Every year when spooky season starts to come around, many people get extremely excited and start decorating every part of their house, inside and out, with Halloween décor. Black cat or not, your cat will appreciate a few new toys as well. Even though your cat is unlikely to understand the holiday, they will love the enrichment that a rotation of fun new toys will provide them.
You’re probably remembering all of the times you bought your cat an expensive seasonal toy that they refused to touch, often in favor of the package it came in. The good news is that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to get your cat in the Halloween spirit. There are DIY toys you can make yourself at home, even if you’re not the craftiest person.
The 6 DIY Halloween Cat Toys
1. DIY Jack-O-Lantern Felt Catnip Toys by Dream a Little Bigger
| Materials: | Orange felt, brown felt, green felt, black felt, embroidery floss, catnip |
| Tools: | Cricut or scissors, embroidery needle, masking tape (optional) |
| Difficulty Level: | Moderate |
This plan for jack-o-lantern felt catnip toys involves using a Cricut machine, but with some careful measurements and creativity, you can make this completely by hand. You will need some sewing skills either way. If you don’t already have embroidery needles and thread at home, you can opt for regular sewing supplies, but make sure to use thick thread to keep your cat from tearing the pieces off of these toys.
If you’re feeling extra creative, you can add a face to both sides of this toy. Some people might even like to give these jack-o-lanterns a nice face on one side and a spooky face on the other. If you’re not feeling up to adding two faces, you will just have a plain back; although your sewing knots and felt overlap may be visible, your cat will almost certainly not have a care in the world about this.
2. DIY Pumpkin Spider Toys by Chirpy Cats
| Materials: | Pom-poms, black pipe cleaners, foam pumpkins, elastic stretch cord, cat-safe paint |
| Tools: | Scissors, screwdriver, hot glue gun |
| Difficulty Level: | Moderate |
These pumpkin spider toys can be made with last year’s foam pumpkins, or you can buy new ones. This toy is intended to be suspended as a dangling toy for your cat to play with. Foam pumpkins are not an appropriate toy for cats that chew or like to carry their toys around, so make sure to keep this toy to a dangling toy.
This is one of the easiest toys you could make for your kitty, but make sure to help kids out with handling hot glue and scissors. Stick to paints that are non-toxic just in case your kitty manages to get this toy into their mouth. Don’t leave your cat unattended with this toy to keep them from chewing off pieces of foam from the pumpkin.
3. DIY Felt Mouse Toy by Lia Griffith
| Materials: | Mouse template (homemade or purchased), felt, embroidery floss, catnip, cotton, length of soft twine |
| Tools: | Scissors, embroidery needle, hot glue gun |
| Difficulty Level: | Moderate |
This felt mouse toy isn’t specifically a Halloween toy, but you could easily tweak the colors and specifics of the mouse to create a fun Halloween toy for your kitty. From a zombie mouse to a pumpkin mouse, your imagination is the limit on this toy. The template for this mouse can be downloaded, or you can make your own. The best part about having a template is that you’ll be able to create this toy as many times as you’d like for as many seasons and occasions as you’d like.
A felt or stuffed mouse is a quintessential cat toy, so definitely embrace this one and get comfortable making it. Make sure that you thoroughly attach the soft twine tail to the mouse’s body. Thread and twine can be dangerous for cats if swallowed, so you must make this toy safe for your cat.
4. Haunted Ghost DIY Cat Toy by Instructables
| Materials: | Two old socks, old shoestring, dried catnip |
| Tools: | Scissors |
| Difficulty Level: | Easy |
With two old socks and one string, you can easily create a ghost-style toy for your feline. This plan is extremely simple, but you can make it a bit more involved by decorating the socks to look like ghosts. However, it’s recommended that you sew on any possible decorations. Beads, buttons, and glue aren’t recommended, as they can be harmful to your feline.
5. Felt Ghost Cat Toy by Crafty Lumberjacks
| Materials: | White and black felt, orange thread, catnip, batting |
| Tools: | Sewing needle, felt glue, scissors |
| Difficulty Level: | Easy |
The style of this toy is very similar to the haunted ghost above. However, it is made using felt—not an old sock. Therefore, the process and skills needed to create it are very different.
However, this plan is still extremely easy. You’ll mostly be cutting and rearranging the felt to look like a ghost and then sewing it up so that your cat can play with it. Of course, you can also use the plan to make any other shape you want.
6. Catnip Pumpkin by Rufflesnuffle
| Materials: | Orange felt, brown/tan felt, green felt, catnip, invisible thread, cotton balls |
| Tools: | Scissors, needle |
| Difficulty Level: | Easy |
This toy does take a bit more work to put together. However, in the end, it leaves you with a very adorable pumpkin that your cat will love to bat around. Some sewing is required, but it isn’t extensive and should be done pretty easily—even if you have very little experience.
Making Safe DIY Cat Toys
When making any DIY toy for your cat, it’s important to ensure the toy is made in a way that is safe for your cat. There are a lot of household items and materials used in DIY projects that aren’t safe for your kitties.
Things like string and twine can be extremely dangerous for your cat if they are consumed, so it’s necessary to ensure these items are secured to the toy in a way that your cat will not be able to remove them and consume them. Other materials that may be consumed if not securely attached to the toy include buttons, googly eyes, and beads.
If you are making your cat a toy that involves any type of paint, make sure you are using non-toxic and pet-safe paint. Most paints made for children are non-toxic and safe for kitties, but it is still important to ensure your cat doesn’t consume any of the paint or chew on painted parts of toys.
When it comes down to it, using common sense will take you far when making DIY cat toys. If it seems like an obvious risk to your cat, then it’s best to avoid it. You’ll also need to make sure your cat is using toys appropriately. Painted toys or those made with foam that can easily be chewed should be saved for supervised play that does not allow the cat to bite the toy. Strings and twine lengths should not be such that they could become wrapped around your cat’s neck.
Conclusion
Making your feline friend DIY toys so they can celebrate the spooky season with you can be a fun project for you, and it’ll definitely be a fun project for your cat when it’s finished. Most of these DIY toy ideas can be tweaked to make them appropriate for any time of the year, so let your creativity guide you. Just remember to keep any toys you make safe for your kitty and provide appropriate supervision to not only keep your cat safe but also to build the bond between you and your cat through play.
Featured Image Credit: 5 second Studio, Shutterstock
The 6 DIY Halloween Cat Toys
