Recycle common household items into DIY cat toys that make meal times fun
Like their ancestor the African wildcat, out pet cats have a natural instinct to hunt. Each part of the hunting activity releases feel-good hormones called endorphins. This includes the stalk, pounce, play and kill. Cats need to have frequent successful ‘kills’ to avoid frustration. Instead of letting them hunt wildlife, you can give them toys or food to catch and 'kill' instead.
Cats in the wild spend a lot of their time on frequent hunting expeditions, catching up to 12 small rodents per day. In comparison, our pet cats are given bowls of food. A meal doesn’t take long to eat or make use of their great senses.
That’s why it’s a good idea to create interest at meal times by hiding food around the house for your cat to search out. Have frequent, short games, for a few minutes at a time, throughout the day. This will help to meet your cat's natural hunting instincts. Ensure that you spend a few minutes showing your cat how to use their new feeding puzzles so that they get the hang of it.
Feeding puzzles are particularly important for indoor cats. They allow them to exhibit the natural cat behaviours they would perform outdoors. They also help prevent them from getting bored in the home.
Egg box cat food puzzles
Start with an open cardboard egg box. Place some of your cat’s daily allowance of dry food inside the egg compartments for them to paw out. You can then build up to more complex games very gradually. For example, you could slowly start to close the lid of the egg box so your cat has to open it to find the food. Or you could loosely scrunch up small pieces of newspaper and wrap the biscuits up. Then let your cat search for their food!
Toilet roll food puzzle for your cat
Use sticky tape to attach cardboard toilet roll tubes together, adjacent in a line. Take further rolls and place them on top to make a second row in a brick-like pattern. Again, tape these to any adjacent rolls. Continue to tape rows of tubes in descending numbers, to make a pyramid shape. Remember to use tape on both sides of the pyramid and you could add a cardboard base to make it extra stable. Place some of your cat’s biscuits into the tubes and show them how to get them out using their paws.
Cat puzzle play station
You can combine several DIY food puzzles onto one sheet of cardboard to create a play station for your cat. Or you could combine several old boxes to create a tower for your cat to explore and hide in.
Food should be taken out of your cat’s daily amount of weighed biscuits to avoid obesity.
Watch our video on creating more cat boredom busters
