cat toys

Hello,

First of all, I hope this is posted to the right section of the forums (I wasn't sure, but please do move it if it doesn't belong here).

Anyway, I got a couple of toys for my kitten and I play with them, wait, she plays with them or rather, I play with her with them (lol) often... I've been realizing that she'll play with just about anything, so instead of spending money on more toys I've been improvising. So we have Mr. Crumpled Piece of Paper, which she chases around all over the house for hours, the wise and elderly Mr. Sock Senior, which she can tear to shreds without getting a strict "Shush!" and Mr. String, which requires some supervised playtime as she tends to get him tangled around her neck (!!!). These fine upstanding gentlemen help me get kitty off the curtains and especially off my arms and ankles (!!!x2). And for that I thank them

Does anyone here have more ideas for "improvised" cat toys? I've been thinking of making her little chewie "mice" (she has one of those on a "fishing rod", but when she catches it, she likes to take the mouse to a hidden torture corner, I just have to let go, forcing the fishing rod to trail behind her!). Maybe mice with something crunchy for stuffing? Any fun ideas?

I hope this thread isn't too silly
Thanks for any thoughts though!

My mom has always said there's no reason to spend money on cat toys- they tend to love homemade toys.

A few favorites at our house:

- the plastic ring from around the milk jug

- a piece of tissue paper or newspaper (great for hiding, a staging area before toy pouncing, and fun noisy play mat for batting around toys)

- a small ball of yarn or crumpled ball of tin foil (should be supervised)

Lilly plays fetch with her foil balls- very entertaining!

Great toys you have made for you kitty. My two love playing with paper grocery bags. I fold over the top edge about 2 inches it stays open.
I took a tube sock and put some cat nip and shreaded paper bag strips inside and tied a knot on the end. They really get into playing with that since it's long enough for them to bite one end while they kick at the other end with their back feet.
My 2 year old cat use to play with drinking straws but I had to take them all away due to little Fez (11 weeks old). Fez started chewing the ends of the straws.
You can take a little ball and put it in a shoe box and it would be almost the same as one of those round plastic toys with a ball inside.
Shamie loves his chicken beanie baby stuffed animal. Fez has a little stuffed bunny but doesn't really play much with it. Fez's favorite toy is his new fishing pole with a stuffed fish on the end.

I'm sure others will come along soon with some other great toy ideas.

Susie

Oooh, a ball of yarn! It hadn't even occured to me to try a ball of yarn! I can already picture yarn tangled all over the furniture

Skizzorhand, I tried stuffing a sock, but the cat's reaction was mixed... She'd assault the sock and chew it for a while (exactly like you described), then suddenly, she'd be overwhelmed by the size of the sock and jump away scared. I reduced the size of the sock stuffing over and over until i ended up with an empty sock!
Now she isn't scared of it and we can play "tug rope" with it.

I like the shoe box idea! I'll try that. Thank you

Another thought...

We're playing with bubbles right now. I just buy the kind for kids (although at the moment I'm using some I got at a wedding!). They both love watching them, chattering at them, and swiping them with their paws to pop them.

How about one of those toilet paper tubes? You could always do things like tie a bell inside of it, tie some danglling string pieces on each end....lots of possibilities with that one.

My husband makes "birdies" out of twisty ties and milk rings. We also use hemp string, milk rings, and bottle caps for toys that make noise. The cat's adore them.

I have to say this though I live in fear of moving out of our apartment, because I have a feeling we are going to be finding milk rings for days.

Oh, I forgot to mention my big hair bands/twisties (whatever you call them). They love those! I even bought some with little stuffed kitty heads on them just for the boys to play with. I'm sure you could attach some bells with barn on them too.

Did you ever make those pom pom balls for your shoes or roller skates when you were a kid out of yarn? (now I'm giving away my age LOL) Those would make good kitty toys too.

Any type of kids plastic toys (that would be safe) like little blocks on the kitchen floor would be great entertainment for a cat.

After all the things mentioned on this tread we won't ever need to buy pet store toys again. LOL

Susie

Man, as I keep checking back in on this thread, I keep remembering other toys...

A drinking straw is a huge hit at our house. They're easy to bat around. I don't leave them out though, because I'm afraid they might chew them.

And of course, paper bags & empty boxes!

Thanks for all the great ideas!
I've tried the toilet paper rolls, but she seems to lose interest in those pretty quickly (I'm guessing because she can't pick them up with her mouth and carry them away). She had more fun shredding the toilet paper

The pom poms made of yarn, that's a cool idea. I need to make her some batting toys (maybe with straws too!) and boxes/tubes with holes. Right now, I've put one of her little plastic chime balls inside a paper bag, she seems to be a lot of having fun with it!

Thank you very much!

Originally Posted by CurlyQ629

Another thought...

We're playing with bubbles right now. I just buy the kind for kids (although at the moment I'm using some I got at a wedding!). They both love watching them, chattering at them, and swiping them with their paws to pop them.

Click to expand...

I just got back from the store with bubble mixture, they are all loving the bubbles

Bubbles is fun. Keaira kitty has been enjoying that lately. Since she's a small cat, she likes the smallest or lightest of toys. Ping pong balls are great because they move with the slightest bat of a paw and make cool noises on the kitchen floor. She discovered, rather stoled, the plastic cap off one of those pump-style hairspray bottles. Again, she likes the sound too. She tears the feathers off store bought toys but you can save them and tie them altogether again for a new toy. (supervised for some cats though, some will try to eat feathers). "Tent" newspapers along the floor with the center fold line upwards. Add several of these newspaper "tents" to make a long tunnel. Oh what joy! When they get done destroying the tents by run through them, they like the shread it next! Or just pounce on the paper and go a slidin'! Tie newspaper or any paper at the end of piece of string or yarn, too..

Mm, ping-pong balls would probably be nice! But i don't think the neighbour downstairs would appreciate the noise as much as the cat!

I've been trying the bags and boxes, she likes them very much as hiding places. Maybe I'll try the bubbles next (you mean soap bubbles, right? Or bubblewrap? That would probably be nice too, as long as she doesn't decide to eat any plastic shreds?)

Originally Posted by 0.0cm

Maybe I'll try the bubbles next (you mean soap bubbles, right? Or bubblewrap? That would probably be nice too, as long as she doesn't decide to eat any plastic shreds?)

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Yes, soap bubbles. My kitties are actually "hunting" and chattering at some right now!

Any hair things -no rubber bands-

All my cats love these goody ouchless bands they are thick and bigger then the old fashion rubber bands and safer cause they can't chew though them or swallow them. They will play for hours with them and I have actually had to hide them so good I can't find the last package so now i just steal them back from them and when they notice they try and pull it out of my hair.

My one cat boo if its light enough for her to pick up you can bet she will other day i found her running around with a shot glass that was still wraped in bubble wrap.

Roxy will grab rolls of change or lighters

I dunno what cats think about mine have over 4,000 toys and the chose whatever the can lift and will play you want it chase me for it!


And yes I have problem with buying cat toys They are all spoiled rotten good thing i don't have kids be no way i could afford to buy all the toys they never play with

Originally Posted by NJAngel021

And yes I have problem with buying cat toys

They are all spoiled rotten good thing i don't have kids be no way i could afford to buy all the toys they never play with

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I, too, have this problem. I have a hard time leaving the house to do any shopping without coming back with something new for Danny to play with!
Catfriend