Enrichment is an essential part of any cat’s life. It’s a great way to keep your cat entertained, burn off some of their energy, and reduce both stress and boredom. One important way of providing enrichment to your cat’s life is through activities and play that satisfy their natural instincts for things like hunting, which is especially important for indoor cats.
At Lovebug we love to reuse and recycle, so we’ve brought together some great DIY cat toy ideas that you can make with things you’ll find at home to provide your cats with plenty of entertainment, sustainably! Making our feline friends’ lives a little more exciting *and* finding new uses for things we’d otherwise throw away? It’s a win win!
The Lovebug slow feeder
You can create a great slow feeder toy for your cats with just an old cardboard tube from a toilet roll. Simply fold the ends shut, pop some tasty Lovebug pieces inside, and cut a few holes big enough so that the Lovebug pieces fall out when your cat starts rolling it around!
Not only is this great entertainment, it also means your cat gets smaller meals throughout the day and encourages their instinct to hunt for their food. If you really want to get crafty, you can save up those toilet roll tubes and other recyclables to create more elaborate feeding puzzles and really encourage your cats to work for their Lovebug!
The twig wand
If you spot a twig or a stick in your garden or when you’re out on your travels, you can turn it into a great cat toy. All you need is a bit of string or thread, and something exciting to tie to the end, like a tassel or pompom, which you can easily make yourself too!
As always, make sure to supervise your cats when they’re playing with string so they don’t get tangled (or try to eat it!).
The box fort
As most cat parents will know, our cats love a good cardboard box—so why not make their dreams come true and build them a little cardboard house to play in? If you’ve got a few boxes lying around, you could even build them a tower! Make a couple of doors and a few little windows so they can peep out and feel nice and safe.
Cardboard is recyclable as long as it’s clean, so unless your cat is planning on having a pizza party inside their box fort, these reused cardboard creations will probably still be fine to pop in the recycling when you’re finished with them!
And some more crafty cat toys…
If you’re feeling extra crafty, Battersea Cats & Dogs Home has some greatDIY toy ideas for your cat, including a pattern to knit them a cute little mouse toy!
We’d love to hear about your own DIY cat toy ideas and how you add enrichment to your cat’s life. Share your favourite toys and DIY tips with us over on Instagram or Facebook!