Innovative Cat Products from Small Businesses That Will Delight Your Feline

As a cat behavior expert, it's important for me to know products to recommend to clients. Not all clients want to support huge corporations anymore and prefer to buy from small businesses. I put together my favorite small companies that have amazing cat enrichment products.

My cat Lily loves to play when the magic carpet by DeziRoo is out. She lays on top of it. She runs into it and she burrows herself under it. All of our cats like the magic carpet, but it's Lily's favorite.

The things I purchase most often are food, litter and enrichment products for my 5 cats. Enrichment products support our cat's physical and mental health and are priority in our home. Here are some of my favorite small businesses with the products my cats like best from them:

DeziRoo

Roo's Rock Candy. My cat Oscar loves this toy. He rolls it around, picks it up and throws it into the air. It's hilarious to watch.

Started by veterinarian Dr. Bahr and named after her two cats, Dezi and Roo, Dr. Bahr wanted to increase enrichment for indoor cats. Dr Bahr's website says: "Enrichment is not just about keeping your cat entertained—it's about enhancing their physical and mental well-being. Proper enrichment can prevent behavioral issues, reduce stress, and create a happier, healthier environment for your whiskered pal."

Dr. Bahr also has a book available, Indoor Cats, which is an excellent resource on how to provide your indoor cat with a fulfilling life. She interviewed many cat experts to combine their advice into this highly educating book about keeping our feline friend stimulated.

Favorite products that I buy on repeat: Magic Carpet, Hide N Sneak Tunnel, and Roo's Rock Candy. The wand attachments are great too.

RompiCatz

Rompicatz has these unique bug like toys that my cats LOVE. This is the Mayflyer. All of my cats love these attachments.

I frequently rotate my cat's wand attachments. The bugs created by RompiCatz are pretty amazing. Romipcatz website describes them as "Handcrafted toys to ensure premium quality, excellent durability and top-of-mind safety for your pet." I can confirm these are premium products.

My cats love the Cattipeed, Catimoth, Cagonfly, Mayflyer, Catipillar and Dragonfly. Full disclosure: since the attachments are expensive due to the high quality, we have not tried all of them. But the ones we have tried last a long time and the cats love them. They are definitely worth the cost.

Fundamentally Feline

Luke climbing the wall mounted scratch post. The cats use this all the time to reach the high shelves on this side of the living room.

Ingrid Johnson, a certified feline behavior consultant, creates high quality cat products along with her handy husband, Jake. The wall shelves and scratching items are unique and highly durable. One of the BEST purchases I've ever made was their 6 foot scratcher that attaches to the wall. It's fun to watch the cats climb it and it's highly durable. We've had it for 6 years and it's in excellent condition with mild fraying at the top which can be trimmed. It was a perfect addition to our vertical space in our living room.

In addition to cool wall shelves and awesome scratching posts, Ingrid also sells foraging toys.

The Mouse Factory

This Knot-a-Snake was a huge hit in our home.

Offering a large variety of cat toys, The Mouse Factory's philosophy is to "create our toys to be entertaining, engaging and durable, for hours of play. That's why we offer only the best handmade products available to ensure that your pets live happy and healthy lives."

Some favorites have been Knot-a-Snake and the Flying Rooster wand toy. They have a lot of toys which we haven't tried yet.

PetDesignz

Lizzie Da Lizard is a wand attachment my cats love. Oscar tries to tear the little feet off, sometimes successfully, but it's really well made and takes a lot of effort.

Two sisters, Tracey Miller and Tammy Talton, looking for good quality enrichment products for their animals, started PetDesignz. They only select high quality products and donate to Paws for Ability, an organization that trains and connects service dogs to veterans and children. As for their cat products, one sister "loves to find cat toys that allow her cat to utilize his hunting and prey drive but be safely indoors. She is always on the search for new toys for cat lovers."

Some of our favorite products are the wand attachments including the Da Purr-Pellet Teaser (HIGHLY recommend), Lizzie Da Lizard, Rabbit Fur Teaser and any of the "Da's" including Da Debra Fish, Da Bird, Da Rat and Da Moth. You cannot go wrong with the Da's, cats love them.

MeowyJanes

MeowyJanes herb pack is one of my favorite things to use with my cats and to recommend to clients. It's great enrichment for all cats, but cats with mobility issues or seniors can really benefit from olfactory enrichment.

I saved my favorite for last. Carly and Bill are a couple in New Jersey with an amazing company that caters to a cat's sensitive sense of smell, MeowyJanes. They create really great olfactory products and fun toys. My cats love love love their silvervine powder. They maintain a high level of quality. "Our method of quality control is just doing it all ourselves. We package our catnip, silvervine, blends, toys, and more by hand to ensure we know everything is done right."

Other favorite products include their kicker toys and 13 scent herb pack designed for cats. With the herb pack, I put out a few options at a time on a towel and let the cats interact with it. Often, one cat will lie down on the towel facing a particular herb and fall asleep. For indoor cats, being able to enjoy different scents can be a wonderful way to increase stimulation in an easy way.

I'd love to know what small businesses have cat products that you love. Feel free to reach out.

Check out my Favorite Products for more recommendations.

About the author: Jennifer Van de Kieft, CAFTP, FFCP, PNCC is located in Brooklyn, NY. She is certified in feline behavior and pet nutrition. She owns Cat Advocate, a feline behavior consulting company. She provides cat guardians with the strategies, tools and knowledge needed to address their cat's behavior issues. Jennifer provides virtual consultations throughout the United States.