(PRESS RELEASE) 4cats Heimtierbedarf GmbH has worked with Hamerton Zoo Park on an enrichment campaign to provide the resident wild cats and big cats with fun supersized versions of their cat toys.
Many domestic cat owners already understand the alluring effect of valerian and catnip on their house cats but when people think of tigers & lions they often think of vicious hunters that are not much into playing with toys. However, the relatives of our domestic cats are just like our smaller feline companions, very playful and intelligent – the only difference being that a playful swipe of their paws could cause more than a mere scratch to us humans.
And like house cats, they need to be entertained. For this reason, German cat toy manufacturer 4cats developed supersized versions of many of their popular cat toys. These supersized versions are made of strong sisal material and have been colored with vegetable juice such as beetroot to ensure that they are not toxic to the big cats. The toys are filled with a mix of hay and cat attract such as valerian in order to be of interest to the big cats.
These toys are provided by 4cats free of charge as part of their efforts to support conservation projects of endangered species of wild cats and provide Zoos in both Germany and the UK not just with a great toy for their big cats to play with but also gives them a visitor attraction. Many visitors to Hamerton Zoo simply could not believe how much fun these big cats had with their toys and enjoyed seeing their antics.
What many people don’t realize is that the use of cat attract goes back hundreds of years as it’s been used to lure tigers and lions long before the pet industry started using it for the toys of domestic cats. Today valerian is often preferred over catnip in cat toys as it’s accepted by more cats than catnip and also provides a calming effect after the initial craziness.