Some links are affiliate, so we may earn a small commission at no cost to you. Every purr-chase keeps two very demanding cats in treats. Our policy →
Every cat owner knows the feeling. You’re either online or at the pet store and you see a new toy that you hope (pray) your cat will like. You bring it home, open the box and then…crickets. They don’t even acknowledge it.
There are a million cat toys on the market, so how can you tell which ones have the best chance of your cat playing with them?
To help answer this question we created the CatSeat Score to rank the best cat toys for 2026. Using over 600,000 ratings from Chewy, Amazon, and Petco, we analyzed 31 of the most popular cat toys and created a ranking based on customer ratings, popularity, longevity, and editor recommendation.
Of the 31 toys we analyzed, most of the top 15 are pretty basic, inexpensive toys.
The best cat toy for 2026 is a stuffed banana that’s been around since 2004.
How We Ranked Them
Every toy gets a score out of 100 based on its star ratings, how many people rated it and how long it’s been sold, indexed so the top toy scores 100 and the 15th scores 81.
We love using the hive mind to help rank the best cat toys on the market because sometimes it’s hard to break through the Instagram sales tactics. There’s been so many toys that we’ve immediately bought because the cats in the toy ads are going crazy for the toy in the ad. Only to open up the box, have them sniff it once and never look at it again.
Louis on the cat tree, with a pom-pom toy hanging right under his paws.
And some of the toy ads on IG are deceiving. It looks like a toy that moves on its own, but in actuality it’s attached to a string. We’ve been fooled by these types of ads so many times.
This is the most scientific way we think we can figure out which toys are really the ones your cats have the best chance of playing with (because let’s be honest, there’s no guarantee that every cat will love these toys). Check out the list below and tell us if your cats love (or hate) these toys.
15. Tempcore Cat Tunnel CatSeat Score81
Tempcore Cat Tunnel
★4.6 stars19,000 ratingsOn sale since 2019
Best for: noisy hiding-and-pouncing play. Your cat can hide in this tunnel and ambush whomever dares walk past.
This Tempcore tunnel is number eight’s springy younger sibling. The two are pretty similar, except this Tempcore model lacks number eight’s roughly 12 extra years of sales history, which is why it ranks here instead of higher.
Louis loves his tunnel. Like, really loves it. He likes to play hide-and-go-seek with it, jumping out to surprise us from inside.
The Tempcore earns a customer ratings score of 84 based on its 4.6 stars from about 19,000 Amazon ratings, and a popularity score of 72 since tons of people are buying it. And it only scores 35 for how long it’s been around since it’s only been available since 2019.
What goes into the scoreNo. 15 of 15
Customer ratingAverage stars, all retailers
4.6stars
PopularityAbout 19,000 ratings
19,000ratings
LongevityOn sale since 2019
7years on sale
Good to know: it’s collapsible, so it folds up flat when you want your floor back.
Other owners on Reddit say the same about their cats:
My cats never get bored with the tunnel. It’s a critical part of the playscape, like the cat trees.
The GoCat Cat Catcher Teaser Wand is from the makers of Da Bird. This one, however, has a mouse on a wire.
The GoCat Cat Catcher Teaser Wand has been on Amazon since 2006, which gives it a longevity score of 100 and boosts its CatSeat Score. A 4.4-star rating on Amazon and 4.8 on Chewy earns it a rating score of 72. Total customer ratings across Petco, Chewy, and Amazon give it a popularity score of 55.
What goes into the scoreNo. 14 of 15
Customer ratingAverage stars, all retailers
4.4–4.8stars
PopularityTotal ratings, all retailers
LongevityOn sale since 2006
20years on sale
Good to know: like the other wands here, it is for playing together, then storing out of reach.
Best for: new kittens, and figuring out what kind of toy your cat actually likes before you buy the “real” version. (If you’re setting up for a new kitten, our new kitten essentials list covers the rest.)
Twenty assorted toys in one box: wands, balls, mice and tunnel-style toys. It’s less a single toy than a sampler.
This is why it’s helpful, right? It has a 4.6 star average from roughly 14,000 ratings (which gives us a score of 84). It’s been on sale since 2016, so that puts it in the bottom third.
What goes into the scoreNo. 13 of 15
Customer ratingAverage stars, all retailers
4.6stars
PopularityAbout 14,000 ratings
14,000ratings
LongevityOn sale since 2016
10years on sale
Good to know: 20 toys in the box means you’ll want to do a quick review, and the wands and string toys are best stored when not in use.
The Nina Ottosson treat puzzle. Treats are placed in slots and your cat retrieves them with her paw.
This is a great puzzle! It was the first one we got for Thelma and Louis, and it became evident pretty quickly that Louis was the main puzzle guy. We rotate between this one and the Trixie Activity Fun Board.
It is the newest toy in the top 15 (it has been on sale since 2020), which brings down its longevity score to a 30. Its average 4.4-star rating results in the lowest rating score on the list (70).
What goes into the scoreNo. 12 of 15
Customer ratingAverage stars, all retailers
4.4stars
PopularityTotal ratings, all retailers
LongevityOn sale since 2020
6years on sale
Good to know: choose a treat your cat loves, and deduct the number of treats from the daily food amount.
If your cat won’t try a treat puzzle at first, one owner on Reddit suggests:
Use very smelly or high-value treats with these puzzles! But also, just leave it out while you’re gone and see if he’s figured it out by the time you return.
A mouse stuffed with catnip that emits an authentic mouse squeak as your cat swats it.
This is the oldest entry in our set. It has been on Amazon since 2002 so gets the full longevity score. With a rating score of 72 it’s lower than many of the top 15. It scores an average of 4.4 to 4.5 stars so is still popular but not as high as the rest.
What goes into the scoreNo. 11 of 15
Customer ratingAverage stars, all retailers
4.4–4.5stars
PopularityTotal ratings, all retailers
LongevityOn sale since 2002
24years on sale
Good to know: that squeak is the main event! Any cat who loves sounds will love it too. You might want to tuck it away before bedtime though.
Glow in the dark balls. If your cat likes to run around like crazy at 2 a.m., then these will definitely come in handy!
They get a 91 for rating, with an average 4.7 star rating from roughly 8,500 Amazon reviews. They’ve been on Amazon since 2006. This is the second-highest rating score in the top 15, after only the three 92-scoring toys.
What goes into the scoreNo. 10 of 15
Customer ratingAverage stars, all retailers
4.7stars
PopularityAbout 8,500 ratings
8,500ratings
LongevityOn sale since 2006
20years on sale
Good to know: small balls like to roll underneath furniture, so you may want to keep a spare or two in the drawer for easy access.
If your cat would love a bit of action-packed playtime then this GoCat Da Bird toy could be just the ticket. This feathered wand is handmade in the USA, according to its listing, and features feathers on a swivel pole so they spin and flutter just like a bird in flight.
While it has a popularity score of just 47, which is the lowest in the top 15, this toy has a very impressive rating score of 84 thanks to ratings between 4.6 and 4.7 stars. Its longevity score is a perfect 100, as this cult classic has been around since 2004 and is still going strong. With a CatSeat Score of 86, it only misses out on a higher position thanks to its popularity score as it hasn’t been rated as many times as the toys above it.
What goes into the scoreNo. 9 of 15
Customer ratingAverage stars, all retailers
4.6–4.7stars
PopularityTotal ratings, all retailers
LongevityOn sale since 2004
22years on sale
Good to know: it is a wand with a cord, so play together and put it away afterward.
Owners on Reddit can’t quite explain why it works so well:
It might be voodoo. I don’t know why my cats are so insane for Da Bird, but it isn’t like any other toy. We have to hide it when we aren’t playing, and I mean hide it WELL. I just woke up to find that my six month old kitten found the toy and played [and] chewed on it all night long.
Bright plastic coil springs that cats can bat, chase and fling around are always a hit, as these inexpensive SPOT Colorful Springs by SPOT (Ethical Pet) earned the eighth-highest CatSeat Score (86).
I know most cats go crazy for these springs, but ours are only mildly enthused. I’m starting to sense a pattern with Thelma and Louis, lol. Does anything excite them anymore?!
Owners love these SPOT Colorful Springs. Around 31,500 Amazon ratings average out to 4.6 stars. And with a rating score of 84 and popularity score of 79, plus a longevity score of 95 (they’ve been available since 2007), these inexpensive springs earn a CatSeat Score of 86.
The CatSeat Score system was designed to identify beloved products that fly under the radar, and these springy toys definitely fit the bill.
What goes into the scoreNo. 8 of 15
Customer ratingAverage stars, all retailers
4.6stars
PopularityAbout 31,500 ratings
31,500ratings
LongevityOn sale since 2007
19years on sale
Good to know: these springs are best for supervised play; replace any that are chewed or bent.
Alternative: the Andiker 12-Pc Colorful Spring Toys (CatSeat Score 82) are a similar idea in a bigger pack. We left them out of the main 15 so the list didn’t include two near-identical spring toys. Buy it now.
Most owners on Reddit are a lot more excited about them than ours are:
Everywhere in my house there are springs. One of my kittens fetches them. One likes to drop them into his food puzzle toy. I just keep buying more, because they either disappear or we step on them and crush them. The cats love them!
Circular track with a ball that runs through it. A replaceable corrugated cardboard scratch pad is in the middle. Includes catnip.
It’s two toys in one, and cat owners have continued purchasing it ever since it was added to Amazon in 2006. This gives it a perfect score for longevity, and an 84 rating score, with roughly 22,000 ratings that average 4.6 stars.
What goes into the scoreNo. 7 of 15
Customer ratingAverage stars, all retailers
4.6stars
PopularityAbout 22,000 ratings
22,000ratings
LongevityOn sale since 2006
20years on sale
Good to know: the cardboard pad gets a lot of love, and it’s designed to be swapped out when it wears down.
One owner on Reddit uses it for a cat who can’t move around much:
My cat enjoys her turbo scratcher – she lays down and bats the ball back and forth with her front paws, so not much balancing required. I also bought a pack of practice golf balls (the lightweight wiffle kind) and put a few in the track for an extra “challenge.”
MeoHui’s Retractable Feather Wand is a good option for many cat owners. This toy has been around since 2018. It has about 50,000 ratings on Amazon and an average rating of 4.5 stars. The MeoHui Wand is a two-pack that includes feather and bell attachments for each handle. The attachments can be switched out.
This toy is definitely in the rotation, but Thelma and Louis don’t love it as much as other wand toys for some reason.
MeoHui’s wand has a CatSeat Score of 88: a rating score of 77, a popularity score of 85 and a longevity score of 40.
What goes into the scoreNo. 6 of 15
Customer ratingAverage stars, all retailers
4.5stars
PopularityAbout 50,000 ratings
50,000ratings
LongevityOn sale since 2018
8years on sale
Good to know: supervise your cat when using this toy. It has small parts. This is a play-together toy that should be put away after use.
Owners on Reddit do have one warning about feather wands in general:
My two youngin’s were frighteningly possessive of our feather wand when they caught it. Their mouths would latch shut like a pit bull and they’d growl at me and the other cats. […] I had to retire all feathers, because even supervised play was frightening for me when they got like this as I worried they would choke.
Interactive wand toy with a long rainbow fleece streamer, from the same company as the Cat Dancer.
The Cat Charmer by Cat Dancer Products takes the fifth spot on our list with a CatSeat Score of 89. The product has an average customer rating of 4.7 on Amazon and 4.8 on Chewy, earning a rating score of 92. This score ties it with the highest score out of the top 15 products we’ve listed. This product also scores well for longevity, having been around on Amazon since 2004 and earning a perfect score of 100 in this area. Unfortunately for The Cat Charmer, it doesn’t have as many customer ratings as some other products, resulting in a popularity score of 64. This is likely why it falls a little short of The Cat Dancer in overall score because otherwise, it’s just as quality a product as its sibling.
What goes into the scoreNo. 5 of 15
Customer ratingAverage stars, all retailers
4.7–4.8stars
PopularityTotal ratings, all retailers
LongevityOn sale since 2004
22years on sale
Good to know: this is a wand toy that you play with your cat using the long streamer. Stow away after playing so it isn’t accessible to your cat.
Small and stuffed with catnip, these little mice are available in multi-packs so you can scatter them around. We wouldn’t be surprised if one popped out from underneath the refrigerator or from behind the couch, or materialized at your feet at just the wrong moment.
Its popularity score is 90, the best of the top 15. Its rating score is 92, tied for the best score in our group. This is based on 71,500 ratings from customers at various retailers that average to 4.7 stars. Its longevity score is 65, as it has been available since 2013. This keeps it from climbing any higher.
What goes into the scoreNo. 4 of 15
Customer ratingAverage stars, all retailers
4.7stars
PopularityAbout 71,500 ratings
71,500ratings
LongevityOn sale since 2013
13years on sale
Good to know: little mice disappear under the couch. A multi-pack lets you leave a few out and keep the rest in a drawer for later.
And the disappearing act is real, according to this owner on Reddit:
My cat LOVES those “skitter critters.” MY GOD they get lost everywhere though! We used to have 6 and now are down to 2, and I’ve looked EVERYWHERE in the entire 1 bedroom apartment and they are nowhere to be found. It’s like they vanished completely. Super bizarre.
Best for: the Cat Dancer is an interactive toy that’s great for playing with your cat. It’s also a good choice if you want a toy with a long history, as it has been around since 1983.
The Cat Dancer 101 by Cat Dancer Products has a CatSeat Score of 91 and is our #3 ranked cat toy. The toy is made up of nothing more than rolled up cardboard “bugs” attached to a steel wire wand that resembles a coat hanger. Despite its simplicity, our algorithm gives this toy a high score.
When we first got this toy, it was a big hit. They would run around the apartment chasing it and jump from chair to couch. They do like it, and it’s in the rotation now, but like with most toys, it’s hard to match how they felt those first few weeks with it!
Rating score of 85: this toy has received around 41,000 ratings with an average of 4.6 stars. Longevity score of 100: the Cat Dancer company was founded in 1983, and this was its original toy. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that more than 12 million of these toys had been shipped by 2014, and it was added to Cat Fancy’s Hall of Fame in 1995. Popularity score of 82.
What goes into the scoreNo. 3 of 15
Customer ratingAverage stars, all retailers
4.6stars
PopularityAbout 41,000 ratings
41,000ratings
LongevityOn sale since 1983
43years on sale
Good to know: the Cat Dancer currently isn’t available on Amazon as a single wand, so we’ve linked to the 2-pack. This will give you a backup Cat Dancer to use when you lose the first one. As with other wand toys, you’ll want to put this one away when you’re not playing with it.
One owner on Reddit has a nickname for it:
My boyfriend and I call our cat dancer the 1800’s toy. We often compare it to the cat version of like a child running down the street with a hoop and stick 🤣
The Catstages Tower of Tracks by Petstages has a CatSeat Score of 92. The three stacked circular tracks each have a ball inside that rolls around when batted by a cat.
A tower like this one was one of the first toys we got for Thelma and Louis when they were kittens, and they loved it. But now, as 3-year-olds, they really don’t use it (or toys like it) as much.
It’s the number two product thanks in part to its popularity score of 89, buoyed in part by 68,500 ratings on Amazon (which averaged 4.6 stars), among the highest of the toys we looked at. Its longevity score of 65 reflects the fact that it has been available since 2013, though that is not as strong as the banana’s 2004 start, which is why it lands in second place.
What goes into the scoreNo. 2 of 15
Customer ratingAverage stars, all retailers
4.6stars
PopularityAbout 68,500 ratings
68,500ratings
LongevityOn sale since 2013
13years on sale
Good to know: the three stacked tracks leave plenty of room for more than one cat.
Thelma and Louis as kittens, both batting at a ball-track tower.
When one cat owner asked Reddit for toy ideas, this was the answer:
This one is a hit with my cats: Petstages Tower of Tracks.
This 7-inch banana-shaped toy is made from cotton twill and filled with organically grown catnip. It’s also made in the USA, according to its Amazon listing.
Thelma and Louis do love this banana. It’s more of an “Oh, I see the banana, and it’s got catnip in it, and I’m going to wrestle it” thing, but that’s about it. It’s nice to have, and we leave it around on the carpet in our office or on a chair that they snuggle on.
There are no frills, no feathers, no gimmicks, no app, no batteries, just a banana your cat can grab, hug and wrestle with.
The Yeowww! Catnip Banana earned the highest CatSeat Score on our list (100). This was driven by three scores: a rating score of 92, based on an average of 4.7 stars from more than 45,000 ratings between Amazon and Chewy; a longevity score of 100, because the toy has been on sale since 2004; and a popularity score of 84, since it has a lot of ratings.
We’ve bought hundreds of toys for our cats Louis and Thelma. And a lot of them just fall by the wayside and get forgotten pretty quickly. But one of the hundreds of toys we’ve bought has been the Catnip Banana. And the catnip banana is one of the toys that they keep coming back to. It’s funny because they will go in spurts with it where they will play with it for a while (like a week or so) and then forget about it for up to a month. Then one of them discovers it and the play starts all over again.
What goes into the scoreNo. 1 · Top pick
Customer ratingAverage stars, all retailers
4.7stars
PopularityAbout 45,000 ratings
45,000ratings
LongevityOn sale since 2004
22years on sale
Good to know: not every cat responds the same to catnip. Some love it, some ignore it, and kittens may not yet be at an age where they react to it. But if your cat’s into the stuff, this huggable banana is for you.
Owners on Reddit talk a lot about how long the catnip lasts:
Those bananas are the only catnip toy that lasts a whole year and never loses its power. They play with them every day. Whatever nip they have in there, it’s the good stuff!
Keep an eye on the wand, strings and springs. Play with them together, then put them away. Cats can swallow string-like parts.
If your cat’s toy is falling apart, replace it. Loose filling, frayed stitching and chipped plastic are all signs it’s time for a new toy.
Catnip doesn’t work on all cats. While many cats are drawn to the herb, some are not. Young kittens are generally not affected.
Louis with a gift ribbon in his mouth.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the most popular cat toy of all time?
The highest-rated cat toy in the industry by the CatSeat Score is the Yeowww! Catnip Banana with a score of 100 out of 100. It has been on the market since 2004. If you’re asking about the oldest, the Cat Dancer has been on the market since 1983.
Do cats really prefer cheap toys?
Cats have no idea what a toy costs. Ask any cat owner and they will tell you that their cat usually likes the box the toy came in more than the actual toy itself. We didn’t factor price into the scoring, because usually cats don’t tend to like more expensive toys more than cheaper ones.
Thelma in a cardboard box.
How often should I rotate my cat’s toys?
I don’t think there’s a real fixed rule here. But we try to not overdo it with a toy they love. We’ll let them play with it for a few days, and then take a day off so they can get excited to see it again. Maybe this matters and maybe it doesn’t. I think when you have a toy that they love you really want to make that play last as many days or weeks as possible. For more ideas, here’s how we keep our own indoor cats happy.
Thelma batting at a teaser toy mounted on the window.
Are laser pointers good for cats?
Laser toys made the list of 31 that we scored. None made the top 15, though. If you do have a laser toy for your feline friend, many owners end the session with a toy their cat can actually catch.
One of our vet reviewer Dr. Mortlock’s calicos, hugging a toy mouse.
Which cat toys work for solo play?
Your cat doesn’t need you for toys like the Tower of Tracks, the Turbo Scratcher, toy mice, springs and glow balls so she can bat these all by herself. But wands like the Cat Dancer, Cat Charmer and Da Bird need a human at the other end.
Thelma belly-up on a polka-dot play mat.
Methodology and sources
The CatSeat Score blends customer rating, popularity and longevity, with a smaller adjustment for how often a toy shows up in published best-of roundups. Ratings and rating counts came from Amazon, Chewy and Petco. Ratings were weighted by each retailer’s rating count and adjusted toward the field average of 4.49 stars. Popularity uses total ratings on a log scale. Longevity counts years on the market, capped at 20. Scores are indexed so the top toy is 100 and the 15th toy is 81; toys outside the top 15 scored below 81.
All data was collected October 18–19, 2026, and all 15 toys were in stock on Amazon as of October 19, 2026. The scores are CatSeat’s own analysis. We’ll refresh this ranking periodically as ratings change.
By Cory Jones
