How to find a replacement for my cat's favorite toy
Discontinued or hard-to-find pet toys leave owners unable to locate backups when the original wears out. Without a way to track down exact duplicates or suitable replacements, cats lose their favorite source of enrichment and owners are left searching everywhere with zero success.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- People have been saying this in most months since September 2026.
- This comes up 12.0× more often in r/cats than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Buying packs of similar puff toys with tinsel from PetcoDid this help you?
- 2Purchasing pom pom balls from a local craft storeDid this help you?
- 3Finding similar items at WalmartDid this help you?
- 4lacrosse ballsDid this help you?
- 5racquetballsDid this help you?
- 6small and medium chuckit tennis ballsDid this help you?
- 7Searching for alternative plush toys from other stores like Dollar Tree to modify or substitute.Did this help you?
- 8Asking online communities if anyone has an unused spare they are willing to part with.Did this help you?
- 9Putting new toys in a bag with the old favorite so they absorb the scentDid this help you?
- 10Searching for and retrieving the tattered toy from under furniture so the pet doesn't poutDid this help you?
- 11Using reverse image search to find old stock onlineDid this help you?
- 12Using AI chatbots to help identify the toy brand from a descriptionDid this help you?
- 13Buying lookalike toys to see if the pet will accept a substituteDid this help you?
- 14Trying different types of interactive toys like feather wandsDid this help you?
- 15Soaking the small toys in water to make them expand and become too large to swallow.Did this help you?
- 16Identifying the specific sensory trait the pet likes (e.g., crinkle, softness, roll) to find a safer match.Did this help you?
- 17Offering alternative household objects like tennis balls or ping pong balls.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“My cat Boo is obsessed with this toy. She’s played with it at the rescue as a kitten in 2018 and has been super attached to it. We’ve been through 3 of them and my pet store doesn’t carry them anymore.”source ↗
“She refuses look a like ones (we’ve tried) it has to be THIS brand of toy and as you can see she’s worn it down pretty bad.”source ↗
“She also gets really depressed if it breaks or it goes missing so I’d like to see if I can possibly find it again.”source ↗
“Chewy does not have it anymore and it hasn’t come back in stock for a while now. Does anyone have one their cat ignores and is willing to part with it?”source ↗
“I haven’t been able to find a replacement (in case he ever loses it!) since.”source ↗
“Can anyone help me find this toy? I’ve looked all over the place and have had zero success.”source ↗
“I've tried putting it in a bag with new mice of identical brand in hopes they will absorb smell. He wouldn't go for it.”source ↗
“He becomes distraught when he loses it, going back and forth to all the usual places he keeps it until eventually he miraculously finds it but I know one day it will disappear completely and he will need a new buddy and I would like to be prepared if possible.”source ↗
“My cat LOVES these poms poms like he goes crazy for them..except a few weeks ago he choked on one and swallowed it, which led to a trip to the emergency vet.”source ↗
“now i’m hoping someone can suggest an alternative that he won’t be able to eat or swallow.”source ↗
“I tried using bigger balls but he doesn’t care for them at all.”source ↗
“she will take replacement oranges, but the other colors are blasphemy!”source ↗
“Would love to find dupes!”source ↗
“then i tried to replace it with one exactly like, same color but NOPE! He isn’t having it. I have to drag that little gross ball of shredded mouse from wherever he’s currently batted it under or he will just pout”source ↗
“We have and she does like it a lot but unfortunately she has a really huge emotional attachment to this specific toy. ):”source ↗
“i don't want her playing with either due to potential health concerns (teeth/toxins from unknown nuts), but she LOVES them. she'll throw them around for herself 😭”source ↗
“does anyone have recommendations for alternatives? she's not huge on standard-size balls like tennis or chuckit balls.”source ↗
“A 50# dog shouldn't be given something golf ball sized to play with. Should at least be tennis ball sized to avoid the choking hazard(tennis balls aren't good either and act as sandpaper on the teeth).”source ↗