cats — How To — Made Just For U

patti Cake supervising all fred remodeling their cat tree box. (charlotte ekker wiggins photo)

Best Cat Gift

Safe to say I have a lifetime of experience finding, and making, cat gifts. Of all of the cat gifts I’ve tried, a cardboard box remains the top cat gift.

A couple of years ago, I tried a cat tower that I could mix and match depending on the interest of my cats. About a year later, this is what’s left of the cat tower. Yes, the whole left side is gone.

all fred is also remodeling this higher cost kitty tower. (charlotte ekker wiggins photo)

Frankly what the cardboard box looks like is more an issue for the people, not the cats. A number of retailers now sell cardboard boxes detailed out as houses, cars and trucks.

My cats have destroyed all of them within a couple of days.

Save yourself some money and head over to a recycling center, or keep an eye on store trash areas and pick up free cardboard boxes. If you shop online, those boxes can be favorites. After emptying them I let me cats check them out in case they like one or two.

Banana shipping boxes also have a top and bottom, making the box sturdier. Our Catnip Bar Drive Thru is made out of banana shipping boxes. One cat sits inside the box on its side and the rest play through the two openings.

The key is to have an opening in the box where the cats can get in and out and have a chewing starting point. My vet says tearing cardboard is fine; it keeps the cats busy as long as they don’t swallow the cardboard.

I used to spray paint boxes but I didn’t have box engineers back then. Now that I have two cats that tear up the cardboard I keep them safely away from paint exposure.

Boxes with soft cardboard are my cats favorites. (Charlotte ekker wiggins photo)

These hardier cardboard boxes have survived a number of assaults for several months. I grant you, not the prettiest of boxes but the cats have a great deal of enjoyment with them. Isn’t that what counts?

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Charlotte