Whether your cat is a kitten or just a kitten at heart, they will eventually get tired of the same old toys and treats. If your feline friend needs more novelty in their life, consider a subscription box plan to shake things up. These nifty boxes often contain a slew of unique goodies and toys that are tailor-made to keep your cat entertained. What's more, you can also decide how often you'd like to receive these boxes, and even add on some extra gifts to sweeten the deal.
From delivery frequency to price, there are a ton of factors to consider when it comes to picking the right cat subscription box for you and your furry friend. To make the decision process a little easier on you, we surveyed a wide range of cat subscription boxes that all excel in a particular category. Whether you're looking for a subscription plan that has the most engaging toys, or the best cat litter, there's a box out there waiting for you and your cat to dig right into. Spoil your cat with one of these stellar cat subscription boxes—they deserve it after all!
Best Cat Subscription Boxes of 2023
Best Overall: Meowbox
Frequency: Monthly or bi-monthly
Tiers/Options: One themed box per delivery, edible items can be excluded
Free Shipping: Yes
Pros and Cons
High quality toys and treats
Add-ons available with boxes
No-hassle cancelation process
Donates cat food to shelters
Strict no-returns policy
Overview
Meowbox is second to none when it comes to cat subscription boxes. This service specializes in creative, theme-based boxes with distinctive treats and entertaining cat toys. To give you an example, one of their past boxes—cleverly named: Pumpkin Spice and Everything Mice—contained several unique toys crafted with high quality materials (some filled with catnip) in shapes like a designer fall scarf, a pair of soft boots, a pecan pie, and a cup of cafe latte. There were also a package of treats made with ingredients like real lobster, tuna, sweet potatoes, cheese, kelp, and brown rice.
You can purchase a single MeowBox, or subscribe to monthly or bimonthly deliveries for $24. Each box comes with five to six cat toys and treats, with the mix varying based on three different themed choices. MeowBox also offers periodic add-on upgrades such as cat treats, and they’ll even send a special gift on your cat’s birthday. Additionally, for every box that's ordered, Meowbox donates a can of cat food to a pet shelters to help other cats in need. When your Meowbox ships, you’ll get your own personal can code sent to you via email, which can be entered on the Meowbox website to see the location of your donation and which shelter it’s en route to.
Best Premium: BoxCat
Frequency: Monthly or quarterly
Tiers/Options: Monthly basic, monthly luxury, and seasonal plan
Free Shipping: Yes in continental U.S ($15 for Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Alaska)
Pros and Cons
High quality skincare items
All treats are handmade
Includes larger items, like blankets, beds, and scratchers
Can be customized to accommodate allergies
Additional shipping fees may apply for larger items
Overview
Prepare to absolutely spoil your cat when you subscribe to BoxCat. The services makes luxury cat subscription boxes featuring handmade treats, vegan skincare, smart toys, clothing, collars, gadgets, and large items like velvet blankets, tunnels, hammocks, and beds. You can choose between monthly ($28), luxury monthly ($40), and seasonal box subscriptions ($45), each offering slightly different pricing and content. There are also additional prepay plans offered for each type of box. Once you choose the plan you like, you can click on each of three prepay plans for details.
Extra items like laser laser cat toys and polar fleece beds are also available to add-on to your BoxCat subscription plan. While all of these extra gifts are great on paper, the company does charge additional shipping fees for large items like beds and the like. In the event you need a break from monthly cat boxes, you can cancel your subscription easily at any time.
Best for Cat Food: Smalls
Frequency: Customizable within a 2-8 week timeframe
Tiers/Options: Wide range of options depending on your cat’s needs and preferences
Free Shipping: No
Pros and Cons
Tailored to dietary needs and preferences
Offers a sampler box
Money-back guarantee if your cat doesn’t like the food
Food is grain-free, protein-rich, USDA-certified, humanely harvested and only sourced from the U.S. and Canada
No free shipping boosts price
Overview
Your cat will be eating good when you order cat food box subscription from Smalls. The service offers nutritious, vet-approved, human-grade fresh or freeze-dried raw cat food that's shipped and packaged with dry ice for $40 per box. Smalls uses human-grade ingredients, and offers a variety of customization options to provide a diet optimized to your cat. All food is prepared in U.S. facilities and tested for bacterial and mold contamination before shipping. For a deeper dive into the company's food, you can check out a full breakdown of ingredients and nutritional information for each of the Smalls formulas.
A Smalls subscription begins with an online questionnaire, which evaluates your cat’s dietary needs based on their age, weight (slender, average, or “extra cuddly”), sex, and flavor preferences. Your first Smalls box will be a sampler, so your kitty can try out different flavors and decide what they like. After that, you can adjust your plan according to their tastes. However, subsequent shipping fees after your sampler can cost up to $10 depending the size of the box you ordered. Despite this, Smalls does offer a money-back guarantee, which gives you two weeks from your first shipment to either adjust your food plan to your cat’s liking, or accept a refund.
Best for Cat Parents: CatLadyBox
Frequency: Monthly, quarterly, or semi-annually
Tiers/Options: CatLadyBox (products for cat owners) or Crazy CatLadyBox (also includes products for your cat)
Free Shipping: Yes
Pros and Cons
A portion of profits are donated to cat rescue organizations
Discounts for pre-paid subscriptions
Free shipping for all U.S. orders
Clothing comes in a full range of sizes
Basic subscription doesn't include gifts for cats
Overview
For the cat lover inside us all, look no further than CatLadyBox. Every month subscribers are shipped feline-inspired t-shirts, home decor, coffee mugs, jewelry, and more. For $35, the basic CatLadyBox comes with three to four items monthly strictly for cat owners. The higher tier Crazy CatLadyBox is priced at $40 and includes everything the basic plan offers, in addition to two goodies for your cats.
To subscribe, you’ll first provide a unisex shirt size (size 2XL and larger cost extra) and your preferred payment plan. If you want to save a few extra bucks and really commit to the service, CatLadyBox offers discounts for prepaying three or six months in advance. While your furry pal won’t get anything out of the basic plan, other cats in shelters get some extra love since the company donates a portion of profits to cat rescues.
Best for Kitty Litter: Skoon
Frequency: Monthly and quarterly options
Tiers/Options: Subscription options and discounts available for multiple cats, disposable litter boxes, and add-ons like probiotics
Free Shipping: Yes (only in continental U.S.; shipping unavailable in Hawaii & Alaska)
Pros and Cons
Litter is ultra-absorbent, dust-free, natural, biodegradable, and eliminates odor
Free shipping is offered on all Skoon purchases
Comes with a 30-day money back guarantee
Disposable boxes litter box system available to subscribers
Expensive compared to off-the-shelf litters
Overview
Skoon is a convenient, all-natural, odor-free litter option that uses porous diatom pebbles to help keep the litter lightweight and extra absorbent. Since the pebbles are able to absorb their own weight in liquid, Skoon litter helps keep your box clean and dry. Plus, it’s easy to tell when your litter box is ready for a change since the white diatom pebbles change color as their absorbency wanes. The company offers both monthly and quarterly options that range from $25 to $70 depending on factors such as delivery frequency, the amount of cats you own, and whether or not you want a disposable kitty litter box.
Despite Skoon’s high price point, 8-pound bags are offered at a discounted price to monthly subscribers and come with a free scooper. If you or your cat aren't satisfied with Skoon, the company does offer a 30-day money back guarantee policy. While the relatively large diatom pebbles make Skoon an excellent choice for minimizing litter tracking around the house, there’s also a Fine Grain formulation for cats that struggle to adapt to the coarse litter, or for use in automatic litter boxes.
Best for Toys: KitNipBox
Frequency: Monthly
Tiers/Options: Individual “Happy Cat” and “Multi-Cat” subscriptions available
Free Shipping: Yes (except Hawaii and Alaska)
Pros and Cons
Innovative, high quality toys
“Toy only” boxes available
KitNipBox donates a portion of profits to cat shelters and rescues
Easy cancellation process
Treats can't be customized to specific dietary needs
Overview
When it comes to cat toys, KitNipBox is our top choice for fun and unique feline treasures. Previous KitNipBox picks have included high quality toys made from 100 percent wool felt, light-up toys with feathers, extra-large caterpillar kickers, refillable catnip picks, and healthy snacks like grain-free turkey treats. KitNipBox subscription options include the Happy Cat subscription for one cat, or the Multi-Cat deal. Happy Cat boxes are $23 per month and arrive with five goodies in them, and Multi-Cat boxes are $33 per month with seven items in them.
If you aren’t a cat owner, but know a furry pal in your life that could use some spoiling, you can also gift a subscription in intervals of one, three, six or twelve months, with prices ranging from $20 to $30 per box. However, whether you’re ordering a box for yourself or another cat owner, bear in mind that treats can’t be customized to suit a cat’s dietary needs. The service does allow KitNipBox subscribers to opt out of treats completely, though. If you find yourself unsatisfied with this cat toy subscription, you can also cancel at any time via an account dashboard. To avoid any recurring charges or extra boxes, you have to cancel at least one week before your next shipment.
Final Verdict
Our favorite cat subscription box is MeowBox, which contains the best combination of high quality treats, fun themes, and toys cats love. If the base box isn’t enough (or if you simply want to spoil your furry pal), subscribers can also add on extra cat treats to spice things up with each delivery. No matter if you’re subscribed to the service’s monthly or bimonthly plan, cat owners will always pay a flat rate of $24 per box—which also includes free shipping. In addition to its great price value, the company also donates a can of cat food to rescues for every box purchased. Overall, MeowBox is the purrfect cat subscription box for owners who want a nice balance of toys and treats, at a fair price.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Cat Subscription Boxes Worth It?
Deciding on whether or not to subscribe to a cat box service is dependent on how much you love the products, and whether or not you can budget in a recurring subscription. Subscription prices can add up depending on what tier you pick, your delivery frequency, shipping, and more. While some services like MeowBox offer one-time box purchases, others may ask that you choose a monthly delivery option in order to get your first box. When it comes down to it, you have to ask yourself how much you're willing to commit to a subscription plan—and if you personally feel like it's worth it.
There are usually additional fees to accompany the one-time purchases, so in that respect, it’s a technically better value to buy the subscription. However, you should only really do this if you’re fairly certain you’ll enjoy getting cat boxes on a monthly basis. If you’re not 100% sure, some services may offer a cancellation option without any excessive fees. Some companies like Smalls offer samplers if you’re willing to sign up for a subscription, and you can cancel if you don’t like the goodies they send.
What Comes in a Cat Subscription Box?
Subscription boxes for cats can feature a wide variety of products, ranging from toys and treats to cat-themed shirts and jewelry. Typically, each box will include at least one treat and toy, and many subscription services build each box around a specific theme to keep things fresh. Additionally, if you’re more interested in cat toys instead of food, you’ll be given a chance to decide what kinds of items you’d like to receive and which you’d rather skip. For example, if you have a cat with food allergies, you might only want cat toys with your monthly box.
How Often Can You Get a Cat Subscription Box?
Cat subscription boxes are available at a variety of delivery frequencies. It’s most common to see subscriptions based around a monthly plan, but some services offer options to receive weekly or bimonthly deliveries. But, if the subscription box is for an owner of multiple cats, check to see if the subscription box company has an option to provide a larger supply in each box. This offer was developed especially for multi-cat households, and may be less expensive than selecting a more frequent delivery option.
Why Trust The Spruce Pets
This article was researched and written by KJ Callihan, a writer for The Spruce, who has worked in animal shelters, helped socialize animals for adoption, and fostered animals of various kinds. A bonafide cat lady who also loves dogs, her household currently includes a cat named Arlo who enjoys napping in the sun, stashing his toys under KJ’s favorite chair, and hunting insects on the patio in his spare time. Most likely he’ll be getting a cat subscription box for Christmas this year.