Anything at all you made, pictures appreciated, but not required. I can't wait to see your ideas!
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What's something cool that you made for your cat instead of buying it?
- Thread starter cuddly calico
- Start Date
I made this for my cats. They loved it, but did destroy it after a few weeks! I hid cat treats inside the tubes, made from toilet paper rolls.
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- #3
That is so adorable! That's a great idea. They have plastic ones at pet stores, but cats love the cardboard more! Thanks so much for sharing 
I'll post a pic tonight of a cat bed I made and a supply cabinet I painted to keep my kitten from getting into his food.
I'll post a pic tonight of a cat bed I made and a supply cabinet I painted to keep my kitten from getting into his food.
I made this for my cats. They loved it, but did destroy it after a few weeks! I hid cat treats inside the tubes, made from toilet paper rolls.
that's a great idea! I'm going to start saving cardboard tubes. My boys would love that.- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #5
These are lovely! I love what you did with the cabinet, it must have taken some time to do and the little bed is adorable, complete with a little teddy bear. What a lucky kitten.
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- #7
Thanks and the little teddy bear is actually a mouse in a tail coat
and the little teddy bear is actually a mouse in a tail coat - Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #8
lol, is that a nyan-kyo?
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- #10
Yes, yes it is. My Kyo will indeed fart rainbows at the age of two.
After the Great Khal Drogo destroyed several cat dancers, Da Birds and similar wand toys (and he's just a tiny kitten!) I decided to make my own, heavy-duty wand toy.
I just replaced the blinds on one of my windows, so I took the "wand" from the old pair of blinds, got a piece of long shoe string, and used a toy catnip worm that my kitten never had any interest in as the "bait" that hangs from the wand. Now I have a durable, almost impossible-to-destroy wand toy, and Drogo is finally interested in that damn catnip worm now that it's wiggling at the end of the wand toy.
I also made some toys from toilet paper rolls, but he lost interest pretty quickly.
I just replaced the blinds on one of my windows, so I took the "wand" from the old pair of blinds, got a piece of long shoe string, and used a toy catnip worm that my kitten never had any interest in as the "bait" that hangs from the wand. Now I have a durable, almost impossible-to-destroy wand toy, and Drogo is finally interested in that damn catnip worm now that it's wiggling at the end of the wand toy.
I also made some toys from toilet paper rolls, but he lost interest pretty quickly.
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- #12
Great idea! How did you attach it to the wand? Wouldn't the string slide off?
When we got our first cat almost 6 years ago my DH and DS built this for Jake. We called it the "Apartment" since it was smaller than a cat condo! Jake outgrew it, but our latest indoor boy, Marvin loves it. He is a former feral and loved hiding in it during the day and sitting out top at night to look outside.
Then this past winter, DH and DS built a heated cat house for my 2 outdoor ferals. It is fully insulated. It started with a heat source from a light bulb with a paint can with holes around it, but a few weeks into using it, I bought a hound heater. It kept the boys toasty warm all winter. Our winter here in Central Ohio was brutal. It never went below 30 inside this house. It has one opening about 7"x7" for them to enter and exit. I started with 2 openings, but ended up sealing one off as they didn't use it.
Then this past winter, DH and DS built a heated cat house for my 2 outdoor ferals. It is fully insulated. It started with a heat source from a light bulb with a paint can with holes around it, but a few weeks into using it, I bought a hound heater. It kept the boys toasty warm all winter. Our winter here in Central Ohio was brutal. It never went below 30 inside this house. It has one opening about 7"x7" for them to enter and exit. I started with 2 openings, but ended up sealing one off as they didn't use it.
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- #14
Absolutely genius! This is so cool! These are expensive in stores that even sell them. The fact that you made one that can keep heat above 30 degrees and NOT catch fire.... WOW. I'm a little jealous. I love this!
I was so worried about fire and that is why I moved to the Hound heater instead of the cheap light bulb. The light bulb was about $15 as I used a reptile 75w bulb so that it was so bright inside. Yet I was worried about the bulb catching fire or burning out and not knowing it. I did keep a remote thermometer inside so I could monitor the temp. Many days when the temp was 25 or so, with the hound heater on low it was above 50 inside. My boys were so cozy that many days they rarely came out. It was so worth the peace of mind. DH and DS built it all in one day. The supplies to build were under $50 and that includes the reflectix insulation. The hound heater was $80, but should last me for years.
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- #16
Something pre-built like this would've cost hundreds of dollars. This made my day. If you make anything else like this, be sure to tell me
We also have 2 feeding stations we have built for the ferals as well as a Feral villa. They use the feeding stations daily, but hated the feral villa shelter. I only use it in the winter to put dry food in during the night. My DH loves to build! He saves us tons of money by making and repurposing so many items. I love the bed you made and cabinet too!Something pre-built like this would've cost hundreds of dollars. This made my day. If you make anything else like this, be sure to tell me
I have a large dog and wanted a large bed for her. They cost near $100. I took 2 old queen size memory foam pillows that were no longer being used, velcroed them together and put a large stretch jersey knit pillow case around them. I then found that an old pack n play sheet from when my son was a baby fit perfectly. Instant dog bed for only the price of velcro!!
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- #18
You have great ideas. And thank you, I recently took old shoe boxes and created a cat sized dollhouse for Kyo. It even has a balcony. It's very small though. I'm almost ashamed at the poor paint job. The structure is stable though.
The nice thing about those window blind wands is that they have a sort of hook at the end. I'm not a former Boy Scout and I was never taught any special knots, but I just tied a knot back around the wand so it can't slip off. The worm toy is a zig zag shape so the string holds it well. And the nice thing about making your own wand toy is that you can replace or rotate items as the bait on the end...before the worm I was using one of those rubber bracelets from some charity. My kitten liked the texture of it and I think it had extra appeal because he's teething.
Also i am working on a homemade cat tree that won't take a ton of space in my apartment and hopefully will have aesthetic value instead of a clunky, store bought cat tree or cottage. I'll post pictures when I'm done.
Good thread!
That is amazing. Good job.
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