Cat Toys - Five Great Toys You Can Make in Minutes for Free

By Liz Allan

Cat toys play an important part in the world of kitty entertainment. If cats don't get enough stimulation through playing, they'll often resort to other means of "amusement" such as destroying the sofa and performing trapeze acts on the curtains.

Buying cat toys is a case of trial and error. If you're fed up with your Kitty turning his nose up at most of of the toys you buy him, here are five ideas for cat toys you can make at home in a few minutes - for free. He should love these, but even if he doesn't, you'll have wasted very little time and no money!

1. Box of treats. Get a small, empty cardboard box (about 3 or 4 inches long, 2 inches wide and 2 inches deep). Make sure it's sealed, then cut a circular hole in one end that's a bit bigger than Kitty's paw. Put some of his favorite dry treats and also maybe some catnip into the box. Kitty will have lots of fun fishing the goodies out with his paws!

2. Baking foil football. Get a square of aluminum baking foil (about 6 inches square), put some catnip onto it and then scrunch it up into a ball. Throw it for Kitty a few times to get him interested. I'm amazed at the number of cats that prefer this to expensive cat toys.

3. Super scratching log. Bring in a dry piece of log from outside with the bark still on it. If your kitty is an indoor cat, he'll especially like this, because it's something new that he doesn't normally get to scratch. You can make it even more appealing by sprinkling catnip around it.

4. Fishing rod fun. Tie a piece of elastic to the end of a 12 inch or so piece of bamboo. Tie one of Kitty's favorite toys to the other end of the elastic. You can dangle this in front of him as you're watching TV. He'll love it, and you'll be entertaining him with minimal effort.

5. Kitchen roll roulette. Get the cardboard inner tube from a used kitchen roll and seal it at one end. Put a selection of small cat toys, dry treats and catnip into the tube. Put your hand over the open end and shake the tube from side to side so that the goodies are fairly evenly spaced along it. Place the tube on its side on the floor. Kitty will get the treats near the open end first, but will then have to use his imagination to get the ones further away!

Liz Allan is a cat behavior expert with 25 years experience of caring for cats. She lived and worked in a cat rescue centre for 3 years, and has fostered hundreds of cats at home. For more ideas on ways to entertain your cat and advice on dealing with furniture scratching, visit http://www.cat-behavior-explained.com/cat-behavior-explained.html To find out how to deal with common, frustrating cat behavior problems, visit her website: http://www.cat-behavior-explained.com/index.html