Dear Sparkle,
I love to chew the little leather tails off all of my mousie wand toys. My human thinks I probably shouldn’t do this but I can’t help myself, and she eventually relents and lets me chew the tails off. Is there something I could be chewing on that I would love as much? She bought me some pretzel shaped chew toy but it’s no mousie tail. Are those little leather tails really bad for me? Oh, and I also like to lick the fur off of the toys too. That’s okay, isn’t it?
Signed,
Little Hansi
Dear Little Hansi,
The bad news is that string is a very dangerous thing for a kitty to consume — it could result in a trip to the emergency vet and maybe even an operation. The good news is that the leather tails on mousie toys don’t really count as string! Leather used to be on an animal, most likely a cow, and we kitties do eat beef, right? So these tails are made from a natural, edible substance and you should be able to digest them just fine. Just to be on the safe side, however, I would recommend that your human cut them fairly short to make double sure they don’t cause an obstruction in your digestive system. That’s why string is so dangerous — its length can cause havoc in your intestines and do lots of damage. Little pieces of leather mousie tail should be okay. Honestly, I don’t know if there are any satisfactory replacements to them. They are a very fun shape and size for kitty chewing! If your human is still worried, she can ask your vet about this.
If the fur on the toys is real, again, it is a natural substance and it shouldn’t be a problem if you lick it off. But just a thought — where are these toys from, anyway? Do you know that if they are made in China, or if the company gets their pelts from outside of the U.S., you could be licking cat fur? The fur trade in China has no species limitations and they think dogs and cats are a good, cheap source of fur. Horrible, isn’t it? And if the fur is dyed unnatural colors, I would also be a little wary. Make sure your human checks your toys and is sure they are made in the U.S. or Canada, or another country that keeps an eye on how pet toys are made. It’s always safer that way.
See all of Summer’s merch at her Designercat Shop, available on Zazzle.
well The Kid Sage pulls the fake furs from her mousie and Mom can’t get to her in time to get it out of her mouth…guess we better watch her even closed…I don’t do that…just The Kid *rolls eyes*
TW won’t let me chew toys unless she knows they’re organic or from a good company that doesn’t use dyes that aren’t food grade. Good advice all around.
I don´t chew on my toy mousies , but I do try to eat my wand toy´s so they are all locked away when not snoppervised 😥
XOXO
It’s a shame that we can’t get all of our stuff, like cat toys, from known safe places.
sparkle, you really are a natural at this advice thing.
I love mousie tails! I had no idea I could nibble freely!!
Q
Wow, we never ever thought those mouses might be made from cat fur. That would be pawful. We are going to make sure our mommy takes better care of checking out manufacturing locale when she gives us any of those. Thanks for your good advice, Sparkle. XO, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giuletta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo
We have had little mousies turn up tailless, but it never occurred to the head peep to un-tail them herself.
And don’t forget, there are chew sticks for cats! I used to love love love those when I was little.
I did eat one of those tails once and it wasn’t good at all!
Being very over-protective I cut all stringy things,regardless of what they are made of, off my kitties’ toys. I don’t approve of feathers either. And I buy “made in the USA” for me and the kitties as often as I can.
That’s some great advice, Sparkle. Moosey has transformed a few mousie toys into hamsters in his day…
Hey, we saw you quoted in an article about Kittyo that appeared on GMA today! 🙂
it’s creepy but true about the real fur mouses from China being made of cat, dog or rabbit fur.
Harry the Farm cat meows that mousie BRAINS are much tastier.
Great information, Sparkle! And it’s a great idea to cut mousie tail short in case kitties eat it.
Good points, Sparkle! Don’t eat processed anything. BLech! – Crepes.
Most of ow mousies don’t hav tails eevew, but not cuz wes’ chewed ’em off. Dey’s cheap!! MOL Meez suwe hopes dat Lil Hansi finds sumfin else tu cew. Hav a Pawsum Purrsday Fursday!!
Luv and Hugs and Kitty Kisses 😀
Dezi
The tails do make rather handy “handles” for transporting the mice around the house BUT Mom snips them off anyway………and I don’t get fur mousies – just felt or cloth ones because those fur ones give me the creeps (not knowing if it’s kitty hair or WHAT kind of hair!!!). Excellent post Sparkle!!
Hugs, Sammy
So great post!!!
Great post on an important topic, Sparkle. Mommy just asked the vet about this the other day. He said the shortest bit of thin, long stuff he ever got out of a cat at surgery is 6 inches, so not to worry about shorter mousie tails or rubber bands (which we love to chew on). Mommy sews and she’s always cutting up her long waste thread into shorter pieces. What a pain, she says, but then she remembers it’s better than worrying about us getting sick. Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrs.
Good advice Sparkle. I think I drive Wubbikins nuts because I road test the heck out of any toy before any of them get their paws on it…especially those foster kittens!
Ditto on it not occurring to our human to cut the tails off. Mind you, she hasn’t noticed that we eat them.
She figures that angel Chumley must have eaten all his fur-covered mice toys, because they’d so often disappear, never to be found again under any piece of furniture, no matter how hard she looked.
BTW, there’s a winter coat label very popular here, especially with the university kids. Fur collars. Made of dog fur. So many kids don’t seem to care (or perhaps don’t know), fashion trumps all. 🙁
I wondered about the fur. I could tell some of the mice had real fur and I always hoped rabbit if it had to be an animal. But I know you are right about dig and cat fur. Rabbit isn’t OK either. I am just saying what I thought. Sigh. Mom is afraid of the tails on mice for me. It didn’t occur to her to cut them short.
Good answer Sparkle. We just got some toys from Pacific Cat Toys and she makes all her toys herself and they are made with materials that will not hurt the cats. We really like the specially made toys by individual. Great post.
Ah, good advice! I hadn’t thought about the leather tails being edible. Fur tails too then I bet. We have mice that have tails made of the same fur but with the fur cut way short.
The mom cuts the tails off of most our mousies because Zoey likes to eat them. She still will lick the furs off of those little mousies. She must think they’re the real thing or something.
what good advice!
I just don’t want Lucy to get any ideas of the real deal though. I may die.
We’ll stick with hunting real moles, voles, & mice outside …
Mum doesn’t like us to chew on things so we get the “NO” word when she thinks we are going to start. She does shout ouchie quite a lot though if one of us nibbles her feet.
Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx