Catnip Queen Cat Toys Review (Tried and Tested)
- Rachel
- 2 hours ago
- 6 min read
*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no cost to you.
This is an honest review of a free product. All photos are my own.
In this article:
About the Brand
The Catnip Queen is on a mission to replace fast-fashion toys with cat couture!
The brand's range of luxury, organic catnip toys challenge the throwaway culture of the pet industry, replacing flimsy toys with durable alternatives that are designed to last. Toys are created to be used over and over again, and you don't have to worry about catnip losing its potency with the Royal Elixir Spray - a unique blend of catnip and silvervine that refreshes toys with a single spritz.
The Catnip Queen is a UK-based, family business founded by Matt and Aime Anderson - along with their two cats, Princess and Tiger, who were rescued from a cardboard box. As such, the brand donates 1% of every sale to the Feline Care Cat Rescue. With two rescue babies of my own - and spending a small fortune on rubbish cat toys that are met with disinterest - it's a cause I can relate to.
These fancy catnip toys aren't only good for your furry royal highnesses; they're good for the planet and, in the long-run, your wallet!
Catnip Queen Toys
So, what's on offer from this luxury, sustainable cat toy brand?
The Catnip Queen's signature Royal Collection includes the Count's Moustache and Designer Clutch, which were generously gifted to me. Also available is the Royal Catch, which as the name suggests, is a rather fancy-looking fish. The purple and gold colour scheme is symbolic of royalty, with tassels and bells for extra enrichment.
What makes these toys unique is that they're filled with premium-grade organic catnip and silvervine fruit. This is great news for cats that aren't responsive to catnip - or more specifically, nepetalactone - which accounts for around 30% of the feline population.
By contrast, silvervine contains multiple compounds including nepetalactone, Actinide and dihydroactinidiolide, with the plant's gall fruit containing the highest concentration of active ingredients. Studies show that this potent alternative to catnip is enjoyed by 80% of cats, including those that are immune to catnip!
Learn more about the benefits of silvervine here: Silvervine vs Catnip: Which Is Best for Cats?
The "royal" theme makes purrfect sense for the feline personality, but I wasn't sure how this would translate to the toys themselves - where else do you see moustaches and clutch bags for cats? You can feel the quality of the toys in their soft but durable material that lives up to the promise of luxury. More importantly, you can smell the catnip and I'm impressed by the level of potency it has.
Testers Review
Reviewing catnip can be challenging when you have one semi-responsive cat and another that's totally immune - that's if they can be bothered to play at all! Everyone knows that my fussy felines are hard to please in any respect, and I'd usually use other family cats for testing catnip. Since mine have always been more reactive to silvervine, I was curious to see how the toys would be received.
You can imagine my surprise when Drax grabbed the moustache out of my hand for a nuzzle, but this was nowhere near as shocking as Simba - who's never responded to catnip in his life - tried to stuff the clutch bag into his mouth. Whaaat?!
I have to admit it was entertaining for me, too, as the sight of a cat holding a clutch bag was hilarious.
In all honesty, I'm not sure if Simba was more interested in the tassel than the actual catnip/silvervine factor. I'm always cautious of small dangly bits on cat toys, especially when they contain metal parts like these do. However, the tassel didn't budge, despite Simba's attemps to pull it off. I thought it might get stuck around his teeth or snap, but the elastic is thick and well-stitched.
It was only a short burst of interest, but for a cat that won't even look at a soft toy, I still consider it a success! Drax seems to enjoy batting it around, gnawing and nuzzling it - as well as using it as a pillow.
The Count's Moustache has a larger tassel and bell, but they didn't come loose with four rounds of tester cats beating it up. Unfortunately, Simba was scared of the bell as it's quite big and noisy - again, that's not saying much because he's scared of everything!
However, one of the other testers was also put off by the sound, which might be something to bear in mind for timid cats. Our most playful tester, Nobby, wasn't bothered by it at all and spent three days rolling around with his new favourite toy - jingly bell and all!
If you do have a wimpy cat then they might prefer the clutch or fish. Likewise, if you have an aggressive kitty and are concerned about small parts coming off, the fish would be the safest option. I didn't experience any wear and tear with the toys, but they could benefit from less metal parts on the tassels by way of an alternative material.
These toys were a little large for my cats to carry around like real prey. However, they're the perfect size and weight for grabbing, cuddling, nuzzling and bunny-kicking - which are typically the behaviours that catnip stimulates. If my fussy duo don't mind the unusual shapes and sizes then a normal cat should love them!
Of all the Catnip Queen goodies, it was the Elixir Spray that I was most excited about because I haven't seen anything like it. With my cats preferring silvervine powder over catnip blends, the spray format was something I really wanted to try out.
The all-natural ingredients include catnip herb, silvervine gall fruit, water and natural preservatives. The 50ml spray bottle is compact but provides over 100 applications. A little goes a long way - just one spritz on each side of the toy is enough to provide a refresher to keep cats engaged. It's recommended for use no more than 2-3 times a week to prevent cats becoming desensitised to the catnip.
What's more, you can use the elixir to revive any other old toys you have lying around, as well as scratchers and cat trees to encourage interaction. This makes it especially beneficial for those carpet clawers (I'm looking at you, Simba!) and sofa destroyers.
I initially thought I'd have to give the toys a good spritz for Drax to show an interest. Simba, I wasn't sure about either way, because all he's ever done is lick silvervine. The fact that they were both interested in the toys without the spray speaks volumes about the potency of ingredients.
Since my cats are easily bored, I sprayed the toys after a day and Drax went back to nuzzling the moustache and throwing the clutch bag around. I can't say that it's as effective as pure silvervine, but that's down to the individual cat and what they best respond to.
It was actually Simba that surprised me, yet again. I noticed that he kept gravitating towards the area where I'd sprayed the toys and taking a snooze. I tested this by spraying a patch of carpet and, sure enough, he found it and settled down for another nap!
I'm not quite sure what he likes about it so much, but catnip is known to have a relaxing effect on some cats. It's never happened with any other catnip products, so there must be something special about the Royal Elixir.
At around £10-£12 per toy, it's quite a luxury product; but one that should last a long time, especially when used with the spray. You can also buy toys in bundles which would make a lovely gift set.
Whether you're a cat parent yourself or know someone with their own catnip-obsessed fluffballs, Christmases and birthdays are made easy with the Catnip Queen!
Do you have a royal fluffball that would enjoy these catnip-silvervine toys?
Comments