Grocery Bags As Cat Toys
It's free. It's recyclable. Use
your imagination to make it really cool.
MetPet.com Staff Writer
 Here
are several ideas to make a paper grocery bag (or heavy-duty paper shopping bag
with the handles snipped off) into a temporary cat toy enhancer. The
heavier and stiffer the bag, the easier it is to play with. You can fold
over the open part of the bag by several inches to make a stiff collar.
This helps keep the front of the bag open.
Cats love to hide and wait in
ambush. Think of the cat sitting next to the mouse hole in cartoons. They're just
waiting for something interesting to poke its nose outside the hole. Their ears perk
up, all their muscles go taut, their eyes become huge, their tail swishes back and forth.
Their heart rate goes up and adrenaline courses through their body. All the
synapses and neurons in their brains go on high alert.
You can recreate this
wonderful sensation for your cat with the use of a grocery bag and some basic toys.
Play keeps your cat's mind alert, his body young and supple and his personality fun
and kitten-like.
1. The invisible
mouse
Take one handle-less paper
grocery bag and add one inquisitive cat. Open the bag and place it on its side on
the floor. When curious cat pokes his head into the bag, scratch the outside bottom
of the bag with your fingernails. Scratch rapidly and see curious cat try to grab
the "mouse" that he hears. If he pokes his head out of the bag, stop
scratching or you're liable to end up with scratched fingers! Since he can't see the
mouse on the outside of the bag, he'll probably go back inside so you can resume
scratching.
2. The catnip
shuffle
Place a catnip toy (use the
highest quality you can find for longest lasting effects), dried catnip or fresh catnip in
the bottom of the bag. Lay it on its side and add one catnip sensitive cat.
Watch the bag slide and skitter across the floor! This is as much for human
amusement as for the cat's.
3. Mouse holes
Cut saucer-sized holes into
the sides of the bag. Add one wide-awake cat. Dangle a high quality
interactive cat toy on the opposite side of the hole as the cat like the Streamers shown below.
 If the cat is inside the bag, dangle it outside and
vice versa.
Alternatively, cut paw-sized
holes in the side of the bag. Dangle the toy so that it is just visible through the
hole.
Replace the bag when it
becomes worn, wrinkled or just messy. This is usually after just one playtime.
Luckily, paper bags are recyclable and easily available everywhere!
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