Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

A friend of ours who has some rescue kittens mentioned to us that she was using a monthly subscription service for cat toys and accoutrements. It is called the KitNipBox and it is basically a bunch of cat stuff in a box that you can order on a monthly or bimonthly schedule.

She gave me a 15% referral discount so I figured why not give it a try.

We have five cats. Three are pets who have full access to the house, ranging in age from 9 to 19. They play a little bit, but prefer interactive play with us (like a wand toy) or occasionally wrestling with each other. We’ve had a constant supply of cat toys over the years because none of our cats have been toy destructive. I keep a quart baggie filled with catnip in which I “marinate” the toys in a rotation to keep them interesting.

These cats certainly enoy treats. I bought a snuffle mat from Etsy for our dog and it has turned into a treat dispenary. A snuffle mat is basically fleeve woven onto a place mat in which you hide kibble or treats to keep the dog engaged while eating and sometimes to slow them down so they don’t gobble their food. Our dog isn’t using it for her meals, but she does enjoy her treats being hidden in the matt. And so do the cats. So now I hide all the treats in there. It gives me a few minutes of peace here and there.

Otherwise, they only get treats when we need them to behave or stay calm.

Our upstairs kitties are two formerly feral females, likely mother and daughter, who have been with us since July. They didn’t even know how to play when they first came to us. The daughter caught on and often bats her toys under the door into our hallway – her way of playing with us. Gradually the older cat (who is probably 2-3 at most) has begun playing with the mound of toys in their room. But again, neither one shreds toys so other than items that end up wedged under furniture, there is no sum loss in toys.

They also like treats, but are not yet trusting enough to eat anything when we are in the room. Consistent food seems to be something they are still luxuriating in so treats are definitely cool but not essential.

I opted to try the Mult-Cat Kit Nip box which comes with 7 toys and a package of treats. Our box was Christmas themed which is cute. The toys were basically a kicker cushion and the rest were very small plush things – a candy cane, a santa head, etc. There was a hanging toy – a felt wreath that came on a cord so it could be hung from a door way.

I tried hanging the felt wreath on the doorway downstairs, but it drew no interest and ended up just getting in our way. So I took it up to the girls in the second bedroom. I hung it on their cat tree and they bat it around pretty often.  The cord is long enough for me to drape it across the tree, but I don’t feel like anyone is going to choke on it.

The downstairs kitties were thrilled by the arrival of a box and enjoyed helping me unpack it. But after the first few minutes of “wow new toys to sniff” – the basically just joined the existing pile of toys that we have to remember to dust every so often.

So I took the toys upstairs as well. The girls like them fine, but there’s no indication that they hold any more or less value that their existing toys. I find these items all over the place in that room which delights me because I love that they are playing.

Our treat was a 2 oz bag of Wellness Kittles – Tuna and Cranberry Recipe. These were very popular with everyone, including the dog. The package was supposed to contain 150 individual treats, but it seems like we went through them really quickly. I did add this flavor to my pet supply shopping list. If it keeps the senior cats happy, I’m happy.

Overall, it was a perfectly fine one time experiment. I cancelled the subscription because I don’t want to spend $25/month on cat toys and some treats. We don’t need that many and I can just buy them when we do.

The company does have an every other month option, but that’s still much plus I don’t like to have to remember that the money is being billed that infrequently. You can also buy in bulk and purchase 6 months or even a year at one time with a nice little discount.

They do have a gift option which would be a nice thing – a surprise box without a surprise withdrawal from my credit card. Ha. Perhaps when the upstairs girls are integrated in the house, there will be more demand for toys. Right now, we are better served by purchasing treats and cat nip to freshen up the sturdy toys we already have.

Our Recommendation: If you have a lot of cats ripping through toys or who like to be stimulated with new toys regularly, this might work well for you. If you have cats who like the box more than the toys, perhaps not. If YOU enjoy the newness of toys, it may work for you.

With five cats, I’d rather have a subscription box that is heavy on the treat variety and perhaps more actual catnip than toys with catnip. I can use the catnip to extend the life of my existing toys and everyone wins. The treats in this box retail for about $4.00, but a carton of 9 bags is $25, the same as the kit. The toys were valued at $32 according to the Kitnip folks.