
Bringing a new kitten home is exciting! But part of being a new pet owner includes picking up multiple supplies to ensure that they stay healthy and happy.
An unfortunate side effect of owning a kitten is destructive behavior, which can happen when they are teething. The last thing that you want is your kitten chewing on things that they shouldn’t!
Since online shopping can be time consuming, we did the research for you to create these reviews of 10 of the best teething toys for kittens. We hope that this article helps you find one or more toys that will help your kitten with any teething discomfort.
A Quick Look at Our Favorites in 2023
The 8 Best Kitten-Teething Toys
1. Catstages Lil’ Avocado Cat Toy With Catnip – Best Overall
Material: | Polyester, synthetic material |
Toy Features: | Crinkle, catnip, dental |
Toy Type: | Chew toy, chaser |
Size: | 5 x 3.5 x 1.8 inches |
Catstages Lil’ Avocado Cat Toy With Catnip is the best overall kitten teething toy. It’s a simple toy at first glance, but you get a small, plush toy that your kitten can chase, bat around, and chomp on. This should help with those teething problems! It’s a cute little avocado covered with a mesh material that can also help remove tartar and plaque. It’s filled with catnip, so your kitten should be happy to play with it, and it’s quite affordable.
The main flaw with this toy is that you can’t refill it with catnip when the scent starts to fade.
2. Catstages Mice Cat Chew Toy With Catnip – Best Value
Material: | Polyester, synthetic fabric |
Toy Features: | Catnip, dental |
Toy Type: | Chasers, chew toy |
Size: | 5 x 3.5 x .5 inches |
The best teething toy for the money is Catstages Mice Cat Chew Toy With Catnip. The beauty of this chew toy is that you get two mice for less than the cost of anything else on this list! These mice have a mesh covering to make chewing more enjoyable.
Basically, your kitten can chew on it and chase it around the house. Unfortunately, you can’t fill it with catnip.
3. Catit Senses 2.0 Wellness Center – Premium Choice
Material: | Plastic |
Toy Features: | Self-grooming, massager |
Toy Type: | Puzzles and games |
Size: | 5 x 18.5 x 4.5 inches |
Catit’s Senses 2.0 Wellness Center is our premium choice pick, but it isn’t exactly a toy. It’s more like a miniature relaxation spot for your kitten. It has brushes that cats can rub themselves on, especially their cheeks, and includes a rubber gum stimulator. This way, your kitten can chew on the stimulator, which should help with teething. The base is also covered in ridges, which many cats enjoy rolling around on.
4. Petstages Dental Health Chews Pair
Material: | Polyester, synthetic fabric |
Toy Features: | Catnip, dental |
Toy Type: | Chew toy, chasers |
Size: | 2 x 2.8 and 1.2 x 3.5 inches |
The Petstages Dental Health Chews Pair are priced well, and you get two toys! This set is designed for cats and kittens to chew on to aid their dental health. Like other Petstages toys, these are covered in mesh, which will help soothe teething pain, and kittens will also enjoy batting them around. They also contain catnip.
That said, you can’t refill it with fresh catnip. Also, both toys have ribbons attached, which your kitten might chew off. You can always cut them off before giving the toy to your kitten.
5. Potaroma 3 Pack Natural Silvervine Sticks Cat Toys
Material: | Silvervine, raffia, sisal, gall fruit |
Toy Features: | 100% natural |
Toy Type: | Chew toys |
Size: | 7 inches long |
The Potaroma 3 Pack Natural Silvervine Sticks Cat Toys are made with 100% natural silvervine sticks. The silvervine is wrapped with sisal rope, with raffia attached on either end. The entire stick is safe for kittens to chew, and the natural materials should prove effective at easing teething pain. You can also choose from a three-pack or a six-pack.
However, some kittens might not be that interested in this toy. If the silvervine doesn’t affect them, they might not be invested in playing with it.
6. Dorakitten Catnip Toys for Indoor Cats – 5 pcs
Material: | Cotton linen, polyester |
Toy Features: | Catnip |
Toy Type: | Chew toy, chasers |
Size: | 15 x 1.97 inches |
The Dorakitten Catnip Toys for Indoor Cats consist of five different plush toys, all made with durable cotton linen. They are also filled with catnip to encourage your cat to play and chew them and stuffed with polyester, which keeps them plump. They are also quite cute, though that’s more for you than your kitten!
However, the catnip scent is not noticeable enough, probably because of the stuffing. While these toys will help with teething, they aren’t made with the kind of material that will drastically help with this kind of discomfort.
7. KONG Wubba Cat Toy
Material: | Polyester, synthetic fabric |
Toy Features: | Catnip, rattle, crinkle |
Toy Type: | Chaser, chew toy |
Size: | 7 x 3.75 x 1.5 inches |
KONG’s Wubba Cat Toy is a durable yet soft toy that has a rattle inside the head and crinkles in the legs, which provide different textures and sounds. It’s long enough that your kitten can engage in bunny kicking, and the various textures might entice a kitten to chew on it, which can help with teething. It also contains catnip.
However, it might not be sturdy enough for cats that are serious chewers or play really rough. Plus, it isn’t exactly designed for teething, so it might not help all kittens with this issue.
8. Pet Craft Supply Cactus Cat Chew Toy
Material: | Rubber |
Toy Features: | Catnip, dental |
Toy Type: | Chew toy |
Size: | 5 x 3 inches |
Pet Craft Supply Cactus Cat Chew Toy is a cute cactus made from non-toxic rubber. This makes it easy to clean by hand or in your dishwasher and creates a great chewing sensation for your kitten. It has an opening on the back that you can insert a bag of catnip into, and the holes on the front will release the catnip odor.
However, the opening on the back of the toy for the catnip bag is quite large, so the bag can be easily removed by some cats. Additionally, many cats that are serious chewers have managed to chew off pieces of this toy, and some have swallowed these pieces. So, we can only recommend this toy for kittens that aren’t as determined when they chew. If you opt for this toy, always supervise your kitten while they are playing with it.
Buyer’s Guide: Choosing the Best Kitten Teething Toys
Before tapping on the purchase button, take a quick look at this buyer’s guide, where we go over a few points about teething toys that might help you with your decision.
Catnip
Most of the toys on this list contain catnip, but you should be aware that kittens don’t tend to react to catnip until they are about 3 to 6 months of age. There’s no harm in giving your kitten a toy with catnip, but don’t expect the typical catnip antics if they are young.
Supervision
You should always supervise your kitten with chew toys. If they chew a large piece off, take it away from them so they don’t swallow it. Swallowing foreign objects can lead to an obstruction, which can be fatal if not treated, usually with surgery.
Hands
As much as your kitten might enjoy chewing on your fingers, you shouldn’t use them as any kind of “toy” for your kitten. A small kitten will consider your hands to be prey, and as they grow older, it will be more difficult to prevent them from attacking your hands, and it will also be much more painful. All playtime should be done with toys and not your hands or feet.
Design
The toy should have a medium to firm texture and be small enough that your kitten can carry it around in their mouth if desired. You can also look for toys with bumpy edges, which can help massage the gums.
Features like feathers, bells, crinkles, and streamers might entice your kitten to play. But be careful of any toys with these kinds of items in case your kitten chews them off. This is why supervising playtime is crucial. Also, it might take a few different toys to figure out what your kitten prefers.
Conclusion
The best chew toy for teething kittens is Catstages Lil’ Avocado Cat Toy With Catnip, which is an affordable yet adorable avocado toy that works well for playing and chewing. Catstages Mice Cat Chew Toy With Catnip is budget friendly and gives you two mice covered in mesh, which will help your kitten’s gums! Finally, the Catit’s Senses 2.0 Wellness Center is the premium choice pick because it enables your kitten to self-groom and includes a gum stimulator, which is perfect for teething kittens.
We hope that these reviews have helped you find a teething toy to save your poor kitten from sore gums—and so they stay away from chewing on your belongings!
Featured Image Credit: MDavidova, Shutterstock