Any cat owner will know that these beautiful animals love to play. So we buy lots of cat toys to keep them entertained and happy.
But most of these toys are made of plastic, which isn’t good for the environment or your cat. When cats play with a toy, they will chew it and lick it, which can lead to the ingestion of microplastics. (Prata and Dias-Pereira, 2023)
To avoid exposure to these tiny plastic particles, we have to remove plastic toys from our homes. And provide our feline friends with toys made from natural materials that won’t harm them.
These 5 DIY natural cat toys won’t just delight your fur babies, but will also save you money. Oh, and don’t worry, many of them don’t need any crafts skills at all, I promise.
1. Fur Balls
Soft balls are a hit with our cats, because they can batter them around but also pick them up in their mouth and carry them around while meowing loudly (is this a thing or just something our mad cats do???).
They used to have cheerfully coloured balls that were given to them by some kind friends. But of course, they were made of plastic. And what’s more, they had glittery strands coming off them.
Not only did I find these strands lying around everywhere in the house, no doubt the cats also ingested some of them. This was no good, so we decided to take these plastic balls off them and provide them with a natural alternative.
And what’s more natural than their own fur? It’s so simple. After you have brushed your cat, take all the fur and roll it to a ball between your hands. Your cat will love it.
But make sure that the ball is big enough, you don’t want your cat to swallow it. Not that it would cause an issue, as it would just come back up at some point as a fur ball. However, this means you have to clean it up and the cat has lost its toy.
It’s inevitable that sooner or later the fur ball will disappear to the place all cat toys disappear in the end (it’s a magical place that only cats know where to find). So it’s good to have a good supply of fur to make more.
Whenever we brush the cats we put the fur in an air tight container. And when a ball goes missing, we can just make up a new one.
What’s so great about this toy is that it’s easy to make, costs no money and is absolutely natural. Hours of mental stimulation for your cat without spending a penny.
2. Paper Playground
When you get online deliveries, and the box contains paper filling material, don’t throw it away. Put it on the floor as a playground for your cat.
This natural cat toy might not look like much, but it’ll stimulate your cat’s hunting instincts. Throw in some natural cat toys, and your feline friend will hunt for them.
My cats absolutely love their paper playground. They dive into the paper to retrieve any toy hidden beneath it. If I throw in a fur ball, it’s game on. It gives them mental stimulation as they try to find the toy.
Another game they like is when I put their snake toy (more about that later) under the paper and slowly pull it out. They can hear it under the paper, which intrigues them.
They’ll jump on the snake trying to get it out. It’s such a favourite game for them that I could play it for hours, if I had time.
When the paper looks a bit flat after they have jumped around on it and dived undere it to their heart’s content, just recylce it and replace it with a new lot.
I grant you that it might look a bit messy, so you might want to choose a spot or room that’s a bit out of the way and isn’t seen by visitors.
Our cats’ paper playground is in my office, which visitors don’t normally see, and it means I can play with them during short breaks from work.
Andother easy DIY natural cat toy that won’t cost you anything, but your cats will love.
3. Knitted Cat Toys
If you are handy with needles, then these cat toys are definitely for you. I’m a passionate knitter and have made many cat toys for our fur babies. There are so many different toys you can make for your furry friend.
What’s important though is that you use yarn from natural materials, rather than acrylic or the likes. Plastic yarn will shed microfibres, which are basically the same as microplastics.
I prefer 100% sheep’s wool, but cotton wool is also a good option. Anything that doesn’t contain synthetic fibres.
For most toys you don’t need much wool, so often you can just use leftovers from projects. It’s my favourite way to use up leftover yarn. And your cats won’t mind if the colours aren’t realistic. A green mouse, why not?
When it comes to patterns, I can highly recommend “Knits for Kitties” by Sara Elizabeth Kellner. It contains 25 patterns, from mouse, to frog, and butterfly. The instructions are easy to follow and the toys are categoriesed by difficulty.
So if you are a beginner, you can work your way up the more advandanced patterns. I have made most of the toys in the book, and my cats love them.
There are toys that are on a string, so you can play with your cats giving them prey to hunt. Given they are hunters, it will stimulate their natural instincts.
Some, like the mouse or mushroom, need stuffing. Rather than buying polyester stuffing, opt for natural materials, such as sheep wool stuffing. I like the Herdwick Sheep Wool from Chimney Sheep. It’s great to work with.
But you can use all sorts of things to stuff your homemade cat toys, including cat fur. If you have several cats or long-haired cats, just keep their fur in an air tight container after you brushed them.
This will give you an endless supply of toy stuffing material and to make fur balls.
You can also use cut up fabrics, as long as they are a natural material, such as cotton or linen. Old cotton t-shirts work great. This is a brilliant way to reuse old clothes.
One toy I mentioned earlier is the my cats’ snake toy. It’s basically just a knitted cord, but it’s very simple to make and the cats love it.
All you do is make an i-cord:
- Cast on 3 stitches on double pointed needle with DK wool (the more stitches you have to thicker the cord)
- Knit one row
- Don’t turn. Slide the stitches up the needle they are on and knit all stiches, starting from the first one you knitted the row before. You never turn the knitting, you always just slide the stiches up and knit them starting with the first stich you knitted the previous row.
- Continue step 3 until you have the desired length
- Cut yarn and thread through a tapestry needle. Pull the yarn through all stitches and weave in the end.
- On the other side of the cord, you can either weave in the end as well, or just put a few knots in and leave it
There you go, you have made a toy snake for your cats.
4. Puzzle Toy
A DIY cat toy that stimulates them mentally is a puzzle toy. You might know what I mean, you can put cat treats in and the cat has to play with it to get the treats out.
They are great to keep cats entertained, but the ones you can buy are made of plastic. So better to make your own and it won’t cost you a penny either.
All you need is a toilet roll. Make 5 cuts, about 1 inch long, on both ends. Then fold in to close the bottom. Make some holes in the roll, big enough for the treats to fall out. You can use a screw driver or scissors.
Alternatively, you can just fold in the edges, which works just as well.
Fill with some cat treats and close the other end. That’s it!. Your cat will smell the treats and play around with the puzzle until they fall out. The more holes you make the easier it will be for your cat.
I have seen some people hanging them up suspended on a string too, which adds a bit more compexity for you cat.
Another plastic-free cat toy that is absolutely free to make.
5. Kicker Toy
These type of toys are bigger and allow the cat to hold on to while kicking it with their back legs. It’s part of their hunting instinct, so it’s good to give them a toy to follow this instinct.
There are several ways you can make such a toy. The quickest and easiset is using an old 100% cotton or bamboo sock, ideally thick. Fille with natural materials, such as cotton fabric strips or sheep’s wool.
Tie a knot in the sock to close it and you’re done. You can add some catnip to encouarge the cat to play with it.
If you don’t have cotton socks, which wouldn’t surprise me, given that most clothes you can buy contain at least some synthetic fibres. Get some cotton or linen fabric.
Cut two 28cmx12xm (11inx4.5in) pieces and sew them together on three sides with wrong side of the fabric facing you. Turn the the fabric inside out, fill with natural materials, and sew the final side together.
You can do this with a sewing machine or by hand. Don’t worry about it being perfect, your cat won’t mind.
To add extra interest, you can cut a few strips 3cm (1in) wide and 15cm (36in) long. Sew them together on one end and attach it to the kicker toy.
Your cat will love this low-cost, homemade cat toy.
Other Eco Tips For Cat Lovers
While these natural DIY cat toys will keep your cats enterained, here are some more eco-friendly tips for cat owners.
Repair Your Cat’s Scratch Post Or Tree
Scratch trees are a necessity if you have kitties, especially indoor cats, unless you’re fine with them scratching your furniture, carpets, or door frames. But they can be quite expensive, especially if you get a big one so your cat can get high up, which they love.
And because of the nature of the toy, they will destroy the scratch post fairly soon. The result: we keep buying new posts or trees. Even if the rest of the cat tree, such as the beds or toys, are still in good condition.
Big scratch trees are also very expensive, so even more reason so get into the habit of repairing rather than repalcing them. Most scratch trees have to be assembled on arrival, so it’s easy to get the damaged posts out and renew it.
It’s very easy to do. Just buy a roll of thick sisal. Remove the old sisal from the post, making sure you also get rid of the staples.
Then attach the new sisal at the bottom of the post with a staple gun. Start to roll it around the post very tightly. The tighter, the better.
When you reach the other end of the post, cut the sisal string and fix it to the post with the staple gun. Put the post back in place, and it’s ready to be used again.
We have started to do this and it’s amazing how much money you save and also how much waste you avoid.
Cardboard Box Bed
We all know that cats love boxes. We don’t know why, but they do. Put a box on the floor and in a matter of minutes your cat will sit in it. It’s some kind of natural law, I think.
Given they like boxes so much, why not using them as cat beds? I know, they don’t look particularly nice, but at least cardboard boxes are plastic-free, which is not the case with most of the cat beds you can buy.
We have quite a few cat beds we’ve bought over the years, but our cats don’t sleep in any of them. Instead they have chosen a box that was left by the back door, ready to be recycled.
So we kept it, and it’s now their favourite place to sleep in the kitchen, especially when the sun is on it. One of our cats sleeps in the cat tree box in our living room during the night. She gets up in the morning when she hears us in the kitchen making tea.
After walking in, she settles down in the box and gets back to sleep after meowing at us for a morning fuss. To the annoyance of the other cat, who normally comes down a bit later just to find the box occupied.
We are now waiting to get a delivery in a box of the same size, so both cats have a cardboard box bed.
Carboard Box Hiding Place
You can also make a box bed a bit more of a hiding place for your fur baby. Simply take a box that is big enough for your cat to curl up in.
Cut off the flaps to close it. Then take an old t-shirt or jumper, 100% cotton or another natural material, and slip it over the box, with the head hole facing the open side of the box.
Staple the bottom of the t-shirt to the box, as well as the sleeves. Now your cat has a hiding place where it can sleep feeling safe.
The hole is just big enough for it to get in and out, but not so big that it feels exposed. And the t-shirt/jumper will still smell of you, provding extra comfort.
Lap Bed
If your cat loves sitting on your lap, why not make a lap bed out of an old pair of jeans and some natural stuffing.
All you have to do is sew the legs together and stuff the jeans with some natural material. We have already discussed options.
Make sure that the thighs are particularly well stuffed, as this is where your cat will sit.
Sew together the top of the jeans as well and the lap bed is ready. Position it on the sofa as if it was your lower body, bending the legs to keep the bed in place.
Now your cat can sit in “your” lap even if you are buys doing something esle. And it’s another low-cost thing you can do for your cat.
Metal Food And Water Bowls
One way cats can ingest microplastics is from plastic food and water bowls. So switching to metal bowls is a good move.
We have changed our cats’ bowls after advice from our vet. The cats don’t mind at all, but we now that there is no more risk of contamination of their water and food with microplastics.
Most metal bowls can also be washed in a dishwasher, so no extra work for us either, which is great news.
Here you go, DIY natural cat toys and other eco tips to keep your cat happy and healthy. Why not try them out yourself?
