Build your cat “paw-some” homemade habitats with easy instructions and common materials.
Shoeboxes and paper bags are fine for other cats. But your favorite felines deserve luxurious living spaces! This DIY construction guide includes fun and easy instructions for making cardboard trains, ships, food trucks, rockets, and other hideouts. Also included are tips for climbing towers and scratching pads that they can use to stay sharp.
All twenty projects are quick to assemble and require inexpensive and easy-to-find materials. You can customize them to match your cat’s wildest desires!
Cats are some of the most playful creatures on the planet. Their instincts are specially honed to be hyper aware of motion and curious about places where their prey is likely to hide. It is a great idea to keep this in mind when you want to make toys for your kitty.
Paper Ball
Probably the most inexpensive toy that you can make for your cat is a paper ball. They are attracted to the sound of the paper being crunched and the scratching sounds it makes as it races across the floor. Try taking a piece of paper into the room where your cat it. Ball it up like you are going to throw it away and watch what your cat does. It might take a few tries to get your cat to play with it, especially if its lazy. They can have a lot of fun with this and become the family comedian in the process.
Paper Bag
Cats are fascinated with dark places. Admittedly a paper bag isn’t that dark, but cats love investigating them. If they just come from the store, they carry unusual smells from the store and the trip to the house, not to mention whatever the bag was used to carry. Then there are several sides that may hide something from your feline’s line of sight. They can spend hours investigating every angle of the bag, sleeping in it or even scooting it across the floor.
Box
Even more interesting to the cat, though more commonly used as a sleeping or hiding spot, is the mundane box. The size, shape, or hardness of the box doesn’t matter. One thing you may want to do, if you can’t get a box that already has them, is poke various sized holes in the box. The holes have to be large enough that a cat can see through them, but they can grow in size from paw sized to cat body-sized.
String
Probably the most fascinating thing in the feline world of toys is the simple string. Cut a length of yarn or rope. Two feet should be plenty. If you are an active person a tip would be to cut the string long enough that you can either tie it around your waist, or through your belt loop. Another option is to give it to a child to drag around. Try to sweep the string over things, like the couch or up stairs, in order to make your cat work for it.
A Thing
A thing is really just a piece of fabric tied to a string. Cut about two feet of string or yarn and a small piece of fabric about 3 inches long by two inches wide. Tie one end of the string around the middle of the fabric strip. The fabric will look kind of like a bow-tie, but make sure that the string is tied tightly to it. You can then taunt your kitty with a thing in the same way that you would with a simple string.
Stuffed mouse
This is a little more complicated, but still pretty easy to make. You can take an old article of clothing to make it with. You will also want to find something to stuff it with. Cotton is an easy item to find, from stuffing that is used for stuffed animals, pillows and quilts, to cotton balls in the medicine cabinet, even toilet paper or strips from plastic bags, can be used as stuffing. Next you will need thread, scissors, and a needle. Cut the clothing into a half-tear drop shape about three inches long and an inch and a half wide. Sew the two pieces together, starting at the smallest point and leaving a gap at the end. Turn the mouse inside out and stuff, and then sew the opening closed. If you want to be really creative, you can add a tail made of yarn to the top of the hole where you stuffed the mouse. Once you become good at making mice, you can modify the pattern to include ears (two small circles of fabric, sewn into the mouse toward the narrowest point), eyes (not recommended as beads are the only things that would work), and whiskers (sewing thread sewn into the narrowest point of the mouse and tied tightly to either side leaving a thread-tail of about an inch on either side).
These toys will keep your cat, and you, entertained for lengthy amounts of time. Each item suggested can be modified to suit both you and your feline’s needs. For instance, add a short (6-inch) string to the top of the box, or glue feathers to the bag. Your cat will thank you, and you can be entertained by a show for free!
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