Homemade Cat Toys

zoeysmom

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Mar 13, 2008
Messages
971
Purraise
4
Location
SW Ontario, Canada
The last couple of times I've been to the pet store, I've been eyeing the Cat Dancer. It's only $3.99, but everytime I look at it I think to myself "that would be so easy to make." So today when I was at the dollar store I picked up some wire...and also found some paper/wire stems that are meant for making artificial flowers. They look very similar to what is on the cat dancer. Within 5 minutes of being home, but cats were chasing those little pieces of cardboard around frantically. It was so easy and for $2.00, I can probably make 20 cat dancers (with plenty of wire to spare!). Easy enough.

Previously, I've made my own wand toys with some string, craft feathers, and electrical tape from the dollar store. Just bundled the feathers up, tied the string around the ends, and taped it up. The electrical tape really seems to weigh down the string end of the feathers so that it flies more like a real bird, as opposed to dangling. Much like I imagine DaBird does (I've never used it). I have also added some strands of bike streamers (also from the dollar store) to make the shinier/noisier.

In other news, my local pet store is trying to kill me (and my budget). They have a ton of new toys and gadgets for cats and it was all I could do to walk out without buying anything for the girls!
 

nurseangel

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jul 6, 2007
Messages
10,132
Purraise
4,820
Location
1 Happy Place
I would be so proud of myself if I made Speck a toy. As it is, I end up buying something for him almost every time I go shopping, and cat toys are expensive! So far, however, I have resisted this corrugated cardboard cat cottage from a pet gift catalog. I want it so bad I can taste it, though I keep telling myself it's really just a box...
 

going nova

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 31, 2008
Messages
1,951
Purraise
12
Originally Posted by firedancer722

A friend of mine has a cat that LOVES bottle caps, pony-tail holders, and milk jug rings. Talk about cheap cat toys!
Sounds like Nova. But I have made a toy for her. I took an old Tshirt and made a mouse. I stuffed the mouse with scraps of the same old Tshirt. It was quite lumpy, and right away she knew what it was for.
It looks quite crude, but I think that Nova doesn't mind
 

ladylonewolf

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Oct 21, 2008
Messages
313
Purraise
1
Location
Central New York
I had made Snickers a toy the first day he was here, because I really didn't have anything for him to play with. I had an old raccoon tail that used to be a keychain. I put a jingle bell on the metal ring and tied a shoelace to it so I could either dangle it or drag it across the floor. He thought it was the greatest thing ever!
 

beturtlement

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Sep 30, 2007
Messages
129
Purraise
11
Location
NJ
I've found that Niko won't play with anything that is bought, /only/ the stuff I make. I've done similar things with feathers and duct tape that zoeysmom mentioned, as well as crocheted balls with catnip inside. I bought Da Bird, which he loved, but the main toy is long since destroyed so I've made my own attachments: mylar crinkle balls, strings of yarn, bells, feathers, (and his current favorite) the handles from plastic grocery bags tied in a knot.

Oddly enough, his favorite of all time toy? Is 'nothing on a string', which consists of the pole from Da Bird, with absolutely nothing attached. He seems to like to chase the small metal thing on the end of the string that you attach things to. I guess he's a minimalist.
 
Top