PHOTO: Why you shouldn't spend a penny on cat toys, cat beds, cat forts, etc.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

...they make their own. My cat loves brown paper bags from the market and will jump into any open box and use either as her own personal fortress. I just took this photo...she's on the bed behind me and is watching my every move.

:eyes:

[Odin2005]

1. AWWW!

[Lucinda]

2. Yup. Mine are fond of any basket, or large round bowl too

And any place I have been sitting. I have an ongoing battle for access to my desk chair.

[elocs]

3. I have a 4 month old kitten that loves playing in paper bags.

He also loves the ball that is trapped in the circle and spins round and round yet he cannot get it out. But he also loves the carpeted cat tree and the wicker-thingy that attaches to the wall that is about 5' high. He has made a home in the soft, carpeted cube that the other cat would have nothing to do with.

Having slept all day he is now, at 10:26 p.m. now running around like crazy and attacking everything. That, and his fascination with the drip from the faucet. Now he is busy attacking the computer monitor that I am using for this.

[zanana1]

12. Awwwww...sounds like fun. nt

[elocs]

14. It's not fun for my 17 year old cat that the kitten loves to harass. n/t

[Common Sense Party]

4. Din-din, Morris!

She looks famous.



And dangerous.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

6. She is capital "C" CRAZY.

If you laugh at her, she will walk around you in a circle and growl, eventually whacking you with her paw (claws out).

And yet I go to sleep each night with her inches from my face. Go figure.

:rofl:

[Common Sense Party]

7. We just adopted 2 shelter kitties a couple weeks ago.

Our long-time family cat passed away in October and we missed having a feline friend around. So we got 2, a brother and sister. They are cute as can be; the brother's a bit crazy. I'll have to get a paper sack. I bet they'd like that.

[snagglepuss]

9. Cats also love tiny balls of crumpled paper to bat around and ping pong

balls.

[hippywife]

13. Just don't give them one with handles on it.

I swear it was the funniest thing when one of ours got her head caught in the handle and ran at top speed all around the house trying to get away from it, but she was truly terrorized by the whole experience.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

15. I hear ya...that bag is from Whole Foods and I took the handles off before I let her have it

You really have to think in terms of "infant" when you give a cat anything.

I had a scratching post for my first cat, and it had a springy kind of toy on the end of what was essentially a big rubber band kind of thing...and about five minutes before I was supposed to go out the door for work, he'd somehow wrapped it around his paw, and then started doing the natural thing, which was to pull away from it, and the harder he pulled, the tighter it hot around his paw, and the tighter it got, the louder he howled...

...so I'm going "alright, alright, alright...please calm DOWN, OK," trying to get him to hold still long enough for my girlfriend to run and get the scissors so we could cut it off. We did, he walked away without a scratch, and I removed what was left of it from the scratching post and threw it in the trash.

[begin_within]

5. My cats have always had more fun with a long piece of yarn dragged on the floor,

than with any expensive frilly cat toy I ever bought.

[cherish44]

8. haha so true...especially for cat beds

My cats have beds and blankets and big soft pillows that are devoted just to them and what is their favorite sleeping location? A styrofoam packing mold that my coffee maker came in...the box the coffee maker came in being a close second. Cute pic...spitting image of my beautiful ginge kitty Saffie McMew

[MilesColtrane]

10. The Most Dangerous Bag In The World

Ready to pounce at a moment's notice....

[Phentex]

11. That is so cute!

I wish I could hide like that!

:)

[stuntcat]

16. for reals. I love orange cats!

my cats love boxes and strings. Still they have a whole toy box full of cheap little crap I've picked out for them, I'm such a sucker.

[kimi]

17. Oh wow!!

She is gorgeous!! Her eyes - bee-yoo-tee-full!!

But I somehow have the idea that if she didn't take to those homemade toys, you'd probably be out buying her whatever her little heart desires.

Am I right? LOL

[Amerigo Vespucci]

21. When I got her from the Humane Society (10 years ago, when she was 7 months old)...

...I went to their "Pet Shop" and bought the whole nine yards, in addition to the "basics" like her litter box and food and water dish.

I drink Arrowhead water...that's what she drinks too.

I feed her Iams Naturals Chicken dry food, and on the top, I put what I call her "meatballs"...six Whiskas Temptations chicken cat treats. She always eats those first. She sniffs around and plucks them off the top, one at a time. Some days she'll circle around the dish, and stare me down, and walk over to where the treats are kept, and walk back to the dish, and stare me down some more, until I relent and grant her a "meatball bonus."

She knows where I keep her brush and she knows how to make her intention to be brushed known (she loves it...it even said on her paperwork from the Humane Society that she "loves to be groomed."

This cat has no doubt as to who's in control.

:rofl:

[kimi]

24. Hoo yeah

She's got you well-trained!

And a well-trained man is a wonderful person. LOL :)

[david13]

18. My kitten, 7 months goes wild over the red light. I didn't buy it,

my neighbor gave it to me. But I think two were under $10.
It drives the cat wild.
It's almost cruel, because she can't figure out where it goes to.
But other than that, she plays with every possible thing in existence. Whether I like it or not.
All paper bags, plastic bags, etc.
dc

[TorchTheWitch]

19. a cardboard box, plastic bottle and roll of toilet paper...

All a dog ever needs. Except maybe for the little things he swipes from around the house and stashes in his super secret hiding place under the couch (which is also his only hiding place) like the car keys, toothpaste tube, sunglasses, cellphone, etc. just to get a rise out of me.

Ok, I admit he does seem to rather like his farting hedgehog though. I'm not sure that one counts though because I think I really bought it more for me than for him. So sue me... damn, it's a farting hedgehog! How cool is that! How could I NOT buy the farting hedgehog???

[jobycom]

20. A strong argument for spending money on those things, though, is that if you don't...

they will make their own. It's cheaper to buy a scratching post than a new couch, for instance. :)

[krispos42]

22. Reminds me of this LOL cat

[MiddleFingerMom]

23. Tear a thin (1/2") strip from a rolling paper (should you just HAPPEN to have one)...

.
.
.
.
.
...crease it about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way down its length,
hold it as high as you can... and release it.
.
.
.
.
.
It will helicopter itself down to the ground... causing
INSTANT frenzy from your cat.
.
.
.
.
.
You will tire of this game LONG before he/she does.
.
.
.
.
.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

25. UPDATE: She was in it, now she's on it

I've been taking it away from her at night and putting it in the closet for the last few days, giving it back to her in the morning.

Today, she spent about half the day in it, the other half on it, because I think SHE thinks that if she camps out on it, I won't take it away.

:rofl:

[area51]

26. Cats

They do love an empty paper bag or a box. :bounce:

[Enthusiast]

27. We have two large cloth

reusable grocery bags. Our cat loves them. He climbs in and starts purring loudly. He especially likes to be carried around in the bags.