Cat fishing

Of all the cat toys out there, I would say that string and ball (light ping pong size) rank top two fun cat toys for most cats. Even the expensive mechanical porcupine (RM30) and sock on a rod (RM15) would not come in the top 5 of my cats' list! So ever since a few months ago, I've kind of given up on buying pet toys from pet shops.

Back to the favourite string toy. I've tried remnant cloth strip, brightly coloured hand-braided wool, and off-white parcel string.

Of the 3 strings, the parcel string gets the most attention from my cats. I don't know why - perhaps it's something in the smell of the string? My cats (Friesia especially) likes it when I run with the parcel string around our home - over the chairs, sofas, TV, and their gym / tuck shop. Sometimes they like jumping up to catch a parcel string dangled just above their noses. When they're tired chasing the string, they occasionally enjoy lying on their backs and trying to catch the dangling parcel string that poked their cute bellies.

As I said, string is such a versatile toy that my husband even found that it's a good bait to lure Friesia off the top of the kitchen cabinet! Well, it worked for about 10 times before Friesia realised it, and decided to fish for the string from the top of the cabinet ;-)

Scratch Board for RM18.90!

I found this rather expensive scratch board at Jusco Setiawangsa's pet section.

I wouldn't buy it of course because I can make it at home with a small aubergine ;-)

Well, not quite but seriously speaking I did make scratch boards for my cats for much less than that!

To find out how, check out my blog post on DIY scratch board made of cardboard remnants.

Friesia's Tuck Shop Part II

Well, actually it's a cat activity centre made out of reused items. I couldn't help calling this post a tuck shop because Friesia's got her "Can I help you, prrr?" cat sales rep expression. Also the box makes her look like she's in a little tuck shop booth.

In retrospect, I probably wouldn't build a cat activity centre out of old mineral water boxes again in the future. The cardboard is too thin, and would only safely hold Friesia's weight - if she's careful. No chance for Oatey - last time he tried jumping onto the box, the flaps peeved in and Oatey slipped into the box. Needless to say, Oatey was put off by the experience and wouldn't risk climbing the box even to chase a string.

I suppose thicker cardboard boxes would make a cat activity centre more sturdy. Not sure whether there are places in KL / Klang Valley that sell them at discount prices. I managed to get a sturdy cardboard box from a hardware store but I doubt the owners would let me walk away with 10 boxes just like that.

Friesia's Tuck Shop

Yesterday, Friesia discovered another hiding place when I left the kitchen cabinet doors open, and was determined to set up a tuck shop ;-) I coaxed her to come out but she ignored me, and seemed unpeturbed even when I closed the cabinet doors for a few minutes.

Pic 1: Friesia in her tuck shop
Pic 2: "Can I tempt you with a can of Malay Tea cat whiskers ... or rrrrroselle, purrrr?"
Pic 3: Friesia leaps out...
Pic 4: ... onto the 1st floor
Pic 5: "We also have BIRD's custard - don't worry, no real birds used - it's meant for humans"
Pic 6: "Something salty and snacky...? Ah yes, here are the crrrrisps!"

Found what I wanted - not bad for a cat sales rep!

DIY scratch board made of cardboard remnants

Cardboard scratch boards like the ones in the photos typically sell for around RM30 each in Ikea and Pet Lovers Center in Ikano Power Centre.

I made these large scratch boards for less than RM10 each out of old cardboard boxes and non-toxic wood glue.

473ml of Titebond original wood glue costs around RM30 from Ace Hardware. Looking back, I could have saved some money and glued them with homemade tapioca glue (tapioca flour boiled in water).

How did I manage to cut the cardboard so neatly without blistering my fingers? Well, I sent it to a professional paper cutter in a back lane workshop off Jalan Tun Sambathan in Brickfields. It's walking distance from KL Monorail station, and I remember passing by a shop selling meat as I entered the back lane.

There are several paper cutting workshops on the back lane but the first two or three workshops refused to cut cutboard in case it damaged their machines (their paper cutting machines were mostly for cutting up wedding cards and flyers).

Eventually, I found a workshop willing to do the job. There were two customers who were there before me. I watched the man cut up flyers for a local temple ceremony, and a few large pieces of coloured plain manila card with his large industrial paper cutter. My brain started estimating the cost of my job, as he collected RM10 for the few pieces of manila card he'd cut up. Hmm... RM30? RM50? I have enough cardboard to make 4 large scratch boards!

When it was my turn, the man asked me how I'd like the boxes cut. I explained that I'd like triangles and strips of rectangle to make scratch boards for my cats. The man smiled, and asked about my cats. While we chatted, I helped him collect the cardboard pieces that he'd cut from the machine. I even helped remove the huge staples from the box, so it wouldn't damage the machine. If the box size was different to the one he had previously cut, he would confirm the shapes again with me. It took about half an hour to cut all the boxes up.

My brain was thinking.... RM50 for all the effort. So I was pleasantly surprised when the man said "kira cincai... RM10"! I thanked him several times for his kindness, and said that my cats will enjoy scratching them very much :)

Refurbished scratch post with sisal from Ace Hardware

The sisal rope on the cats' scratch post had worn out towards the top, so it was time to replace ... or refurbish the post.

I was very tempted to get a much taller scratch post, as our cats are now grown up. But the local pet shops didn't seem to stock 1m scratch post poles (or close to that). The tall 1m+ scratch post I found was actually a few short scratch poles stacked on top of each other and stabilised with wide plywood bases at each level. That's not long enough for my grown-up cats to perform vertical full-body stretch and scratch. Anyway, I have no intention of turning our living room into an expensive cat gym. An American fragrant cedar cat tree would have made a fine replacement but at USD390, I'm sure there are cheaper local versions... if I can find the wood and carpenter.

For now, I decided on a temporary solution - to get more sisal to replace the worn out sisal on the scratch post. Seriously, it wasn't easy finding more sisal in KL. I had enquired at several local hardware stores but they didn't seem to know what sisal is! After weeks of hunting, I finally found 1/4" (0.63cm) diameter sisal rope at Ace Hardware, Mid Valley Megamall selling for 50 sen per foot. It's in the ropes and wires section, stored in rows and rows of large reels. It's not clearly marked, so I searched for labels or handwritten notes on the side of the reels to make sure that I didn't mistaken manila rope for sisal. I've read that manila rope tends to be heavily oiled and stinks.

I was surprised to discover that, even without glue, the new sisal grips quite well onto the scratch post's old sisal. So I started wrapping the scratch post from the top while making sure that the top end of the new sisal is secured by tightly winding the rest of the sisal rope over it. To secure the bottom end of the rope, I tied several knots towards the last few rows of the windings. Of course, skipping the glue meant that my scratch post didn't look neat for long but it will do for a few weeks.

All in all 10 metres of 1/4" sisal rope covers about 2/3 of the 50cm tall by 8cm diameter scratch post.

Dirt basket for indoor cats

Is your indoor cat experiencing the following symptoms?

1. Rolls over fresh sandy cat litter
2. Walks over plants
3. Rubs back on balcony patio floor as if it's laced with catnip.
   

My cats definitely were. My friend says it's because they miss being in the wild.

To bring my cats closer to nature, I took my friend's suggestion to make a dirt basket. A dirt basket is basically a container with some soil, or sand. Of course, the container needs to be large enough to fit at least one cat. In the photo, I used an old Ikea litter tray (with curved sides for better dirt containment), filled it with soil, and placed it on the balcony patio floor.

Within a minute, the dirt basket received paws of approval from Friesia. A few moments later, Oatey shoved off Friesia to give his roll of approval in the dirt basket and curled up to sleep in it for the afternoon. The cats love it!

Oatey harvests catnip

A few months a go, my friend gave me some catnip plants to grow for my cats. They grew for a while but then one by one shrivelled and died. For sometime, I didn't have catnip until about a month or so ago, a few sprouted out. I was waiting for one of them to grow until the spores fully bloomed before uprooting them for my cats to chew on.

My cats didn't seem to realise the catnip was there until today. The pot of grass was bare from overgrazing. Oatey was looking for a mid-morning snack to chew on. That was when he sniffed upon the pot of catnip!

As you can see from the pictures, Oatey really enjoyed chewing on his harvest that he wants to keep every bit for himself. Luckily I managed to salvage some spores and sprinkle over a few pots. Let's hope the catnip grows again ;-)

Cat ping pong

This game is adapted from Vicky Halls' Cat Confidential.

The pyramid is made of toilet rolls supported by two kitchen rolls at the bottom. The rolls are stuck together with UHU glue.

I meant to chop the kitchen roll into two but couldn't be bothered, so I stuck them at the base. It turns out to be a good design decision, as the extra gap on the base allows missed ping pong balls to roll back to my side. Also the kitchen roll gives my cats a chance to practise their smash ;-)

P/S: This pyramid also doubles as a kibble hideout for when we want the cats to forage for food.