The best puzzle rug for cats is SnugglyCat’s Ripple Rug. These puzzle rugs are durable, easy to wash, cat safe, and provide enrichment.
The second best puzzle rug for cats is a food foraging mat.
You can hide healthy treats and cat toys in both to keep your cat entertained for hours.
Puzzle rug for cats buying guide:
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1. Durability
Durability is a must when shopping for cat supplies.
Cats are rambunctious when they play. They chew and scratch things up like there’s no tomorrow.
When shopping for cat supplies online check for pictures and videos of animals using the product.
Are they stock photos? Are they real photos?
If the photos are real, chances are the creator of the product uses it for their cats. Or it’s been tested with real cats.
Stock photos are very obvious. They look like someone just photoshopped a cat on top of the product.
Here are my favorites:
- The Ripple Rug (buy on their website, Chewy, or Amazon)
- Food foraging snuffle mat (buy on Amazon and Etsy)
Jericho is a monster when it comes to playing. He was a street cat before I adopted him.
I ordered the Ripple Rug in March of 2019, and it’s still holding its shape.
I bought the food foraging mat in March 2020. Jericho loves it!
2. Easy to clean
Being able to clean your cat’s puzzle rugs is super important. Especially if you’re hiding treats inside ripples and foraging mats.
The Ripple Rug and foraging mat are both machine-washable.
Wash on cold, delicate cycle, and hang dry.
This comes in handy because we want our toys to last.
Cats are clean creatures. So we should clean their toys regularly to keep them happy.
3. Made with safe materials
Safe materials are best for cats. Cats are sensitive creatures.
They are sensitive to smells and artificial stuff.
The Ripple Rug is made with recycled plastic bottles. This is great for your cat and the environment.
The foraging mat is made with fleece and a double-fabric nonslip bottom. It’s soft and super cute.
5. Size
Read through descriptions carefully. Especially if you have a small space.
The Ripple Rug is large and true to the size of the online pictures.
Just make sure you purchase the genuine Ripple Rug from SnugglyCat.
Many knock-offs claim to be genuine and just use SnugglyCat’s images and logos to fool people. These knock-offs lack in quality and size (and integrity).
If you don’t buy directly from their website, I’d suggest Chewy over Amazon. There are no fakes on Chewy (at the moment).
If you shop directly on their website you can choose different colors and international shipping.
The Ripple Rug and mats are easy to fold up and store.
The food foraging mat is much smaller. It’s made for bunnies, but it works for cats too!
6. Enrichment needs
Cats need enrichment to stay happy indoors.
Enrichment needs:
- Hunting
- Playing
- Scratching
- Hiding
- Resting
The foraging feeding mats satisfy hunting and playing. The Ripple Rug checks off all of these boxes.
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7. How to use it
Ok now for the fun part.
Hide treats in the puzzle rugs
One routine that Jericho loves is hunting for treats.
I use the Ripple Rug and foraging mat to hide his treats so that he has to work for his reward.
He has to sniff the treats out and then paw around the rug to get them out.
This foraging action is great for mental stimulation.
Tease toys around the ripples
Toys that mimic prey behavior are perfect for cats. I love to use the Ripple Rug for this.
Prey will crawl in and out of or behind things in the wild.
I tease wand toys around the ripples so that the “prey” goes from seen to unseen.
This drives Jericho wild.
As soon as the critter moves behind a ripple, Jericho’s eyes dilate, his butt starts to wiggle, and then pounce!
Hide toys inside the ripples
Jericho plays on the Ripple Rug by himself a lot because I hide toys inside the ripples.
The top rug has different-sized holes that entice your cat to inspect.
I put catnip toys, cotton chase balls, and organic catnip inside the ripples.
Jericho spots the toys and then uses his paws to get them out.
Check out this video pin to see him in action.
This provides a lot of mental stimulation and will help keep your cat entertained while you aren’t at home.
Be careful about which toys you leave out unsupervised.
Always remember to play with your cat safely.
Your cat will scratch on it
All cats have a natural urge to sharpen their claws. Even if cats have lived indoors their entire lives.
Cats need sharp claws to catch and kill their prey. So this is why they love to scratch so much. It’s also a natural stress reliever.
You should provide a large scratching post for scratching. But cats also love to scratch on rugs.
Since you have the Ripple Rug, you don’t have to worry about your cat clawing up your rugs. And your rugs were probably way more expensive than this one.
The Ripple Rug has a soft texture so it’s nice on the cat’s paws.
Allowing your cat to scratch on these rugs provides mental stimulation as well.
The rug creates hiding spots for your cat
Hiding spots are important to cats because they like to feel safe.
Wild cats have many hiding spots. We have to provide hiding spots in our homes too.
These hiding spots will come in handy when guests come over, if you have loud neighbors, or during a storm.
The Ripple Rug has different-sized holes on the top rug.
Some of the holes have slits in them so that your cat can go through them safely.
Your cat can use it to nap
The Ripple Rug is soft and flexible. So it makes a great spot to nap.
Having multiple options for your cat to sleep is crucial.
You can make a large bump at the top so your cat can hide and nap inside.
Or you can leave some areas flatter with high, narrow ripples to use as a headrest.
You can change its structure
The best feature of these puzzle rugs is that you can change its structure.
The top rug has fasteners made from hook tape on the inside that stick to the top of the bottom rug.
You’re able to create large or small ripples and different-sized sections where your cat can go inside.
This comes in handy because cats get bored easily. Get creative and change it up for new play sessions.
Final thoughts on puzzle rugs for cats
Your cat needs a durable activity rug.
If you can get one that’s versatile and serves multiple enrichment needs, even better!
Always check pictures, videos, and descriptions when buying online.
Only buy cat supplies made with safe materials that are easy to clean.
Cats are sensitive. We need to clean our toys regularly.
Cats get finicky and get bored easily. It’s extremely helpful when you can restructure activity centers.
My top pick for puzzle rugs is SnugglyCat’s Ripple Rug.
I love the Ripple Rug so much that I bought the bottom only to use as litter box mats, area rugs, and on my DIY cat condo.
Remember to get creative with your toys. All cats love to play!
Need a centralized place to keep track of everything related to your cat? Grab my Cat Care Binder Bundle!
