handmade cat toys
Shay
I'd seen a thread earlier about some handmade cat toys and, as I am soon
to add two more kittens to the fray at my place, I'd like to get some
ideas on quick and easy toys to make to keep them busy whilst I and my
mother are away at work.
Some that have worked for me in the past with Bon-Bon are:
1) most cats love paper but balled up paper just doesn't last long and
has a tendency to not fly far when playing 'fetch' with cats...so, after
trial and error I came up with the indestructable cat ball. Ball up
aluminum foil really tight into a ball about 1" in diameter, wrap that
with paper and wrap that with tape... lots and lots of tape until you
have a 'plastic' ball with the crinkle sound of paper and the weight to
make it fly.
2) take the toy you made in #1 and drill a hole thru the center using
whatever will work. Put string thru the hole, and wrap it back around
the outside til you can knot it up with the rest of the string to make a
'ball on a string' that you can drag around or 'trick' throw to your
pets. For added fun (and less work on your part), use a U shaped nail
and hammer it over your doorframe at about center then knot the string on
the nail so that the ball hangs just about eye level (or a bit lower) to
the cat. They now have a hanging toy that, with the right amount of paw
power, can fly thru the air but come right back to them. Bon-Bon used to
sit right in the middle of the doorway and tap the ball so that it would
circle around her as she sat.
3) Take a plasic grocery bag and roll it up into a tight ball and use the
handles of the bag to wrap around the ball and secure it so that it stay
a ball. Works great for chasing/batting around the house.
those are the ideas that come immediately to mind.. they worked great at
keeping Bon-Bon exercised and happy so that she wouldn't attack us from
the corners anymore when we got home... she's become a bit lazy now so
we've taken most of the toys down but the new additions mean re-creating
those toys and many more...
any ideas?
Shay
owned by Bon-Bon with a sub-contract to Tripper
Dana Scholle
I made a kitty scratching post with a railroad tie (those big wooden
posts you put in your backyard) and two pieces of particle board. I
just cut the post to about 3.5 feet, nailed a piece of particle board
to each end (which I covered with carpet) and wrapped the middle with
sisal rope- Voila! I think it's tall enough for the kittens to have to
climb to get to the top and have a good high perch when they get
there. Now they play "king of the mountain" with it. It cost about 15
buck for the parts and was done in just a few hours.