Fast, Free Gifts for Cats

Cat toys found in stores are made to appeal to humans or more than they do cats. Cats are colorblind, so they don't see the cutesy-wootsy pink and green crocheted cat toy as anything but a gray object that might be prey. I use cheap or free materials to make cat toys that appeal to a cat's predator instincts, not my desire for fuzzy pink knitted blobs.

Cat Toy Materials:
* Wine corks: Free, and plentiful in my house.
* Feathers: Free if you pick them up in the park or your yard. If you can't bring yourself to scavenge feathers at the park, most craft stores sell packets of feathers. The best feathers are duck or goose wing feathers, but any long thick-quilled feathers will do.
* Cable ties: Cheap, or ask a geeky friend for a few.
* String or yarn: Cheap or free.
* Paper: Crisp lightweight paper, such as tracing paper or candy wrappers.

Plain Brown Cork Toy: Wine corks are the ideal size to trigger a cat's hunting instinct, are easy for the cat to carry, and the cork's resilience makes them bounce and roll in a way cats find attractive. The next time you open a bottle of wine, toss the cork to the cat instead of throwing the cork into the trash. The vintage doesn't matter, although my cats prefer corks from red wines if they have a choice.

Plain Birdie Toy: Tie the quill-ends of three or four feathers into a tight clump. Throw it at the cat. If you dab the quills with glue and let the birdie dry before the cat finds it, the toy will last a day or two longer.

Wine Cork Birds: Stick the quill end of a couple of feathers as far as they will go into one end of a wine cork, using the hole made by the cork remover. Toss it to the cat and watch them go nuts. The feathers make the cork bounce and "struggle".

Wine Cork Mousies: Drill a hole through a wine cork or pound a thick nail through the cork to make a hole. Version 1- push a short cable tie through the cork to make the mouse's tail. Version 2 - Use a long large-eyed sewing needle to thread a strand of string through the cork. Tie knots close to the cork to keep the string in place. Trim the tail to about 4 inches long so the cork body will bounce near the cat's chest when they carry it.

Cork, Feather and Cable Tie Deelie-Bobber: Poke a hole into each end of a wine cork. Tighten a 12- to 18-inch cable tie around the center of the cork. Stuff feathers into the holes in the ends of the cork.

To use the deelie-bobber, close a drawer or a door on the end of the cable tie. The feather/cork part will bounce around as the cat bats it. Be careful to avoid closing the deelie-bobber in the door of a bedroom, because the cork bangs into the door and makes an annoying noise. You wouldn't want to annoy anyone, would you?

Paper Mousies: Paper rustles as it moves, like rodents fleeing through dry leaves. Crumple a small (4x4 inch) piece of crisp paper into a tiny ball. Roll the ball in your hands to make a rustling noise until your cat notices it. Toss the ball to the cat. The rustling as the ball expands will keep the cat interested until the paper is limp and "dead".