Content
- Toys for apartment cats
- Indian tent
- Homemade cat toys
- Plastic bottle
- Wand
- How to Make a Homemade Cat Scratcher
- toys that cats like
Cats love to play! Playing behavior is an essential activity for their well-being as it inhibits both acute and chronic stress. Kittens begin to play around two weeks of age. First, they start by playing alone trying to chase shadows. This behavior in addition to being very funny allows them to develop their muscle coordination.
Play behavior continues to be present throughout a cat's life and is very important to him! Especially in cases where cats living alone (without the presence of other felines), the tutor has a key role to promote this behavior as healthy for cats. You should remember that you can never use your hands or feet to play with your cat, as this can encourage his aggressive behavior. You should encourage the cat to use appropriate toys for him.
PeritoAnimal has gathered a series of ideas from how to make cat toys from recyclable material, keep reading!
Toys for apartment cats
Kittens that live indoors need more toys, not only to stimulate their natural hunting behavior but also to promote physical activity and thus prevent a very common problem in apartment cats, obesity.
Cats love to hide. Who has never seen a cat hide inside a box? After hours of play, cats love a good nap. They usually look for the tightest places to feel protected.
Indian tent
How about you make a little Indian house for him? It's a great way to recycle the old blankets you have at home! You will need:
- 1 old cover
- 60 cm of cord
- 5 wooden sticks or thin cardboard tubes (approximately 75 cm long)
- Scissors to cut fabric
- diaper pin
Start by cutting the cover to form a semicircle. Alternatively, you can use any old rag who is there at home, the important thing is to recycle! To join the sticks you can simply use the string around them, passing over and under each stick. Another effective way to secure them is to make a hole in each stick and pass the string through the holes as well. what matters is that you ensure the structure is secure! Then, just put the blanket around the sticks and secure it with a diaper pin. Place a mat or pillow inside to make a comfortable bed. Your cat will love his new tent and if you do your best and use a beautiful fabric, it will look great in your home decor.
Now that you have a beautiful tent for your feline to rest after the game, let's show you some ideas for homemade toys for apartment cats.
Homemade cat toys
Plastic bottle
Did you know that more than 300 million tons of plastic are produced each year and that most plastic is never recycled and stays forever on our land and oceans? Yes, it's true, that's why we should all considerably reduce the use of plastic in our homes!
An excellent solution for recycle these plastic bottles yourself is to turn them into a toy for your feline. In fact, you just need to put a Small bell or something that makes noise inside the bottle. It sounds too simple, but your cat will think it's awesome and will spend hours playing with this bottle!
Another excellent alternative is to put food or snacks inside the bottle and leave the lid open! Your cat won't rest until you get all the pieces out of it. It is a very stimulating toy for the cat because he has to understand how to get out of the bottle and, whenever he can, he is rewarded with a super tasty treat!
Wand
Everyone knows that cats are crazy about feathered wands or strips at the end. When you enter the petshop you will soon see a bunch of different wands! Why not make yourself one wand at home withrecycled material?
You will only need:
- colored adhesive tape
- Snack pack
- approximately 30 cm stick
Yes you read well, you will recycle the snack pack that your chubby already ate! Start by cutting the package into thin strips. Cut about 8 inches of masking tape and lay it out on the table with the glue side facing up. Place the strips side by side along the entire tape, leaving about 3 cm on each edge (see image). Then just place the tip of the stick on top of one of the edges of the ribbon and start to curl! This toy is perfect for you and your cat to play together! You will be stimulating his hunting instinct and at the same time you will be improving your relationship. Plus, you're helping the planet by recycling instead of buying a new toy!
How to Make a Homemade Cat Scratcher
There are several types of scrapers for cats. If you enter a petshop you can see the dozens of options available on the market. The prices are also very variable, ranging from just a few reais to completely absurd prices! It has options for all tastes and types and wallet.
But PeritoAnimal wants all kittens to have the best toys regardless of the financial condition of their guardians. For that reason, we've written an article explaining how to make a homemade cat scratcher. It's very cool! Take a look and get to work.
in addition to big cat scratcher as we explained how to do in another article, you can make some smaller scrapers to put in other rooms in the house and increase your feline's environmental enrichment.
Let's teach you how to make a simple one with cardboard, for which you will only need:
- Glue
- stiletto
- Ruler
- Cardboard box
Now follow these steps in order:
- Start by cutting the cardboard box at the base, leaving about 5 cm high.
- Then, using a ruler and a stylus, cut several strips of cardboard, all the length of the box base and 5 cm high.
- Glue the cardboard strips together and fill in the entire contents of the box.
If you want, you can use the base of a box without being made of cardboard, use whatever you have in your house!
toys that cats like
Actually, cats can be weird about a lot of things, but when it comes to play, they're pretty simple. It's not very difficult to make toys that cats like. A cardboard box for a cat is like a disney park for a child. In fact, simply using cardboard you can make huge cat toys at ZERO cost! Use your imagination and some of our ideas to make affordable cat toys.
