Cat toys you’ve bought or/and made?
Friday, July 16th, 2010 at
12:11 am
Well, I’ve got a stray on my hands.
Seeing how Christmas is coming soon, I can’t just buy my dogs presents and not Chester Nester(the cat).
So I’m looking for fun cat toys. It’d be great if you’d share what you’ve bought or maybe something you’ve created(lets try to think beyond the normal feather toy, mouse, and plastic bell balls).
I don’t think she’s the box type either. No scratching posts or scratching involved toys, her previous owner had her declawed(which is just sad).
Filed under: Cat Toys
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Great ideas thus far…some additonal (and some precautions)
Do not allow the cat to be alone with string EVER…could ingest it and require surgery to have it removed…same with
tin foil (some cats will chew off little bits so just watch)
Now for other simle but FUN toys.
I got a bunch of ping-pong balls cos one swat and they really fly. I then took a permanent marker and painted all kinds of faces on them….some with just eyes some with little faces.
Drove cats nuts. They managed to hide all 6 within about 20 minutes. I heard (if you have a cast iron (old fashioned) tub -the newer ones will scratch, you can put the cat in the tub
(Yes a dry tub) with a ping pong ball and it will keep falling back into the tub as he/she waps its.
Another thing I do is get a string or a strip of leather (like a leather shoestring) or fleece. I attach it to a band that I make out of elastic, (although you could just use a stretchie hairband and then wrap it around your ankle with it trailing behind you as you walk…..They can’t RESIST IT.
I had one (siamese mix) that LOVED to play peek a boo.
He’d run up the wall about 4 ft to smack you in the face if you peeked around the corner at him. (didn’t hurt, he didn’t use his claws…it was all in fun)
Cats love motion. anything that moves….such as the lid (or ring) to the milk carton. Or just a bag with a few holes cut out
so they can hide and peek out. Ours love boxes. I turn them upside down and cut one side out so they can enter and a few
small windows. Sometimes while they are in there, I’ll dangle
a toy on a wand through the top hole and they go nuts.
I also take their little toy mice and "marinate" them in cat nip.
Put fresh catnip-can get at health food or bulk food store- in a ziplock with the toy mice. Zip shut and put away in your cupboard for a week or so….fresh catnip toy!
I also paint faces on the bottom (or nails) of my toes and
stick them out of a blanket and wiggle them…sometimes one
at a time. Or on your fingers.
Every cat is unique. What thrills one will bore another.
They are so much FUN.
A square of fabric with catnip in the center, draw up all the sides, tie it off and knot the tie really good so they can’t get it open to eat the tie. That works great.
A laser pointer is a good thing too, even the dogs will like that one.
Kitty will probably enjoy attacking the wrapping paper and ribbons more than any toy you can buy for her. My cats’ favorite thing to play with is a brown paper bag. They also like batting around balled up bits of paper. They have a million cat toys, but always prefer the improvised toys.
Catnip-containing toys are always good too. My cats have a miniature sock monkey with catnip inside. He was really cool until they chewed off his arm. Now he’s kind of sad.
My cat likes to play w/ empty toilet tissue rolls.
If you put a paper towel under a door w/ a cat on the other side, cats really love it.
http://cats.lovetoknow.com/Homemade_Cat_Toys
Some times hand made toys are more fun and cheaper.
One fun thing to do is to take a little reuse able container or small yogurt container (cleaned out) and make a little hole in the lid, put cat food inside and as Chester Nester plays with it, food comes out.
Crinkled aluminium foil balls are a big hit. Cat nip is great, buy some and put it in places, with toys ect. I also suggest spraying honey suckle on old toys, to make them exciting again. If you have a sewing machine, take some fabric and cut it into a little toy shape and then sew part of it leaving an opening for cat nip, then hand sew it and you have a great little toy.
In my experience, the best bought toys are toy mice and little spiny contrapitions with toy mice.
imaid my 4 cats a kitty cat gym n they r all strays n tey love it
Kitty’s like
Balls
Rubber rats
and some other stuff
My kitten is literally crazy for those plastic things you tear off of new milk jugs. You just tear it off, clean it, then throw it to your cat. I guarantee she will go wild with it. If you ever need her to come, just flick the ring between your fingers and she will come running. Another thing is just to attatch peices of yarn or tough string together and drag it around. Hope that helped
a game/toy that my cat LOVES…….. is when you take a low coffe table, and place 5 items on it. fairley close to the edge, a pencil and or pen, a penny, an eraser, a ball of tin foil, just anything that is grabbable. then show it to him/her, they will go crazy trying to get the different things onto the ground… they stand on their honches. it is soo cute!
my cat fetches, he goes wild whenever you give him a ball of tinfoil. they love the noise.
take a film container… if you have one, or a kinder surprise case, and fill it with rice or beans, they like to bat that around. ( for a while )
ahhhh….. try ribbon or string, it is a little original, but hey, it is fun.
a ball of yarn. ( beware if you are leaving the string out at night, my cat swallowed about 1 metre 1000 cm, of string. he had to get emergency surgery. I would just put the string away at night.)
you can but these at the store: it is a little platform, with a spring and a ball atached to it. my ccat gets really confused and happy when he plays with it.
last but not least, my cat is mean, and he loves to chase and pounce. I run around the house and he chases me.
good luck!!!!!!
Ohh!!! This I love making Cat toys! You can simply make your own with an old sock, beans (or something for the filling like shredded paper), and a sewing needle. just fill the beans into the sock. Catnip is fine. Rub some on the sock, and this will make it attractive.
Pic of toy:
http://spoiledrottenkitties.com/PK308.jpg
Or, you can just make other ones
http://www.shmat.com/cattoys/
My cats like twist ties, tissue paper and empty boxes.
They also like those cozy little cat beds.