Insert Pussy Pun Here (DIY Cat Toys)

Member Name: rob_writer

Product:	DIY Cat Toys
Date:	12/05/01 (161 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheaper, Have Fun

Disadvantages: Chance of cats scratching you!!!

I've had 3 cats during my 18 years of life. The first one ran away, the second one died (sob sob) and the third one is still here, sitting by the fire as I type now.

Cats like to play, no one can deny that that fact, and over the years I have spent a lot of time entertaining my feline friends. You can go out and buy yourself some toys for your cat but to be honest I always found my cats were scared of these shop bought toys. One mechanical mouse I purchased serves no other purpose than making my cat flee from the room as fast as his little paws can carry him. You may as well save your money and just use a few everyday items to make your cat happy.

Of course how successful these are depends very much upon the cat in question and its mood. Some cats love to play all the time, others just want to sleep all day (and usually all night too). Then even if your cat falls in to the playful range it might not be in the mood to play. Sometimes my cat refuses to play no matter what I do to try to encourage him, while at other times he comes up to me and tries to make me play with him.

Anyway, getting back on track, here are my top methods of playing with your cat without spending a penny.

Rolled Up Newspaper
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Quite easy to do, simply roll up an old newspaper and start to move it in front of your cat. Hopefully your cat will oblige and start to chase the newspaper. Now you have two choices, you can try to keep your cat chasing in circle, or you can let it catch the newspaper. Still, unless you happen to have an extremely slow cat the chances are that sooner or later it will catch up with the newspaper. And that’s when the fun starts, the cat starts ripping the paper to shreds.

It really is strange to see your cat so violent, but the majority of cats will start shredding the paper with their claws. Soon your old copy of the Daily Mirror is reduced in to cat sized strips. You will need to kee
p moving the paper so the cat keeps chasing it otherwise it may lose interest. The only problem is you have to clean up all the shreds of paper when you're finished.

Overall this is a great (and cheap) way of playing with your cat.

The Piece Of String
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The traditional method, but still one of the best there is.

Simply cut a length of string, about half a metre should be enough, and then find your cat and start dangling the string in front of it. A little wiggling of the string will soon result in your cat trying to get it with its paw. You can also run the string along the floor and have the cat running frantically around the room. One of the most amusing sights is making the cat run in small circles desperately trying to catch the string!

Cats also sometimes find their own bits of string. The toggle things that hang off coats and draw cords on clothes are favourites of my cat, and often he attack an item of clothing that’s hanging to dry just because it has a dangely bit!


The Bed
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I don't know about you, but I am often greeted by my cat in the morning, and often he actually wakes me up by walking all over me. Often I just chuck him off my bed and go back to sleep, but one day I must have moved my foot only to find my cat pounce at it.

I discovered if I move my hand under the duvet the cat will pounce and attack it, but because there is the whole thickness of the quilt he can't hurt me!!

The Playfight
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Most cats will enjoy a play fight, the only thing is that their 'playing' could leave our hands in tatters. The solution is to wear a glove and then you can't be hurt. Wiggling your hand on the floor in front of your cat is normally enough to make him attack.

The Toy Mouse
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Pretty similar to the string it involves a fake mouse on the end of a string that yo
u pull around the carpet. Your cat should delight in running after it!!

Of course you could buy one, but why bother. All you need is a bit of string, some material and some stuffing fluffy stuff. Then all you do is make a mouse shape out of the material (although any shape will do), sew it together and stuff it, and then attach the string.

Then just pull it along the floor and watch your cat chase after it, that is until it gets sick of you making it run in circles and walks off dejected!!

Hope that helped. I just realised that most of those things aren’t toys as such which is what this category is for, but they do serve the same purpose. I’m sure both you and the cat will have fun!!

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