How to make a toy for a cat with your own hands: ideas from paper, cardboard and fabric, step-by-step instructions

Do cats need toys?
Certainly! Those cats that roam freely in the wild find their own adventures and usually only come home to eat and sleep. But if the pet is exclusively domestic, its entertainment becomes the concern of the owners. How can a cat child live without toys?

Kittens are like children: they are easily captivated by new activities. But they quickly get bored with toys, and it’s not so easy to come up with something to keep your furry occupied for a long time. After all, if he gets bored, funny races around the house, swinging on the curtains and other entertainment that we are unlikely to like will begin. Sometimes even adult animals are not averse to frolicking, but they still don’t want to lie on the sofa.

Even adult cats need toys

Finding toys for cats in the store is not a problem, but, firstly, they are not cheap, and secondly, the pet may not like them. There are often reviews: we bought an expensive gaming complex for the cats, but they only sniffed the gifts, but were not at all interested.

You can choose ready-made toys and scratching posts for your pets in our catalog, which presents products from large gardening online stores. Choose toys for cats .

Homecat Scratching post for cats Homecat rectangular 45x25x10 cm brown 469 RUR

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Without brand GiGwi cat teaser with feathers 249 RUR

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Gamma Scratching post for cats Gamma square 40x30.5x30.5 cm brown 519 RUR

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GiGwi Teaser for cats GiGwi Raccoon soft toy with rattle 3x3x8 cm 299 RUR

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Meanwhile, toys for cats are not at all difficult to make with your own hands.
You don’t need any special skills here - there are ideas that even a child can easily implement. Ads by

Cardboard toys

You've probably noticed: if you leave an empty cardboard box somewhere, a cat will certainly nest in it.
An empty box is a challenge! Let's improve this box a little by turning it into an entertaining maze or puzzle :

An ordinary cardboard box turns into a cat puzzle

Nothing complicated: we cut out holes, hide a ball or treat inside, build obstacles using rolls from paper towels and toilet paper ... The latter, by the way, are not bad toys in themselves, because they are so fun to chase around the room!

To make such a toy, you don’t need any special skills.

Let's raise the level: add plastic containers, egg cartons, yogurt cups and other improvised materials to make the puzzle more fun. The more difficult it is to find (and extract) the treat, the longer the pet will be busy.

Let's complicate the maze using available materials

Yes, most likely, the cat will quickly get bored with the fun. No worries, let's take apart the old toy and make a new one! You can even cut the box into circles of different sizes and assemble mice from them, like this:

Cardboard mice

You can also make a scratching post . It will turn out to be short-lived, of course, but it takes little time to make, and the material is completely waste. In the store, by the way, you will have to pay from 200 to 600 rubles for such a product.

Cardboard scratching posts: cats approve

Your cat doesn't like to sit still and doesn't like puzzles? What about playing hide and seek and conquering new heights?

Looking for the ball

In stores you can often find this version of a toy with a ball, but it costs a lot. Below is a master class on how to make such fun with your own hands from available materials.

For production you need:

four plastic corners for pipes with a diameter of about 11 centimeters; they must have rubber seals for easy connection;
drill with drill bit;
sharp knife;
lighter;
sandpaper;
one or more table tennis balls.

First, we connect all four corners to each other so that we get a closed ring.

Then we drill several holes in the upper part, widen them with a hot knife, and sand the edges with sandpaper.

The dimensions and location of the holes must be such that:

the cat could freely stick one paw in and out;
so that when he sticks his paw through, he doesn’t see where he pushed the ball;
so that the fluffy can reach any point inside the ring.

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Throw one or several balls into the holes. To attract interest, you can also put a few grains of your favorite dry food inside.

You can learn more about the manufacturing process from this video:

Towers and labyrinths

Using the same cardboard boxes, you can build a real tower , where it’s convenient to hide and train agility.
Only the material for such a construction needs to be chosen more durable and the “floors” should be secured well. Personal tower for a cat

In terms of functionality, a boxed tower is in no way inferior to purchased gaming complexes, but will cost several times less.

For cat fun, such a structure is no worse than purchased play complexes.

And if suddenly the cat doesn’t appreciate our efforts or quickly gets tired of playing with the new “simulator”, it will at least not be so offensive.

Simple toys from scrap materials

Architecture not your thing? No problem! The simplest toys for cats are made from scrap materials in just a couple of minutes - and believe me, they will bring no less joy.
Our kitty, for example, now has a favorite toy - a tightly rolled ball made of plain paper. Production time is less than a minute. Here are some more interesting ideas: It couldn’t be simpler! Tying bright strips of knitwear into knots or winding a thick cord on a reel is a couple of trifles. The toys from the following picture will require a little more time to make, but not much:

Anything that rustles, rattles and rolls is suitable

You can use wine corks, chocolate egg toy containers, nut shells—anything that can roll and/or make sounds. True, we must take into account that every mustachioed-striped has his own opinion: what seems to us an excellent toy, he may consider unsuitable for fun (and vice versa).

DIY fishing rods

But this is a win-win option - even respectable, experienced, and overweight adult cats are caught with such “fishing rods.”
Not only kittens willingly play with teasers. Making a toy is easy: you will need a suitable stick or twig, a strong cord (or braid, ribbons, etc.) and any small toys that are safe for the animal:

You can make a teaser toy from different materials.

How to quickly and securely fasten the tapes can be clearly seen in the photo below on the left. But you can use other methods of fixation: simply tie the cord to the base, glue it with tape or tape, etc.

The only drawback of such a toy is that it requires our participation in the entertainment. Playing with a cat is a fun and exciting activity, but sometimes there is simply not enough time for it. Well, we’ll have to teach the tailed ones to be independent...

Mice for every taste and color

But cats love mice. A mouse toy can be knitted, sewn from pieces of fabric or fur, and even made from cardboard.
Moreover, the artistic value of the product is not particularly important: the pet does not care how beautiful and neat the toy turns out to be. Mouse-toy But quantity is important : the more, the better. It’s so interesting to drive a mouse under a sofa, refrigerator or closet - in a word, to a place where it’s difficult to remove it from! While cleaning our house, we find such “stashes” everywhere, and the mouse that I knitted for the New Year last year has not been seen for several months.

Mice can be anything, the main thing is that there are a lot of them

You can make one mouse, but on a string - it will be the same teaser, and the toy will definitely not get lost. On the other hand, is it worth depriving your pet of the opportunity to proudly march with “prey” in his teeth through the entire house, having first chased it through all the nooks and crannies...

How to make one-story cat houses from boxes

What do you need

2 identical large boxes;
adhesive tape;
scissors;
stationery knife;
marker, pencil or pen;
brush or roller;
White paint;
yellow paint;
pink paper;
glue gun;
paper with drawings and patterns;
twine;
2 colored straws for drinks;
litter

How to do

1. Take the first box and seal the seam at the bottom with duct tape on the outside and inside.

YouTube channel Cuteness

2. On the reverse side, cut off the two side flaps.

YouTube channel Cuteness

3. Adjust the other two sashes with scissors to form triangles.

YouTube channel Cuteness

4. Draw the outline of the door in front under one triangle - a large vertical rectangle, divided in half lengthwise. Cut the cardboard along the marked lines and along the base of the box. Open the resulting door.

YouTube channel Cuteness

5. On the side of the box, draw a window with a frame and cut along the contour.

YouTube channel Cuteness

6. On the triangle above the door, draw and cut out a small round window with a frame.

What other options are there?

Here is a simpler example of a one-box home:

The authors of this master class made a cute residential bus for pets:

Soft toys for cats

Yes, cats love soft toys.
I don’t know why, but it’s a fact. They chew them, fight them, hug them and hunt them. Many cats love soft toys. Do not rush to discard this idea, citing the fact that you do not know how to sew toys. No special talents required! Sock caterpillar; “sausage” from a sleeve from an old sweater or children’s tights; a simple pillow toy - even a novice craftswoman can master such crafts.

To make such toys, you don’t need any special talents.

You don’t need a lot of soft toys—one or two will be enough, the main thing is that the cat likes your gift.

It couldn't be simpler

The easiest option is to make a cat toy out of paper.

To do this, we only need a piece of plain paper and a strong thread. Step one: crumple up the paper, making a small ball out of it. Step two: wrap the paper ball with strong thread, leaving a small tail. Step three: demonstrate the impromptu catch to the cat by shaking the string.

Such a toy, of course, will not last long, but it is an excellent option when you need to quickly keep your kitten busy with something, spending a minimum of money and effort.

You can not only make balls from paper, but also cut out various figures, or simply connect several paper strips of different colors together.

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