{"id":788,"date":"2013-09-24T15:50:31","date_gmt":"2013-09-24T15:50:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/?p=788"},"modified":"2026-03-27T13:36:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T13:36:00","slug":"homemade-toys-for-your-cat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/homemade-toys-for-your-cat\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Homemade Toys That Your Cat Will Absolutely Love"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"padding-bottom: 10px;\">Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">\n<li style=\"padding-bottom: 20px;\"><strong>Simple household items can be just as engaging as store-bought toys<\/strong> \u2013 Cats are naturally curious and often prefer everyday objects like boxes, socks, and bottles over expensive toys.<\/li>\n<li style=\"padding-bottom: 20px;\"><strong>Cardboard boxes are a top-tier DIY toy<\/strong> \u2013 Cutting holes, adding balls, or combining multiple boxes into tunnels or \u201cforts\u201d creates stimulating environments that encourage hiding, pouncing, and exploration.<\/li>\n<li style=\"padding-bottom: 20px;\"><strong>Scent-based toys (like catnip-filled socks) are highly stimulating<\/strong> \u2013 Filling an old sock with catnip creates a low-cost toy that taps into a feline\u2019s strong sense of smell and play instincts.<\/li>\n<li style=\"padding-bottom: 20px;\"><strong>Interactive toys strengthen engagement and exercise<\/strong> \u2013 DIY toys like a homemade fishing rod with yarn, a stick, and a ball encourage active play between you and your cat, promoting bonding and physical activity.<\/li>\n<li style=\"padding-bottom: 20px;\"><strong>DIY toys are inexpensive, customizable, and easy to make<\/strong> \u2013 Most ideas require minimal materials and effort, making it easy to rotate toys and keep your cat mentally stimulated without spending much money.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Americans spent $53B on their pets in 2012, from vet care to toys to <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a title=\"Pet Grooming\" href=\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/services\/cat-dog-grooming\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">grooming<\/a><\/strong><\/span> and <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a title=\"Cat and Dog Boarding\" href=\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/services\/dog-boarding\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">boarding<\/a><\/strong><\/span>. We love to buy monogrammed sweaters, personalized water bowls, and treats for our precious pets. But when it comes to cats and their toys, simple items you already have around your house can be just as intriguing as store-bought toys. Here are five to try out on your frisky feline:<\/p>\n<h2><b>Think inside the box <\/b><\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s the same story with cats as it is with toddlers\u2014you buy them a fancy new toy, and all they want to do is play with the box. If you\u2019ve ever left an empty soda can box around, or caught your cat sitting in your open board game box, you know that cats love playing with boxes. Cut holes in a cardboard box and put some toys inside, or put a ping-pong ball or walnut inside an empty tissue box and watch the fun.<\/p>\n<h2><b>Smelly socks<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Cats love the smell of catnip, and there\u2019s no shortage of toys for sale that allow you to place catnip inside them. But if you\u2019re like most people, you have several socks that have been separated from their partner by the dryer. Take one of those socks (a baby\u2019s sock or small workout sock is best), fill it with some catnip, and stitch it closed with a sewing machine or needle and thread. Your cat will go absolutely wild!<\/p>\n<h2><b>Think inside the box(es) (again)<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>If your cat likes to sit in or play with toys in boxes, take it to the next level: find two or three boxes and tape them together to make a kitty super-fort. This can be as elaborate or as simple as you\u2019d like. You can even cut the bottom off some paper bags and tape those together into a tunnel that\u2019s connected to the box fort. Put some toys or treats in the corner. Your cat will turn into Indiana Jones.<\/p>\n<h2><b>Ball in a bottle<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Make another simple toy by taking a bell or two and placing them in an empty plastic aspirin bottle. This toy (if it doesn\u2019t drive you crazy enough to throw it out immediately) works well with the boxes\u2014place the bottle in the fort or the tissue box.<\/p>\n<h2><b>Feline Fishing<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>This last toy is a great way to actively play with your cat. Take some yarn or an old guitar string, punch a hole in a ping pong ball, pull the yarn through and knot it, and tape the other end of the yarn to a popsicle stick. Now you can bob the ping pong ball in front of your cat and watch her go crazy.<\/p>\n<p>There you have it: five cheap toys that are easily made at home. But don\u2019t be surprised if you find yourself spending a lot more time playing with your cat\u2014after all, who can resist a cat jumping out of a box fort to pounce on a catnip-filled baby sock?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Simple household items can be just as engaging as store-bought toys \u2013 Cats are naturally curious and often prefer everyday objects like boxes, socks, and bottles over expensive toys. Cardboard boxes are a top-tier DIY toy \u2013 Cutting holes, adding balls, or combining multiple boxes into tunnels or \u201cforts\u201d creates stimulating environments that&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/homemade-toys-for-your-cat\/\"><strong>Read More<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17,20],"tags":[51,50,52,48,49],"class_list":["post-788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-pet-palace-blog-posts","category-cats-blog-posts","category-do-it-yourself","tag-cat-box","tag-cat-toy","tag-catnip","tag-diy-cat-toy","tag-homemade-cat-toy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>5 DIY Cat Toys Your Cat Will Love<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Store-bought cat toys can get expensive, especially if your cat doesn&#039;t care for them. Try these 5 homemade cat toys from Pet Palace&#039;s blog today.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/homemade-toys-for-your-cat\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lora Shaw\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/homemade-toys-for-your-cat\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/homemade-toys-for-your-cat\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lora Shaw\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/#\/schema\/person\/115f43fac68a9d0fc960ed2c8f935a87\"},\"headline\":\"Five Homemade Toys That Your Cat Will Absolutely Love\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-09-24T15:50:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-27T13:36:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/homemade-toys-for-your-cat\/\"},\"wordCount\":666,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"cat box\",\"cat toy\",\"catnip\",\"diy cat toy\",\"homemade cat toy\"],\"articleSection\":[\"All Posts\",\"Cats\",\"Do It Yourself\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/homemade-toys-for-your-cat\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/homemade-toys-for-your-cat\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/homemade-toys-for-your-cat\/\",\"name\":\"5 DIY Cat Toys Your Cat Will Love\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-09-24T15:50:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-27T13:36:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Store-bought cat toys can get expensive, especially if your cat doesn't care for them. 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Cardboard boxes are a top-tier DIY toy \u2013 Cutting holes, adding balls, or combining multiple boxes into tunnels or \u201cforts\u201d creates stimulating environments that...&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.petpalaceresort.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}