Hartz Cat Toys Review 2024: FAQ, Pros, Cons, & Verdict

Review Summary

From an immigrant selling canaries in the 1920s to one of the largest pet product sellers in the 2020s, Hartz has a long history in the pet market. Today, they’re known for making treats, toys, grooming products, and other essentials for dogs and cats. Hartz cat toys are one of the most popular brands today and are easy to find in grocery stores and online. They’re fun and inviting, and many of their toys use both catnip and silvervine to make them enticing to even more cats.

At a Glance: The Best Hartz Cat Toys

Hartz Cat Toys Reviewed

Who Makes Hartz and Where Is It Produced?

Hartz cat toys are made by the Hartz Mountain Corporation. This brand has a long history going back to 1926 and got its start as a bird importer and retailer bringing canaries and other birds to the United States. Over the years, their brand shifted from live pets to pet products, selling toys, treats, and essentials for dogs and cats.

Today, the brand is a joint venture owned by two Japanese consumer goods corporations, Sumitomo and Unicharm. Most cat toys made by Hartz are manufactured in China and imported to the United States.

Which Cats Are Hartz Toys Best Suited For?

Hartz cat toys are ideal for most cats. They are fun to play with and have a wide variety of toy types. Hartz is also unusual in that many of their toys use Silvervine along with catnip. Silvervine is another plant that many cats have positive reactions to, so if your cat doesn’t respond to catnip, Hartz Toys might be for you!

Which Types of Cats Might Do Better With a Different Brand?

Although most cats will enjoy Hartz toys, they aren’t built to stand up to particularly fierce kitties. If your cat breaks most standard toys in minutes, Hartz might not be for you. Most Hartz toys are also made of primarily plastic materials. Some owners also prefer to buy eco-friendly cat toys made of natural materials, such as the Catit Eco line of cat toys.

What Makes Hartz Cat Toys Stand Out?

Hartz cat toys have a lot of great features, but one of our consistent favorites is their use of silvervine. Between 20%–40% of cats don’t respond to catnip, making this common cat toy feature totally useless to a large number of cats. Silvervine is another less common herb that cats love. Just like catnip, not all cats respond to silvervine, but when both are used together, over 90% of cats will go crazy for the scent!

Our 3 Favorite Hartz Cat Toys

1. Hartz Cattraction Animal Pal Kickers

Hartz Cattraction Animal Pal Kickers are one of their most popular products, and it’s not hard to see why. These 11–15” toys are long and skinny, perfect for cats and kittens to grab onto and wrestle. These kicker toys are scented with catnip and silvervine, making them exciting and attractive to almost all cats. Each toy has a colorful “tail” of bright feathers and shiny ribbons, plus a crinkly body that will make lots of exciting noises.

There are two designs, a shark and a bird design. The shark design is slightly longer at 15”, but toys are shipped at random so you aren’t able to choose which design you receive. Although it has a relatively high sturdiness rating overall, some reviewers with large or destructive cats report that their toy broke quickly.

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2. Hartz Just for Cats Peek and Play Pop Up Tent

Perfect for excitable kittens or smaller cats, the Hartz Just for Cats Peek and Play Pop Up Tent is a fun, exciting play tunnel with lots of features to keep your kitty engaged. The tunnel pops up easily with no assembly required, although it can be trickier to put away. It measures 14.8 by 24 inches, giving kittens and small to medium cats space to play. Two hanging toys and a detachable scratcher are great for solo or interactive play, while peepholes in the side of the tunnel let your cat keep an eye on the outside world. The user ratings on this toy are high overall, but some do mention the tent warping over time.

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3. Hartz Just For Cats Bizzy Balls

Hartz Just for Cats Bizzy Balls are fun and exciting ball toys made of hard plastic that bounce and roll across the floor, keeping your cat engaged. Each ball is slightly different, with jingle bells filling some balls and plastic rattles filling others. The irregular, hole-filled surfaces break up the movement, letting them bounce and skitter erratically across the floor and making it easy for your cat to hook its claws into them.

Although these toys can be fun to play with, they aren’t perfect. Their hard plastic can be cracked open by a determined cat, and the filling material contains small pieces that might be a choking hazard. Because of that, these toys shouldn’t be used unsupervised.

What Other Users Are Saying

Hartz has a long history of positive reviews for their pet toys, and we’re adding our voice to the mix.

Conclusion

Overall, we find Hartz products to be high-quality, exciting toys that many cats will love. Although not all toys are for every cat, their variety of toys means that many cats will find their dream toy somewhere in their catalog. We love the blend of catnip and silvervine found in many of their soft toys and find that they are well worth the low cost.