Making your own cat toys

is there anyone here who's in the habit of making their own cat toys? when i visited petco and looked at how much it was just for a little ball with a bell in it, i went home and made my own. i'm proud to say that Pouncer has over five toys and they costed me next to nothing- some old socks, old christmas bells, a ball of yarn, and a little bag of catnip.

now i've yet to tackle my biggest challenge- a scratching post. i've bought the wood for the post itself and the base. i'm stuck on where to find cord like the ones on scratching posts. i want cord that is extremely thick and hard to fray- not hemp rope. when i visited the local hardware store the biggest, thickest rope i could find was "manila rope", but i wasn't sure if it was safe for kitties, and it seemed easy to fall apart after a few sessions of heavy scratching.

any ideas?

Originally Posted by nakoruru

now i've yet to tackle my biggest challenge- a scratching post. i've bought the wood for the post itself and the base. i'm stuck on where to find cord like the ones on scratching posts. i want cord that is extremely thick and hard to fray- not hemp rope. when i visited the local hardware store the biggest, thickest rope i could find was "manila rope", but i wasn't sure if it was safe for kitties, and it seemed easy to fall apart after a few sessions of heavy scratching.

any ideas?

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You could also use carpet instead of rope.

my two year old cat loves crumpled aluminum foil and twist ties (they come with most garbage bags) just make sure they are big enough that kitty can't swallow them. You can also put any kind of ball in an empty tissue box, they will spend hours trying to get it out. Have fun.

For over 17 yrs I have been saving twist ties and the plastic of the milk jug..

Straws seems to appeal to my cats, as do paper bags (cut off any handles so the cats won't get caught in them), milk jug rings, wadded balls of paper, and the caps from ballpoint pens. Plastic soft drink bottle caps make good kitty hockey pucks, too, and of course boxes are always a hit. It would probably be pretty easy to make a kitty fishing pole, too, with a dowel and some string, and tie some feathers or a toy on the end.

When DH built a scratching post for our crew, he used sisal rope from the hardware store and stapled it to the boards. It does eventually fray, but you can pull the staples and replace it.

Toy safety warning:
I've seen people post here that it's not good to let your kitties play with aluminum foil - perhaps you might want to try crumpled paper balls instead? Yarn and string should also be reserved for supervised play - cats can get it caught on the barbs on their tongues and are unable to spit it out, so they end up swallowing it, possibly leading to serious internal blockages (make sure you don't leave dental floss, thread, or rubber bands out where cats can reach them for the same reasons). Watch young cats with smaller toys to make sure they won't swallow them, too.

i make my own catnip toys for the guys. i just keep "fabric remnants" or buy 1/4 yard of cute fabric. right now i have a bunch of cute stuff. i make those catnip squares that sell for $1 or more at the petstores. they seem to like them, and i can just toss them when they get gross without being out several dollars.

I'm also working on building a scratching post, and I've done a little research on the 'scratching' material. We have a sisal rope scratching post now that we got for free, but the kitties get their nails caught in it, and can get a full scratch. Needless to say, they've made friends with the couch.

Apparently sisal fabric, or sisal weave is prime for scratching posts. I've found it for sale online- on ebay it's $15 for a ten pound roll (enough for a post or two), free shipping.

Good luck with your post!

I use 3/8" sisal rope. Anything smaller and you use too much. Anything thicker and it's hard to wind around the pole. The cheapest place that I've found it around here is Home Depot.

I made a free standing cat hammock this morning for my gang - PVC for the frame and sturdy cloth for the hammock. So far it has a big paws up.

You will want to get the UNTREATED sisal rope. Cats don`t usually like the smell of the treated kind. (Actually, neither do I!)
Carpet also does work fine too....and you might be able to get scraps for free from a carpeting place. They usually throw the scraps in the dumpster after a job....I know because my nephew is in the carpet business.
You can make a cat stand pretty cheap with the carpet. (We did one with rope and the rope , enough to wrap an average post,costs about $15 around here.

A kitty fishing pole can be made easily from a wooden dowel and a pair of leather mens work shoe laces. If you soak about 6 inches of one end of one of the leather laces, then tie it tightly to the end of the "pole" , it will shrink when it dries and be super tight. We tied a little octapuss toy on the other end...and both of our cats LOVE all the dangly legs.
Be sure to put this toy way when you are not playing with them, as a cat can get tangled in a cord and strangle to death. None of us would want that to happen!
Happy "Cat-fishing"!

I'm glad I saw this post. Izzie had ripped off part of her toy which looks and feels similiar to a cotton ball. She and Charlotte love batting this little light-weight ball everywhere, but it's constantly going under the furniture where they can't reach it. So, I decided I was going to go to the fabric store and buy a pom-pom (or is it pom-pon?). During my search on the internet last night, I found instructions on how to make a pom-pom with yarn. This morning I made 2 of them for my cats!! Each is about 2 1/4 inches in diameter and they just love it. Sometimes it pays to be cheap!!

I can tell you a way to make a catnip mouse that your kitties will love too...if anyone is intrested. (Very little sewing...and you don`t have to have a sewing machine)
REALLY...it is simple...even a child could be taught to do the sewing part.

I've made some refills for use with "Da Bird" wand:

thanks for the sisal rope info.

great toy ideas, everyone. i'm working on a little catnip-filled sockfish. i was going to make a mouse, but since Pouncer has a mouse to wrestle with already, i figured a fish would be nice.

I make cat toys out of grab machine animals. I am addicted to the grab machine and I never knew what to do with all the toys! I finally emoited all the stuffing out one day and filled it w/catnip. My boys always fight over them!
*Adrienne*

Originally Posted by conor

I make cat toys out of grab machine animals. I am addicted to the grab machine and I never knew what to do with all the toys! I finally emoited all the stuffing out one day and filled it w/catnip. My boys always fight over them!
*Adrienne*

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What is a "grab machine animals"? Sounds interesting.

Originally Posted by coaster

I've made some refills for use with "Da Bird" wand:

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Just curious though....what did you do to keep the feathers intact??? Any toy mine have had with feathers very shortly looked like a bird who`d been torn apart all over the place.

My three babies love the spools from paper towel and toilet paper rolls. I never throw them away ... I must have two dozen of the things scattered all over the house. LOL

Mine too!
Sometimes I cut one into 2-3 inch lengths and they can get their paws through them .

OK, here are the pom pom balls I made for my cats. The instructions said to cut the excess string, but I decided to leave it there on one of them to make it more enticing to my cats.