better than a basket full of random objects. Rotation matters more than quantity - a toy put away for a few days and brought back out feels new to a cat again.
In my own cattery, I rotate toys every three to four days. Cats that have "gone off" a toy come back to it with full enthusiasm after a few days' break.
Never play with a cat using your hands or feet. A cat that learns to attack a human body during play will do the same outside of play too - especially at night.
Don't end play at the chase stage. A cat that hunts but never catches stays in a state of arousal, which leads to frustration and compensatory behaviours: scratching furniture, excessive vocalising, attacking ankles.
Don't force play when a cat clearly isn't in the mood. Cats have their own active periods, usually early morning and evening. Playing in the middle of the day, when a cat wants to sleep, won't achieve much.
Hunting play needs room to run, climb and hide. A well-designed cat space isn't separate from play - it's part of it. Wall-mounted scratchers become lookout points while stalking. ARENA play areas with sensory mats combine tactile stimulation with active play. Dens and houses work as hideouts a cat can launch an attack on a toy from.
A cat with room to hunt, not just a toy, gets far more out of playing.
PRASKA toys come out of watching cats' hunting instinct at work, not from what looks good in a photo to a person. That's exactly why so many cats come back to them every day.
Izabela Praska
Pedigree cat breeder and founder of PRASKA
It's not the number that counts, but the quality. A handful of well-chosen toys usually works better than a whole basket of random objects. It also helps to put some away every few days and bring them back out - a cat finds them appealing again.
Usually because it doesn't trigger its hunting instinct. A cat chooses a toy mainly by smell, texture and the chance to "catch" it, not by how it looks.
There's no need to buy new toys every few days. Rotation works well. Putting some toys away for a few days means a cat takes a fresh interest in them once they reappear.
If you're looking for cat toys designed from years of watching cat behaviour, explore the PRASKA toy collection.
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