Cat toys are essential for keeping your furry friend entertained, physically fit, and mentally stimulated. You can get no end of cat toys from your favorite pet supplies store, but if you’re feeling crafty, here are some ideas for making your own.
Scratchers
As every cat owner knows, cats instinctively keep their claws sharp by scratching the most appealing surface. This is an important part of their physical development, and it’s the reason why the vets at the Easy Vet clinic include scratchers in their list of essential items for new kittens. Besides, it’s either the scratcher or your furniture! Making a cat scratcher is easy: you just need some sisal rope or corrugated cardboard and a piece of wood to cover in it. Try using plain wood objects sold for decoupaging or make your own scratching post by sawing one end off a rolling pin and gluing it onto a wooden chopping board. Here are 12 more DIY cat scratcher ideas.
Cat Trees
A ‘cat tree’ is a structure that your cat can climb on for exercise. A cat tree is a freestanding structure and needs to be stable and sturdy enough to allow your cat to jump on and off, so they can be a little trickier to put together than simple scratchers. This list of 15 DIY cat trees offers options for every level of DIY expertise, including a very simple ‘cat condo’ project which simply consists of a few coffee tables stacked and screwed together. Covering your cat tree in sisal rope will save you from having to make too many scratching posts.
Cat Toys
Just like children, cats need toys to keep them mentally and physically stimulated. Unfortunately, most DIY cat toy projects you can find on the internet involve using yarn, ribbon, or other easily torn fabrics which are actually not safe for cats. One type of fabric which is safe is felt, and you can find no end of patterns on the internet to help you sew a felt mouse toy for your cat. Another idea would be to use this wooden dowel toy idea but substitute the yarn and shoelaces with rope and strips of felt (you can buy multicolored sisal rope to make your toys and scratchers more colorful). Simply buy a wooden dowel, tie a strip of felt to it with a double knot and then tie the sisal rope on the other end, again with double knots to avoid the toy coming apart at the first use. Easy!
Cat Gym
A cat gym is a low, freestanding frame with strips of fabric attached to it, which your cat will enjoy playing with. It’s a bit like a baby mobile, but for cats! Here is a fairly easy way to make a cat gym—again, substitute the ribbons for strips of felt. To make things more interesting for your cat, tie some knots in a few of the felt strips to vary their texture. Your cat will think they’re chasing mice!
