Mary Allen
When cats play, they act out their hunting instinct. Play is important and the more varied the toy, the better. Five ideas how you can make cat toys yourself – with accessories that cost little and can be found in every household.
Playing keeps cats fit and gives them the opportunity to act out their hunting instinct. In addition, it is of course fun and promotes the relationship between humans and velvet paws. Regular activity is especially important for indoor cats that cannot hunt mice outside.
You can make exciting cat toys yourself from accessories such as cardboard boxes, empty toilet paper rolls, and wine corks – cheaply and without much effort.
Cardboard House with Windows
You have probably already experienced this: you have ordered something on the Internet, unpack the delivery, put the empty box down for a moment, and – whoops – the cat is already sitting in it. Because cats love cardboard boxes. Cardboard boxes are warm, cozy, and great for hiding.
With a few simple steps, you can make a cardboard house with windows for your cat from an ordinary cardboard box. All you need is a box and a pair of scissors or a cutter and a feather duster.
Material
- A sturdy box;
- A pair of scissors or a craft knife;
- A feather duster.
Manual
Simply cut a few holes in the box with scissors or a craft knife. The shape and size are up to you and your crafting skills. However, the holes should be at least large enough for a cat’s paw to fit through. Through the “window” created in this way, your cat can observe the surroundings or fish for “prey” with its paws.
When your cat is in the box, slowly stroke the feather duster past the outside of the holes. Your cat is guaranteed to have a lot of fun catching the feather and pulling it into the box. You can also slowly slide the feather duster through a “window” into the box and wait for your cat to grab hold of it.
Important: Before you give a cardboard box to your four-legged roommate, you should check whether there are metal clips in it. Get rid of these just to be on the safe side so that your puss doesn’t get hurt. You should also remove the remains of the tape if your cat likes to eat plastic.
Make Cat Toys Yourself From Toilet Paper Rolls
Every household has empty toilet paper rolls. With such a simple cardboard tube, you can make an exciting cat toy yourself quickly and easily.
In the case of intelligence or activity toys, the point is that the cat has to “fumble out” hidden treats in the toy. As a result, your cat will train both the mind and the dexterity of the paws with this toy. Especially if you don’t have time to play with your cat yourself, you can keep your cat occupied for a while.
Material
- The inside of a toilet roll
- Cat snacks or dry food
Manual
To get started, just fill an empty toilet roll with a few cat snacks. Instead of snacks, you can also use dry food. Then place the cardboard tube on the floor and let your catfish out the treats.
If your velvet paw manages this exercise easily, you can increase the level of difficulty and use the inside of a kitchen roll.
If your cat gets bored with that too, close one end of the cardboard tube by loosely inserting a wad of paper. It rustles nicely when unpacking and makes the toy even more exciting. Later you can seal both ends with paper.
With several toilet paper rolls, you can also make a “fumbling box” like a cat toy yourself. You simply have to put the rolls up right next to each other in a shoebox. The box must be completely filled so that the rolls do not stand too loosely or fall over. Then fill some of the rolls with cat snacks or dry food and let your cat “work”.
Make Cat Toys Yourself Out of Egg Cartons
You don’t have to throw away empty egg cartons either, because you can make a super cat toy yourself with them. All you need for the DIY toy is an empty egg box and treats or dry food.
Material
- An empty egg box
- Cat snacks or dry food
Manual
Simply fill a few cat snacks or chunks of dry food into the indentations of the egg box and let your kitty fish afterward. This is not so easy, especially for cats with thick paws.
To increase the level of difficulty, you can also fill the egg carton with small paper balls. Or you can leave the lid loosely closed.
Dump Box with Wine Corks
If you like to drink wine, you can make your cat happy with the leftover corks. They are particularly suitable for filling a rubbing box with them.
Material
- An empty box
- Around 15 to 20 wine corks
- Cat snacks or dry food
Manual
For the rubbing box, you need a cardboard box or a small plastic storage box, such as you can buy in hardware stores.
Then simply fill the box with the corks and add dry snacks or chewed chew sticks. If your cat is getting dry food, you can also serve them a whole meal in the root box.
Important: After a while, dust, crumbs, and cat hair will collect in a dump box. For reasons of hygiene, you should regularly replace cardboard boxes and occasionally rinse out plastic boxes. The corks should also be cleaned regularly – preferably with water and washing-up liquid.
As an alternative to wine corks, you can also use chestnuts or paper balls for the rooting box.
DIY Game Rod with Cork
With wine corks, you can also make an individual game rod for your house tiger. You may need a little more accessories for this, but your cat will be delighted with your homemade cat toy with cork.
Material
- A cork
- A thin wooden stick
- Wool
- Bells
- Feathers
- Scissors
- Hammer
- A long nail
- A long darning needle
- A pot of hot water
Manual
First, boil the cork in a saucepan of water for about ten minutes until soft. This makes it easier to pierce the cork. Then drill a hole lengthways through the cork with the help of a nail and hammer.
Then cut a woolen thread about a meter long. Use the darning needle to pull the wool thread through the cork. After that, tie the string on the underside of the cork to prevent it from slipping through. However, leave about ten centimeters of the wool thread so that you can attach the bell and feathers to it later.
Attach the longer end of the wool thread on top of the cork to the wooden stick.
You can now design the underside of the cork however you like. Tie more threads of wool in different colors and attach the small bell and feathers. Voilá, the individual game rod for your house tiger is ready.
