DIY Cat Toys You Must Try!

Let’s face it: Cat toys are expensive, and your cat may destroy them within minutes.

Keep your money in your pocket and try out 15 of these DIY cat toys!

Pom Poms

Pom poms are a fun, beloved cat toy that you can make at home.

Take a look at these steps to make a handful of cat pom poms in less than 10 minutes:

• Grab your yarn
• Cut small pieces of the yarn that are the same size
• Tie the pieces of yarn together with a separate piece of yar
• Fluff the balls up and toss them to your cat

Cat Wand

Cat wands are a fast DIY project.

For this, all you need a dowel rod or an old cat wand, some string, and a toy to tie to the end. 

Put it all together, and you’re done!

To make the toy last longer, I would recommend putting a small dab of glue where the string attaches to the stick. The string won’t come off as easily. 

Cardboard Cat House

Cardboard cat houses can be made at home with few items.

If you did a lot of ordering online recently, chances are that you have a number of boxes laying around.

You can take the easy way out and cut a few holes to hop through in the boxes and stack them up.

If you want to get more creative, you can find patterns online that you can cut the boxes into. With folding and some tape or glue, you can have a super cut cardboard cat house. 

Toilet Paper Roll Toy

Cats love toilet paper rolls, so you can make them into a great toy.

Here’s some things you can do with a simple toilet paper roll:

• Tie some dangling string around the toilet paper roll
• Stuff toys inside for your cat to pull out
• Stick straws through holes in the toilet paper rolls
• Glue pom poms onto the toilet paper roll

Feather Toy

Feathers are cheap and well-loved by cats.

Go to your local craft store and pick up a package of fake feathers. You’ll be surprised how many you can get for less than $10!

You can do things like:

• Give the feathers to your cat
• Tie the feathers onto strings
• Glue the feathers onto other toys

Wine Cork Feather Toys

Wine corks make a great base for cat toys.

Did you just finish a bottle of wine? Don’t throw the cork away and grab that bag of feathers you purchased last week.

Glue some of those feathers onto the cork and give it to your cat.

The cork will roll around on the floor, and the feathers will catch your cat’s attention easily. 

T-Shirt Toys

Repurpose all t-shirts into new cat toys.

Before you throw out or donate old t-shirts, think about your cat! 

T-shirt cat toys are extremely easy to make because all you need to do is cut your t-shirt into strips of varying lengths.

You can use those strips on other cat toys to create a dangling element or tie them together into toys that your cat can bat around. 

Felt Toys

You can make toys out of felt.

If you have a few pieces of cheap felt from the craft store, you can make a number of different kind of cat toys.

You can make toys that are a flat, fun shape or you can sew two pieces together to have a cat toy that can be stuffed.

Cheap felt rips relatively easy, which you should keep in mind. Don’t put too much effort into it because your cat can destroy it in record speed! 

Hidden Toy Game

A hidden toy game can be a fun way for your cat to use its thinking skills.

Here’s what to grab:

• A small, short box, like a soda can box
• Small toys
• Scissors or a cutting knife
• Anything else you’d like to decorate it with, like markers and construction paper

Got your supplies? Follow these easy steps:

1. Cut holes on the top your box. You can make as many or as few as you want, in any shape you want. Make them at least the size of your fist so your cat can move its leg around inside the box.
2. Drop the toys in the box. Different sizes, shapes, and textures will be more fun your cat to find inside the box. 
3. Give it to your cat! You may have to shake the box so your cat knows that there’s something inside and watch them get to work. 

Sock Toys

Sock toys are an easy at-home project for anyone with extra socks or socks that are ready to be thrown away.

Sock toys can be filled with a number of things that you may even have at home like:

• Hard rice
• Fluff or fiber fill
• Catnip
• Crinkle paper
• Balled up newspaper wads

Put your item of choice inside your sock and tie it shut. 

Boom! A new cat toy!

Doorknob Hanging Toy

You can make almost any toy – store bought or DIY-ed – into a doorknob hanging toy.

Not all cats like toys that hang from doorknobs, but for some cats, it could be the perfect toy to keep them buys.

This one is fool-proof.

All you need to do is to secure rope, string, or twine to your cat toy and tie it to your doorknob. 

There’s no need to use glue or a sewing needle. I’m so lazy that I’d just tie it tightly around the toy. 

Catnip Filled Toys

With a little extra effort, you can make almost any soft toy into a catnip filled toy.

This one is a little bit of a cop-out, but you can indeed fill just about any toy with catnip.

For this project, all you’ll need is a large jar of dried catnip and a cat toy.

I recommend using a toy that is soft and filled with fluff. 

You can dump a small amount of catnip into your toy so your cat can smell the catnip inside. 

If you want to be an awesome cat mom, you can fill the toy up entirely with catnip!

Scratching Pad

You can make scratching pads at home.

Cardboard scratching pads are getting expensive, but you can make them at home if you have enough boxes laying around.

There are two ways that you can make your cat scratching pads:

Version A starts with cutting down the pieces to all the same size.

Then, you will stack and glue each layer of the cardboard until it is thick. A good rule of thumb is to make it long enough to for your cat to stretch out on. 

Version B also needs same size cardboard pieces.

You’ll still stack your cardboard pieces up, but instead of glue, you can use strong rope or twine to tie the pieces together.

Rope will not keep it secured as long or as firmly, but it cuts out potentially toxic glue. 

Cat Tree

A cat tree is a more elevated cat toy, but it is one that you can make at home.

Here’s what your need:

• Wood
• Saw
• Nails or wood glue
• Carpet remnants 

How much of each material you need will depend on the size and shape of the cat tree that you want to make.

Overall, the process is easy. Here is the cliff notes version of what you’ll need to do:

1. Figure out what shape you want to make. Take some measurements to make the perfect size cat tree. Bonus: Draw a diagram before you start!
2. Cut the wood pieces to the sizes that you need. You can also look at hardware stores for the perfect sizes if you don’t have a saw.
3. Put it together! You can use nails or wood glue. Regardless of what you use, you need to make sure that it is not easily accessible to your cat.
4. Finally, you can add carpet remnants to your cat tree for your cat to scratch on. This is easy and cheap! 

And Of Course: The Box

Perhaps the easiest “at home” cat toy is a box.

Yes, you heard that right: a box. 

No, there’s no glue, no sewing, no cutting involved in this cat toy. 

Did you order something from Walmart? Well, toss that box on the floor and make your cat think that it’s something important.

Your cat will move in and entertain himself with the hanging piece of ripped tape for hours to come. 

Why DIY Cat Toys

Buying cat toys seems like the only way that you can get your cat the toys to keep him active, but you can just as easily DIY cat toys.

The following are five of the top reasons why people DIY cat toys:

• It saves money
• Making toys can be a family project
• It isn’t a big deal if your cat destroys homemade toys
• You can tailor cat toys to what your cat likes
• You can use things that you have around the house without making a trip out