Introduction: Simple Convertible Catnip Cat-Toy

My Cat loves fishing for stuff. The harder to get the more fun he gets out of it, so I wanted to build an irresistible, yet inexpensivee toy for him. This is what I have come up with.

Step 1: What I Used - Materials

  • Drainage Pipe 50 mm Diameter ( 2 inches) straight and bend (approx. 3 €)
  • an Endcap for Pipes (50 cents)
  • Some Catnip ( 2 €)
  • some length of elastic band
  • a piece of cloth
  • a screw coupling
  • some length of hemp string
  • adhesive dekor foil

Step 2: Sowing the Catnip Pouch

First of all I cut out a 60 x 80 mm piece of cloth.

To add a little bit more grip and prevent holes in the material itself, I used a few strings which i sew on to the outside of the pouch. Make sure you leave some empty space towards the edges of the cloth, which we will need to make a neat seem.

I was then folding the cloth in the middle making a 60x40mm Piece with the strings on the outside, watching out for any of the strings sticking out of the will be seems in order to prevent insufficiencies.

Step 3:

After doing so I turned it inside out again to fill it up with catnip.

To add some fluffiness to the pouch, I again used some of the hemp strings, which worked surprisingly well as a filling. Once I had it filled up enough I only had to stick in one end of the elastic band before sowing the pouch shut and cutting off excess strings on the outside of the pouch.

Step 4: Prettying Up and Connecting the Drainage Tubes

All I had to do then was to connect the tube pieces, cut a few pieces out of the adhesive foil and wrap it around the tubes. To secure the catnip pouch I stuck the elastic band between tube and cap. This way it will be easier to remove/repair or simply use it as a seperate toy.

Step 5: Convertability

Because I used drainage Pipes I dont had to worry about any stiff connections. I can take a pice off and have the Pouch hanging out, just take the Pouch to play with my Cat or wrap some of the Hemp String tightly around the Tube to make a scratcher (just stick the ends of the string between the to Pipes/Cap, giving everything a twist so the string has a snug fit and wont come loose the first time your cat uses it or use a stapler to add even more stability). If one used a horizontal T-Pipe one could even make the pouch sling from one side to the other once your cat releases it.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to improve and comment.