Catertainment Low Cost Ways to Entertain Your Cats

Sometimes it's the regular items around the house that work great as cat toys.

I'm sure you all have heard of how much some cats love foil balls. I've seen some so crazy about foil that I was worried for their safety.

My cat, Pearl loves the rings from under the bottle caps. She will fetch them and even bring one over when she wants to play. I will toss it up about 4 or 5 feet and she will just up to grab it, and even sometimes catching it with her mouth. She will do that with small paper balls too.

Pearl also likes plastic lids off of food containers. She will chase after them or hit them out of the air.

Lulu bell collects the bottle caps from 1 liter pop bottles. She will carry them around while meowing, then drops and scoots them into a cubby. I'll find hidden piles of them.

Pearl found this coupon on the counter and played with it for hours.

Boxes! That's a given. Cats love boxes.

You can get boxes free at just about any store. One place I go to is a UPS store. They have to use their own approved boxes for packing. But many people don't realize that and they will bring in, or leave boxes and packaging there at the UPS store. So go in and ask if they have any boxes they don't need.

While you are at it, see if they got some of the big packing paper with the boxes. UPS will only use peanuts and the crumpled paper does them no good.

Cats love paper tents! Many times the paper that comes as packing from big companies is just the plain brown or white paper and it's usually very large and because it's crumpled it holds a nice shape for the cats. One time I had one so big that we all got under it. The cats had a blast!

Quality Park Convenience Size Wrapping Paper Roll, 35 lb, 24 Inch Width, 65 Feet Length, Brown, 1 per Pack
(46152)

Some toys come with strings and bungee like cords. Only use those when you are there or cut the strings off. Let me tell you a story about this toy here.

I've always put toys with strings away when I wasn't around. Mostly because a cat could eat it and it could twist up their intestines. But one day when Lulu was a kitten she was playing with this new toy. It has a longer stick at the time. We were right there watching TV. Well I hadn't seen her for a few minutes, so I looked under the bed. There she was nearly passed out. The toy's stick had gotten lodged in the rim of the bed and the string was tight around her neck. I grabbed her and undid the string. If I wasn't there, she would have been dead, and would have never forgiven myself.

After Christmas there are some great deals on cat toys at the pet store. Many times they have strings. Please cut them off or get them out on special occasions.

My old cat had a couple favorites and she knew right where they were kept. As soon as I went to get them, she was right there. The ones with strings can be kept as special treats.

There's even a zany looking cat toy at some of the pet stores that comes with a warning tag. I guess the colors make cats aggressive. It's one big string anyways and should be put away.

Yarn is always in photos and paintings with cats. They love yarn! But they can also swallow it down really fast. I have no idea why they do it? They will swallow down long strings at a time. If it passes thru, the next thing you know your cat's running around crazy because his poo is hanging from his bumm on a string.

Lulu Bell has a thing for rubber bands. She can smell them 10 feet away. I found her one that is about 2 feet long. She can't chew it up or swallow it. Rubber bands are very dangerous for cats or anything.

Cats love lazers, but just be sure to keep it away from their eyes.

My cats are spoiled, even though some of their toys are inexpensive. What's important is that they are happy. They are our responsibility and family members.

Yes, my cats even have a drawer just for their toys!

I did have an advantage over many people because I worked at a pet store for many years. There I was up to date on the latest toys and was also able to get stuff cheap, especially when it went on clearance. So I've tested tons of toys with many cats. There are toys that are always popular with the cats, and some toys that really are up to the cat's personal preference.

Sometimes it takes testing quite a few toys before you find one your cat likes.

When I went to visit my friend one time I noticed she didn't have any toys out for her cat. The cat was a bit bored and crabby. My friend insisted that her cat didn't like toys. Come on, even horses like toys! I said.

The next day I had picked out several toys that cats usually like. My Friend's cat took to a small feather toy that has a small stick and a wire like plastic string. She's crazy for it. But because of the string, my friend keeps it in a special drawer, so that she can only play with it when someone is around. Of course the cat loves it when I come over and get that toy out.

Top Toys Cats Love

Odd stuff from home
Fur mice
Potato sack material toys with cat nip
Wool material with catnip
Lufa material with catnip
Yarn woven
Feathered
Homemade toys
Small crinkle balls
Bubbles
And anything that includes you helping it go.

Here's a wool toy my 8 year old cat Pizazz has had all her life. At night I pick it up and put it in her bed and by morning it's on the floor.

Cat nip toy discovery

I just found these that our Twitter anipal, @kraft_kate08 makes. Great price, organic catnip and free shipping. Home made yarn toys rock! Just click on the photo to see her Esty site.

You need

Fabric
a couple feathers
Thread and needle
Catnip
Fiber fill
Glue gun w glue stick
And scissors

Some how cats know you are doing something for them and will appreciate the toy more than a store bought piece of plastic.

I find unused fabric at yard sales or clearance at the fabric store. Fiber fill is around $4, the catnip is around $2-$4 depending on quality. If you know someone with chickens, fresh feathers smell better than the ones from the craft store. Anyways that can be a pile of stuff. I will usually make a whole bunch at a time and take most of them down to the shelter.

The toy can be any shape you like, but make it a size the cat can carry. Just a quick basting around the side and leave a hole open. Inside it out, add fluff and nip. Tuck the material in at the whole and gob a bunch of hot glue in it, stuff the feather ends in and push together. Wa-La! Then add it to cat.

This fits in well for this lens.

Scientific Explorer's Fun With Your Cat Science Kit

Prodict Features
Discover how your cat perceives the world You might be surprised!
Learn through observation to understand your cat's moods
Give your cat a personality interview
Make toys and treats for your cat
Fun, non-invasive experiments that help you better understand your cat's world

Keeps the kids and cats entertained. Make catnip toys. Have fun with catnip toys and treats. Playful experiments
will show you the many ways your pet learns. Know your cat's personality.
Give your cat a personality interview to explore its moods. Find
out what your pet is saying with its whiskers, ears, and tail. Observe traits
it shares with lions and tigers. Separate cat facts from fiction.
Do cats have built in homing devices? Can they foretell earthquakes? Your cat will purrrrr with delight when you open this kit.

The best catnip is home grown!

There are different qualities.
Listed here from bad to great.
Grocery store stuff is mostly stalks with some hay. Ewe!
Stale stuff that comes with toys
The cheaper stuff from the pet store
The more expensive stuff from the pet store
Organic dried from special order
Home grown live
Home grown dried

Sojos Certified Organic Catnip

To grow it you could either buy seeds from somewhere, or get some catnip your cat can use now and get the seeds out of it.

Get the Cosmic Catnip or some organic special order stuff. It's the best and most likely from the Purple flowered plant. The poor quality catnip is usually from the White flowered plant.

Above is a photo of the pods and seeds. Many times there's a pile of seeds at the bottom of the can, and you can get them out of the pods by rubbing them between your fingers.

This stuff does need to be grown where the cats can't get it. This year I'm planting mine in a planter that is nailed way up on a fence. It like lots of water and medium sun. After it flowers, cut it and hang it upside down to dry.

Baby catnip raised indoors.

Here it is growing in a pot hanging on the fence.

Close up of the flowers

Elmer's Glue-All Glue, 4 oz

Do it Best Imports 739954 Do it Sisal Rope

Yarn knitted quilts or throws.

It's sick how cheap these are at Yard Sales. Once I rescued 5 out of pile they were going to throw out and I gave them to the animal shelter.

Some one spent many hours and used great skill to make them. If you have ever put one over your lap, you know how warm they are. It's amazing, because most of them have a pattern that has lots of openings.

Anyways, cats love them! Usually $0-$10 at a yard sale. Throw them in the Laundry. I've had a few of mine for 20 years.