Looking for fun & entertaining cat challenges? Different things you and your cat can try?! Whether you’re looking for different games to play with your cat or simply want to keep your cat active, stimulated or engaged – here’s our top 10 recommended cat challenges (you have to try!)
10 Best Cat Challenges
See, when it comes to the best cat challenges, you might thing it would be hard to decide…
After all, there’s heaps of cat challenges – especially short little ones on TikTok, like “Pretend To Pet Your Cat” or “Copy Your Cat” or “Cat Face Filter Challenge.”
These, however, are usually for Internet entertainment. They don’t really add any value for your cat…
Our recommended cat challenges, on the other hand, are ones which help you to bond with your cat, help your cat learn & grow and – most importantly – they’re cat challenges your cat will actually enjoy!
So, in no particular order, here’s 10 of the best challenges of all time! Have a read, give them a try and get inspired for different cat challenges you can come up with by yourself…
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1) Toilet Roll Wall Challenge
So what better challenge to kick off our cat challenges, than with the Toilet Roll Wall?! It’s an ABSOLUTE CLASSIC!
Simply line up toilet rolls in a door way (so that the only way through, is jumping over them – or ploughing through them, but that would be a level failed!)
The only way to PASS the level is to jump over the toilet rolls without knocking them down.
And psst, top tip: to encourage your cat over, use toys! For instance, we used these Flying Propellers to go over the toilet roll wall, which sent our Cody leaping over after them too!
You can also train your cat to jump over things. This is one of the cool tricks to teach your cat and makes all of these challenges far easier.
Whichever way you go about it – the Toilet Roll Wall Challenge is fun, simple, high energy and super cost effective too.
All you need to do is to Bulk Buy Toilet Roll, with a packet or two – and you will then – of course – use the toilet rolls in your bathroom afterwards… And can even turn the empty toilet roll’s into cat toys after that as well. So there’s 0 wastage and lots of fun from this one!
MUST WATCH: Our Maine Coon kitten, Cody, did incredible on this cat challenge, flying through all 8 levels until we ran out of toilet roll, so we now have to do this challenge again! (He’s only 5 months old here so it was an extraordinary effort!) Watch here:
2) Cat Obstacle Course
Another cat challenge you have to have a go at, is a cat obstacle course. Why? Because they’re fun, active and there are ENDLESS ways you can mix it up, to provide different versions!
Simply grab different things that your cat has to jump over, go through, knock down, balance on top of… etc. That way, it really tests your cat in different ways, and is a great way to tire them out!
We’ve just started creating cat obstacle courses for little Cody and have started with a themed Christmas one. Here, check it out for a fresh boost of inspiration… (It really is super cool, what you can do!)
3) Cat Agility Course
Want to step it up a notch? Then a Cat Agility Course is very similar to an Obstacle Course, except it’s more technical and usually requires / works in line with, your cat training.
With this, you still may include toys and obstacles but you’ll also have things like: ladders, tunnels, hurdles, weaving posts and hoops. For this, I recommend grabbing a full pet agility kit as it works out far more cost-effective.
You then just need a cat clicker for clicker training, (I have this one with the extended pointer on the end!) and can use it all not just as a challenge itself but for ongoing training.
4) Cat Balance Beam Challenge
Our next cat challenge is less about the SPEED and more about the SKILL. Slowly but surely does it with the Cat Balance Beam Challenge, but that’s a good thing – as it’s testing them in a different way!
Simply cut different wooden beams, to different lengths and distances, and place these across different points (with some treats on the end of course), making it harder and harder as time goes on!
5) Cat Running Challenge
On the flip side, maybe you DO want to tire your cat out… In which case, there’s no better cat challenge than taking on the running wheel. You can grab these here, and they then become an exerciser for your cat.
The “challenge” part, comes not only in first getting to use it, but then seeing how fast and long they will stay on! But when you master it… It makes your cat incredibly fit, strong and healthy, so they’re well worth giving a go!
Top tip: now it is worth noting, that the hardest part of the running challenge, is sourcing a good quality cat running wheel. However, the alternative is to train your cat to use a Treadmill, or a Walking Pad (which are a little more affordable) – particularly if you already have one in your home! You can then simply up the speed levels to see how fast they can go!
6) Cat Climbing Wall Challenge
From balancing, to running, to – now – climbing, our next cat challenge is the Cat Climbing Wall Challenge.
Now, we especially like this one, as it’s less of a well known cat challenge, which also then provides FULL creativity for you to make it your own too.
Here, watch this for inspiration:
These guys have got a cat climbing up a literal climbing wall, and you can actually grab these rocking climbing hooks for your own home.
They’re more affordable than specially designed cat wall shelves, and a little more challenging for your cat, so they work out as a bit of a win, win!
Get them testing different routes, using treats / toys as incentives and time them to see if they can get faster & faster!
7) Cat Paper Cup Challenge
Another of our favourite cat challenges is the Cat Paper Cup Challenge. To make this possible, you simply need bulk buy a pack of 500 paper cups and have wooden / cardboard planks you can place on them (once they’re all lined up!)
Create different routes with different difficulty levels, to test your cat as they then have to work out how to get across!
It’s one of the best cat challenges for problem solving, and you can then use the cups to – again – create other things like cat treat toys, or play the “guess which cup the treat is under” trick… So they don’t have to go to waste!
8) Cat Maze
Talking of problem solving, if we’re going to feature the best cat challenges here, then we just HAVE to throw a cat maze into the mix!
You can make cat mazes with strings, boxes or even mirrors. There’s endless versions and endless routes you can create, which your cat then has to work out.
Just make sure your cat maze is sturdy enough so that they can’t smash through the barriers, but it’s great fun to do – for both you and your furry friend!
9) Cat Fishing Challenge
Next up, next up, it’s the cat fishing challenge… And this is where you find out your cat loves treats more than they’re scared of water, right?!
But it’s fun and totally different, which is why it has to make the list of the best cat challenges!
To give this one a go, simply find a large bowl or grab a glass bubble bowl and fill it with water.
You then need some floating saucers, but can find anything around your house that floats – in fact, the more variety in shape and size, the better as that enables you to create different levels.
Pop the treats in the dishes and test your cat to see if they can get them out… and how fast! This then leads us on to our final suggestion…
10) Cat Hidden Treat Challenge
One of the simplest, most popular cat challenges is “Hidden Treats!”, or otherwise known as “Snack Hunt!”
This is “what it says on the tin” and works whereby you hide your cats favourite treats in different places around a room and they have to tap into their senses to find them!
It’s kind of like hide and seek… but with treats. So you can never go too far wrong with this one!
That’s All For This One
So there we have it – our top 10 cat challenges, to give a go with your furry friend.
Remember – like all things in life, you get out what you put in. So really put the time and effort into making life as fun and enjoyable for your pet and you’ll find it all the more enjoyable and rewarding yourself!
If you do manage to master one of these challenges you can also record it and upload it on a YouTube channel, making it one of the (clever!) side hustles that pay weekly. (How about that for an added bonus then?!)
So have fun. Good luck! And thanks for reading.
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