Cheap Tricks - Home Made Cat Toy Ideas?

Sooo...I have this great cat named Aries who has been suffering with IBD for years and is at least 10 years old. He has grown a bit overweight as well. Since we changed his food to help his IBD, he has become very active and playful! He jumps and runs like I have not seen him do in years. This is great and I love playing with him for at least an hour a night. I want to take advatage of his new found energy and help him work of a pound or two. Unfortunately, he is a very SMART cat and gets bored of a toy after about 5-10 minutes. He also likes a lot of variety.

I was wondering if anyone had some great ideas for home-made cat toys that cats actually like? We have 3 toys he kind of likes, but would love ideas for more. I am pretty crafty, but so far the thing he likes is playing fetch with a ball of paper.

 

Some of my cats favourite things:

rolled up ball of tinfoil
a shoe lace tied to a long stick
those little plastic tabs off orange juice and milk cartons
Artemis is obsessed with q-tips

You can also try spraying or rubbing some toys in catnip to keep them fresh and exciting.

I'll try to think of more things later...

 

if anyone is crafty send me a PM. I have a CD full of things that can be made with scraps of fabric or yarn. My cats prefer the homemade toys.....like a piece of 5x5 fabric sewn with batting and catnip put inside. Those are a big hit
send me a pm with your email address and I'll share some of the patterns

 

How amazing and wonderful that Aries has become so active and playful.

One of my cats used to run around with straws. Another likes my hair ties. They all love to play with the wire ties from the toy packages. Just makes sure you loop and tighten the ends so the kitties won't get injured when they carry the wire around. It's safe for us because the wire is enclosed in a plastic coating.

 

Straws, of course! I'd forgotten about that. Artemis sits right in your face if you're using one just waiting for an opportunity to steal it away!

 

:mrgreen:

 

here is Aries, The Cat God of War...looking demonic and ready to kill the "string glove"



Here he is moments later in full-on attack mode, leaping 2 feet off the ground and charging across the room. DIE STRING GLOVE - DIIEE!! Shaky camera work, like the Blare Witch Project, only adds to the confusion. The drama....The horror!

..while our other cat, Squeekie, looks on in complete dismay. He uses a combo of dumbfounded and cute - his two most natural defense mechanisms.


...oh, the humanity..

 

OK, Squeekie is too freakin' cute!

 

Booger loves when I wrap a garbage bag tie around my finger and make a spring out of it for her to bat around.

Of course, I probably have about a thousand of them under my fridge and stove at the moment hehehe

 

an easy, usually much enjoyed toy, is anything made from pipe cleaners. My cats love them but unfortunately my dog thinks they are for her and they are much too small to trust her around

 

Harley loves the plastic rings, shoe strings that have been tied together and wrapped around the top ledge of his post!!!, leaves that blow inside, paper balls, laser pointer.
Glad to hear that he is found some new energy!!!!

 

Aries and Squeeky are so darn cute!!!

 

Thanks! I love them both so much. Although Squeekie is agreed on as "the cute one", I will always have a special place in my heart for Aries. I rescued him from an abusive drug dealer 9 years ago. He was abandoned in the apartment the guy bailed on rent for and I happened to know the landlord. When we went down to clean the place out, poor Aries had no food for nearly a month, drank toilet water to live, and had signs of serious injury. He would not let the landlord touch him, but would let me pick him up and started purring. He has a hernia from being kicked (or something) that the vet said is the biggest he has seen in a cat that is still alive. He also had a horrible infection and was painfully undernourished. Everyone said I was crazy to take in a “stray” with so many health problems, but it was love at first sight! How could I resist? Besides, the health and behavioral problems were cleared up with antibiotics, lots of good food, and love! I swear to this day, it was fate. He has been the sweetest cat since day one and we have been inseparable ever since! <3
I like to say, "A pet's eyes are a mirror of our true character." Every time I look at him, I am reminded of the better, kinder parts of myself. Even though I act all "aloof" and "stand-offish", I guess underneath it all I am just a big softy! :lol:

 

What a kind hearted story!!! I am very glad that you came along to save him from a horrible death!! We need more people like you in this world to help save the animals that need our help!!! :mrgreen: It makes me soo mad :x when I hear about these stories of people being cruel to animals it is soo wrong and horrible!!! wish they could feel the pain of not having anything to eat, being beaten, feeling the emptiness of being abandoned. Poor helpless animals!!

kudos to you for taking him in and getting him back to health!!!

 

Squeekie, forgive me for spelling your name incorrectly. Lovemykitties, I believe in karma and fate. That guy will get his dues 10 fold.

 

Hehe..it's ok. I am not even sure how to spell it. His original name was Spot because he had a black spot on his head. But when he grow up, it disappeared! We just started calling him "Squeekie" because he does not meow - he squeaks like a little chirping noise! When he gets excited and runs, he squeaks with each step - like the air can't stay in his lungs. He was the runt and has only grown to 6-7 pounds, so maybe that has something to do with it? Don’t know, but I do know it makes him even more adorable.

 

My cats love cardboard boxes! Make little windows/doors in them and sprinkle with catnip.

 

Thanks! I will give that a shot.

 

Monty is exactly the same way. He chirps and squeaks too. :mrgreen: We'll hear a real meow maybe every one to two years when he fights with Milo. Squeekie is a befitting name for your furbaby.