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12 Best Cats Christmas Presents

ByEason Su

Cats are the hardest member of the family to buy for — dog Christmas presents are easy by comparison — because no two of them want the same thing.

One cat greets every visitor at the door; the next lives under the bed until January. One will eat anything; another turns her nose up at every treat except the one you have run out of. A cat we know ignores every toy that has ever been bought for her — plush mice, tunnels, catnip fish, all untouched. She plays with exactly three things: anything round, a feather wand, and whatever insect has got into the house.

So the twelve gifts below are not ranked by price or by how festive they look. Each one comes with a note on which cat it is for. Find yours and skip the rest.

How to choose a Christmas present for a cat

Watch your cat for a day before you buy anything.

What do they bat around the kitchen floor — a bottle top, a hair tie, nothing? Do they chase a piece of string or watch it go past? Wet food or dry? Do they sleep on your chair, on top of the wardrobe, or somewhere you have never found?

The answers decide the present. A cat that ignores toys does not need a better toy; it needs something warm or something to eat. A cat that chases needs something that moves. A cat that bats needs something round. Buy against type and the present sits in the cupboard until Easter.

The 12 best Christmas gifts for cats

1. Christmas laser or reindeer wand

The one for hunters. KONG’s Christmas laser throws festive shapes across the floor; a reindeer-head wand does the same job with you on the other end. Either way the cat gets five minutes of chasing before dinner, which is the difference between a calm evening and a cat on the curtains at midnight.

Finish a laser session with a real toy they can catch. A cat that never catches anything gets frustrated, not tired.

2. A bag of small round things

  • Best for: the cat who bats things under the fridge
  • Where: Festive cat toy set at zooplus
  • Price: Under £10
  • Why it works: A batting cat will play with a ball on its own for an hour; nothing else on this list keeps them busy without you.

Some cats do not want a mouse, a feather or a tunnel. They want a ball, and they want it under the sofa by teatime. If that is your cat, a bag of balls — bells, foil, catnip — is the whole present. This set has ten pieces, so you will still have a few left when the first six have vanished.

3. Valerian or catnip pillow

  • Best for: the cat who ignores toys altogether
  • Where: Aumüller valerian pillow at zooplus
  • Price: Under £10
  • Why it works: Works on cats that ignore every other toy, and keeps them off the tree while the scent lasts.

Catnip sends most cats slightly silly for ten minutes. Valerian does the same for the third or so that catnip does nothing for. A pillow filled with either will get rolled on and dragged under the sofa, which is the only thing that keeps a bored cat off the tinsel.

If even this gets ignored, stop buying toys. Go to number 4 and number 6.

4. A winter-themed bed

  • Best for: the cat who disappears when visitors arrive
  • Where: Cat Christmas Market at zooplus
  • Price: Around £20–40
  • Why it works: Gives a nervous cat somewhere to go when the house is full — fewer hiding-under-the-bed days over Christmas.

A high-sided bed in a winter print that a cat can curl into and not be seen. Put it somewhere quiet and off the floor. For the shy cat, having a place to retreat to over Christmas matters more than any toy on this list.

5. Christmas cardboard scratcher

  • Best for: the cat who is currently using your sofa
  • Where: Cat Christmas Market at zooplus
  • Price: Around £10–20
  • Why it works: Saves the sofa. A scratcher they like is the only thing that stops a cat scratching something you like.

Every cat scratches every day. It is how they keep their claws in order and how they mark what is theirs, and if there is nothing better on offer, the arm of the sofa will do.

At Christmas the cardboard scratchers come shaped as trees, gingerbread houses and sleighs, most with a pinch of catnip inside, so they get used the day they come out of the wrapping. Corrugated cardboard suits most cats; if yours only ever scratches the doormat or the wooden chair leg, buy the same surface instead — cats are particular about texture, and a scratcher in the wrong one gets ignored in a month.

6. Personalised cat bowl

  • Best for: every cat, and especially the one who refuses a deep bowl
  • Where: Paws Fantasy
  • Price: From about £54
  • Why it works: Used every day of the year, and the wide shallow shape stops the whisker-touching that makes some cats leave food.

Christmas dinner deserves its own bowl. Ours are white glazed ceramic with your cat’s name on the side, 16oz, about 6 inches across and just over 2 inches deep — wide and shallow enough that whiskers do not touch the sides, which is the reason some cats walk away from a full bowl. Dishwasher and microwave safe, and meant for every day rather than special occasions. All the designs are in our custom pet bowls.

7. Cat advent calendar

  • Best for: the cat who is waiting by the cupboard at 6am
  • Where: Cat Christmas Market at zooplus
  • Price: Under £10
  • Why it works: One small treat a day builds a routine the cat looks forward to; the anticipation is the present.

One treat a day through December. Your cat will learn within three days that the box opens every morning and will be waiting for it. Buy early — they go before the human ones do.

8. Christmas treat box or filled stocking

  • Best for: the cat who will eat anything — and the one who will not
  • Where: Christmas cat range at Jollyes
  • Price: Around £5–10
  • Why it works: Something to open on Christmas morning, and a cheap way to try a new treat without buying a full bag.

The stocking filler. Match it to what your cat already eats: lickable paste treats and pouches for the wet-food cat, crunchy biscuits and dried fish for the dry-food cat. Soft treats for older cats. Get this wrong and the box sits unopened until spring.

9. Personalised cat tag

  • Best for: the cat who goes out
  • Where: Paws Fantasy
  • Price: From about £23
  • Why it works: If they get out over Christmas, the photo and phone number on the collar are what brings them home.

A tag with your cat’s photo on the front and your number on the back, printed on both sides on white-coated metal, one inch across, light enough for a cat collar. Six designs, including hearts, paw prints and stars — they are all in our custom pet tags.

10. Cat face stickers

  • Best for: the owner, honestly
  • Where: Paws Fantasy
  • Price: From about £9
  • Why it works: Costs less than a tenner and turns every card and parcel you send into a picture of your cat.

The cheapest thing on this list and the one people keep sending photos of. A 6-inch sheet of your cat’s face, kiss-cut vinyl, for the Christmas cards, the presents and the laptop lid.

11. Christmas tree ornament

  • Best for: the family who hangs a new one every year
  • Where: Paws Fantasy
  • Price: From about £17
  • Why it works: Comes out of the box every December; after a few years the tree tells the story of the cat’s life.

Your cat, on the tree, next to the family baubles. One each year and the tree becomes a record of every Christmas together.

12. The box the presents came in

  • Best for: every cat that has ever lived
  • Where: Your recycling
  • Price: Nothing
  • Why it works: Free, and the one gift on this list with a 100 per cent success rate.

Buy all eleven things above and your cat will still spend Christmas afternoon in the cardboard box. Cut a door in the side, drop a blanket in, and accept that this is the tradition.

Kittens and older cats

A first Christmas. Kittens have the energy of three cats and the attention span of none. Number 1 and number 12 will cover it. Skip the jumper; they will be out of it in a week, and out of the size by January.

An older cat. They have seen the Christmas drill before. Energetic toys go untouched. What lands is warmth and comfort — number 4, a low cardboard scratcher they do not have to stretch up to, and soft treats they can manage with older teeth.