What's something cool that you made for your cat instead of buying it?

tinn said:

I made this coiled cardboard cat scratcher for my cat, Cam! She loves it when catnip is sprinkled on it.

photo.JPG

• tinn
• Jul 28, 2014

Click to expand...

What do you have it in or around it? I just got finished making one of these. Not quite as big because I only had so much cardboard haha.

alyssam it's 2 colors of vinyl (basically a big sticker) that I cut into that pattern. I'm a graphic designer so I have access to stuff like this at work, but you could probably use contact paper for a similar effect!

tinn said:

alyssam it's 2 colors of vinyl (basically a big sticker) that I cut into that pattern. I'm a graphic designer so I have access to stuff like this at work, but you could probably use contact paper for a similar effect!

Click to expand...

I see, thank you! I need to get more cardboard to make it bigger... and try to get Nel interested in it. Because right now she doesn't seem to care. I even sprinkled catnip on it!

Success!

And now she's bouncing around my room :lol3:

AlyssaM said:

And now she's bouncing around my room

Click to expand...

   

I was sitting here hitting myself for taking out a pile of Mouse's 'kitty gym' boxes last week  (they had started to annoy me as took over the whole of the living room) so I don't have any corrugated cardboard.  Then I remembered we recycle piles of 12" x 12" squares at work every week!  I have to have a go at this.    

Nice, alyssam ! Yeah, she looks pretty happy with it now!

Some expanding foam, some 2 inch thick sheets styrofoam kind insulation material from hardware store and bathroom carpet.

It is good for temperatures below -30C when there are few cats inside.

It is not perhaps neatest looking, but it is warmer than most you can buy as that material is such that if you sit on it, it feels almost instantly warm.

I did put also 100mm thick layer of rockwool on top of that box after weather started to become really cold and cats seemed to like it a lot. For cleaning I need to cut roof off and glue with expanding foam back together again.

What was interesting was that cats did approve it immediately when I gave it to them, that 'front porch' was warming their paws as they examined the opening and thus they probably found out it to be good place.

@JTbo   your  box looks and sounds super warm for not being heated, and I suspect you are right about that front porch step giving the cats a clue to the warmth that awaits them if they venture in.   Nice. 

I love the cardboard tube idea. Wish I didn't just take my recycling out with a few in there. I'm save a few up and make something similar. I have an old pair pants that plan on making cutting into strips then attaching to a small pole type stick to make a toy.

This is the cat tree my boyfriend and I made after getting Miss Cocoa. We brought up a driftwood log from a camping trip to a beach just before bringing her home. She absolutely loves it and can finally now jump onto the platforms without needing to use a small cat tower I have next to it. She gets quite the work out.

Very cool!  It's definitely one of a kind! 

How did you get the tubes to stay? that's a brilliant idea

With Momo being my first cat, cat toys were a whole new world for me. I didn't want to buy him a bunch of stuff yet, since he was still adjusting to his new home. I'll be getting a cat tree soon but in the meantime I created a little tunnel box, not very innovative I know but Momo loves hiding/running though it and on top I put his carrier for additional hiding space (and to get him used to the carrier, don't tell him that) and elevation. 


Now for the mobile toy,I wanted something that was sturdy and made of something that I wouldn't worry about him ingesting something harmful, so again I turned to the versatile cardboard. What I did was take the cut outs I took from the tunnel box and scored the back side and rolled the ends together and taped them around each end. It's long enough for Momo to hold and light enough for him to throw it around. To get him interested in it I put some catnip in some of the crevices. 

How did you get the tubes to stay?

Draco said:

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.

500x700px-LL-71fa970c_1176384_10202077488007227_10

• Draco
• Jun 2, 2014
• 1

Click to expand...

I made these 2 little cat toys out of chunky yarn. I'm working on a few right now that have feathers since Sinbad goes nuts over feathers. But they're not finished yet.

They're little drawstring bags so I switch out what's inside them now and again. Crumpled paper (they love smashing crumpled paper to make it crackle), bells, sometimes a little bit of catnip (though I don't like using that too often) etc.

krazykateac55 said:

How did you get the tubes to stay?

Click to expand...

I'm curious how @Draco did this as well! I've used duct tape, hot glue, more duct tape (cutting the bottoms so they're splayed out and those ends are taped), and currently I'm doing another round of hot glue now and it never lasts Kismet more than 1 or 2 days.

@Losna that is cute! I would be too afraid of my cats trying to eat the frayed threads since that's just something my cats would do.

@CatinMyHat it doesn't take much, but cats love their makeshift forts. We recently folded our pull-out couch half way and draped the sheets over it, and even I thought it was a fun fort. The cats go tearing through it and they hide out in different parts of it (above and below each other). A box though? A box to a cat is an invitation to heaven, haha.

My dad made these shelves for my girls out a old desk they love it. They get to be all nosy and see whats goin on the the apartment hall way. hehe

I did open doors of two older cars I have rusting on yard as nobody is buying, cats found new best place on world from car seat, soft, nice shape that is bit like cradle, warm, sheltered, two of mine have been sleeping there for hours now, they like them better than indoors

That was easy to make cat shelter

krazykateac55 said:

How did you get the tubes to stay?

Click to expand...

Sorry- just saw this! I used hot glue. Of course the cats manage to pull it apart anyways!

This is how it went at my place on the 4th try...

Day 1:


Day 2:


Day 3:


Day 4:


Day 5:


At least both cats still play with the loose toilet paper rolls after they're torn up. Even if there are something like 25 of them lying around the apartment.