The Ty cat department: seventeen cats, six birthdays in August alone

Dog people buy one plush dog. Cat people, in our experience, come back. It is no accident that cats are one of the deepest categories Ty makes, and a search of our shelves turns up seventeen of them across every line we carry.

The Beanie Boos bring the famous glitter eyes: Sweet, Kiki, Cassidy, Fiona, Heather and Opal the Pastel Cat, each $11.99. The Beanie Bellies side of the family gives you Binx, Jenni, Lillibelle and Morgan the Grey Cat at the same price, and Amber II carries the classic Beanie Baby flag. If those names mean nothing to you but the small person in your life just said one of them, trust them, they know exactly which cat they mean.

Then there are the clips, and the clips deserve their own paragraph. Miso the Siamese, Mango, and clip versions of Cassidy, Fiona, Kiki and Heather, all $6.99. Bag charms are having their moment, and a Ty clip on a school bag is the affordable version of the trend. They are also the easy win when a birthday party needs a present that costs less than the wrapping paper.

Speaking of birthdays, here is a detail worth knowing: every Ty character has an official one. Kiki was born on August 16, Cassidy on August 11, Fiona on February 1, Binx on February 20. Matching a cat to a child's actual birthday turns an $11.99 plush into a present that feels chosen, and it costs you nothing but a minute of checking. Parents who discover this trick tend to use it more than once.

If you need steering, Opal the Pastel Cat is the one we would pick as a gift for a child you do not know well, and Miso the Siamese clip is the one that keeps selling out on us.

The whole litter is at beanieboosaustralia.com, in stock now.