9 Gift Ideas for Cats and the People Who Love Them
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Let’s be clear: despite the headline on this story, these gifts are not also for the humans who happen to have cats. These gifts are just for the cats themselves to enjoy. We know who the real boss is here. Looking for other ideas? Check out our other gift guides.
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- Modkat01Modkat Litter Box
If there’s one thing that will change the life of a cat, it’s this box—not the cardboard kind, the poop kind. Modkat makes stylish-looking, well-designed (also expensive) litter boxes with reusable liners. The lids are perforated, so any litter or debris will be scraped off your cat’s paws before he jumps back onto your floors. The regular-sized Modkat is a top-entry box with a swiveling lid, which means it’s easy to reach in and scoop. The XL Modkat, which my cat uses (he’s not fat, there’s just a lot to love), is designed with a front entrance and a hole at the top, and gives kitty a little more space to do his business. If you can afford Modkat, it’s worth it.
- Cat Mate02Cat Mate Pet Fountain
You know what they say: Hydrated cat, happy life. Actually nobody says that, but it’s true that water is an essential part of a healthy cat’s daily diet. And for whatever reason, some cats just don’t like to drink from a plain ol’ water bowl. That’s where the Cat Mate Pet Fountain comes in. It keeps cool, oxygenated water flowing all day long, and is designed with drinking stations at three different heights, to suit the sizes (and whims) of your cats. You’ll just need access to a power outlet to keep it running, and the fountain’s filter should be replaced regularly to keep the water clean.
- Go Cat03Go Cat Da Bird Feather Teaser
Our favorite fluffy friends are quite literally murderous creatures who kill more than three billion birds annually, but maybe if you let your cat get its aggressions out on fake birds it will be less inclined to commit lethal acts. (Unlikely; check this out anyway.) Go Cat’s Da Bird Feather Teaser is a bunch of feathers on a string, attached to a three-foot wand, and it is absolutely the best less-than-$10 you will ever spend on your cat’s toy collection.
- True Touch04True Touch Glove
Coax your cat into being brushed with the True Touch Glove, a dimpled, polyester-and-silicone glove that lets you pet your feline and brush away loose hair at the same time. Pro: It also works on dogs! Con: Not as great for short-haired pets. Pro: One size fits all! Con: It’s only available as a right-handed glove. Pro: Your cat won’t even realize you’re brushing him! Con: Cat is still the boss, per usual.
- Tuft + Paw05Tuft + Paw Rifiuti
Who’s a spoiled kitty? Any cat that has furniture from Tuft + Paw, which is the Restoration Hardware of cat furniture. Why give your cat cheap toys or a hair brush when you can spend $449 on a cornucopia-shaped cat hideout called Indigo? Why buy a ratty scratch post when you can get a $299 Volto, which looks like it might double as a Swedish-made high-fidelity sound system? Our favorite is the $499 Rifuiti, a litter box that masquerades as a console cabinet for your foyer. Go ahead; buy one. Your cat will love the box it ships in.
- Well & Good06Well & Good Paw and Bum Wipes
As much as the modern litter box might be designed to eliminate tracking, you still might have to clean kitty’s butt and paws yourself from time to time. For this unpleasant task (unpleasant for the cat, of course, the most important being here), we recommend Well & Good’s Deodorizing Paw and Bum Wipes, which are durable but still soft for sensitive parts. Also available in a fragrance-free, hypoallergenic formula; those are double the cost.
- Furemover07FURemover Pet Hair Removal and Lint Brush
OK, here’s a gift that’s for The Humans: FURemover’s lint brush, which we prefer over plastic lint rollers since it’s more eco-friendly. It can be used wet or dry to clean clothes, furniture, your car upholstery, any place that cat hairs mysteriously appear. It’s not terribly expensive, either, which means it’s a good idea to get a few of them. Like we said: Pet hairs pop up in the darndest places.
- Phuc Pham08Google Home Hub
Hear me out on this one: Google’s new Home Hub, a seven-inch smart display designed to live on your kitchen counter or night table, has a feature called Live Albums that uses face recognition technology in addition to pet recognition. Set up a Live Album in your Google Photos account on your smartphone, then select a series of images of your cat that already exist in your Photos collection, and Google will start auto-populating the smart display with photos of the cat. When it comes to using artificial intelligence for the things that matter, Google’s not kitten around.
- Chewy09Chewy Goody Box Holiday for Cats
Still not sure what to get your favorite cat lover for the holidays? You can always fall back on Chewy.com, one of our favorite pet-centric shopping sites, to put together a curated box of goodies for you. The gift box ships with five or more handpicked items, mostly editable treats but also sometimes toys or a diffuser that’s supposed to be calming for cats. Again, all of this is for the cat; the human is only there to open the box.
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