Something to grab, bite and bunny kick.
Length is what makes a kicker work. A cat needs to hold the toy at the front while the back feet reach it, and a short toy gets batted about but never actually grappled.
Taxes calculated at checkout
Size: 2 pack (random colours)
Why you'll love it
Cats disembowel prey with their back legs. A toy long enough to be hugged and kicked gets that whole sequence out, which a small ball never does.
Wand toys need a person on the other end. A kicker they can start themselves is what fills the hours between.
Cats routinely fall asleep hugging these. There is nothing hard inside and nothing to swallow if the fabric eventually gives.
Good fit if
Look elsewhere if
Holding something with the front paws and raking it with the back legs is a distinct behaviour with a specific origin: it is how a cat deals with prey it has already pinned. Cats will run the pattern on any toy that suits it, and it is the most physically demanding thing an indoor cat is likely to do without a person involved.
A toy has to be a certain length to allow it. The front paws grip one end and the back feet need to reach the other, so anything short gets swiped around the floor and never triggers the sequence at all. That is the difference between a toy that is pounced on once and one a cat wrestles for several minutes.
Sprayed catnip sits on the surface and is largely gone after a few sessions of handling and rolling on the floor. Catnip sewn into the filling releases gradually as the toy is squeezed and bitten, which is why a stuffed toy keeps working for months where a sprayed one is finished in a fortnight.
The response itself is genetic. Roughly two cats in three react to nepetalactone, the active compound, and the remaining third feel nothing at all regardless of how fresh the catnip is. Silvervine works on a good proportion of the cats that do not respond, so a cat that ignores catnip entirely is worth testing with that before you conclude it is simply not a toy cat.
Corduroy is a sensible choice for a kicker because the ribbed weave gives claws something to catch without unravelling the way a loose knit does. There is nothing rigid inside, so a toy being thrown around the room cannot hurt anything, and that also makes it safe to leave out between sessions.
Watch a cat that shreds rather than kicks. If yours works fabric until it opens and then pulls at the filling, this is the wrong toy, because catnip filling and fabric fragments are not things you want swallowed. Spot clean rather than machine washing, since a wash cycle takes most of the catnip out with the water.
In the box
How it works
Shop by pet or category to find exactly what your cat or dog needs, no wading through thousands of listings.
Check out securely with card, PayPal or one tap Apple Pay & Google Pay. Free delivery over £45.
Fast, tracked dispatch straight to your door, and a happier pet before you know it.
The details
Loved by real pet parents
Nicely made, and the corduroy has taken a fair amount of clawing without pulling at all. The catnip is sewn in rather than sprayed on, which sounded ideal, but after about three weeks the interest dropped right off and there is no way to top it up. Still gets carried about, just not attacked.
This is the first toy she has held in her front paws and kicked properly with the back ones. The length is what makes it work, a small ball never once got that reaction out of her. I went for the five pack so there is one in every room.
I ordered the two pack and got two very similar greens, which was a slight shame as I was hoping for a contrast. The toys themselves are exactly right, soft and floppy and clearly full of the good stuff. If the colour matters to you, take the five pack instead.
Half an hour of kicking and biting, then she curls up round it and goes to sleep on it, which I had not expected from a catnip toy. There is nothing hard inside so I am happy leaving her with it while I am out. The corduroy has kept its shape after two months.
Our big lad shreds fabric toys within a week as a rule. The corduroy ribbing has held up to him for two months now and there is no fraying at the seams. Spot clean only is the one downside, but a damp cloth has done the job so far.
Both of ours love them and they are exactly the right length for a proper grip and kick. Spot clean only is a genuine limitation once one has been dragged through a food bowl, and mine looks grubby now. I should have read that line properly before ordering.
I took the five pack on the assumption that most would go missing, and they have, but there is always one findable. The blue and the yellow are easiest to spot on a dark carpet. They are light enough that he throws them up in the air himself.
She needs something she can start herself rather than waiting for someone to pick up a wand. She will fetch one of these out from under the chair and go at it on her own. The knot shape gives her something to bite while she kicks, and the two pack was plenty for one cat.
Good toys, and the catnip inside is clearly strong because both cats found them in the box before I had it open. The sage in the five pack is a good deal paler than the picture, almost cream in daylight. The cats do not mind and I do not really either.
Good questions
Whichever two the warehouse picks, as the supplier ships that pack at random. Order the five pack if you want a particular colour, or if you have more than one cat.
It fades over a few months as the oils dry out. Rolling the toy between your hands releases more, and a spray of catnip tincture brings it back for a while.
There is no squeaker, rattle or plastic inside, just fabric and dried catnip. Take it away when the seams start to open, as with any soft toy.
It fades over months rather than weeks because it is sewn in rather than sprayed. Storing the toy in a sealed bag between rotations preserves it, and often revives one that has gone flat.
About a third of cats do not, and it is genetic rather than something you can change. Silvervine affects many of those cats, so it is worth trying before giving up on scent toys.
Not really. If your cat opens fabric and pulls at the stuffing, choose a solid rubber or hard plastic toy instead and keep fabric toys for supervised play.
Last reviewed 30 August 2026