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DIY Wooden Foraging Tower

woodentower

We love seeing how people get creative with homemade puzzles, and sometimes people get fancy.

Making this puzzle requires some wood-working skills, but can easily be customized to your own preferences and your cat's needs! Brought to us thanks to Goug via Instructables - all the details you need are HERE!

 

Brown Paper Bag Foraging

1. Get a plain brown paper lunch bag.
1. Get a plain brown paper lunch bag.
2. Fill with food.
2. Fill with food.
3. Gently twist close and offer to your cat.
3. Gently twist close and offer to your cat.

Foraging toys do not need to be fancy. They simply need to vary to continually peak your cat's interest and be appropriate for their skill level. Remember that foraging is not just a feeding protocol but also mental stimulation for your cat.

 

The goal with this toy is for the cat to either shred the bag with their claws and teeth or to open it and use their paw to extract the food.

Coffee Mug Foraging

Coffee mug placed on it's side with wet food inside.
Coffee mug placed on it's side with wet food inside.

An old coffee mug can be laid on its side and filled with canned food. The mug handle provides stability and keeps the puzzle in place. Put it on a place mat or newspaper and allow the cat to scoop out food with a paw and lick it off. Many cats simply drag the food to the mat and lick it up from there as seen in this video. This can be a little messy, so some sort of place mat is a must!

The Fishbowl by Petsafe –

The Fishbowl requires some skillful paw action! Some cats will flip this toy over if placed on carpeting. It works best and offers the most challenge on hard flooring. Once the cat becomes adept at using this puzzle it is actually pretty easy. Freeze dried meat pieces makes a nice low calorie option for filler.

Catit Senses Circuit As A Foraging Toy

If your cat becomes tired of chasing the ball around in any of these channel-like toys, simple convert them into a stationary foraging toy! Alternating how these toys can be used creates novel interest and keeps your cat mentally stimulated and engaged.

Fishing for treats

An easy foraging puzzle to make out of a plastic container with a lid. For kitties that like to fish kibble out of a bowl with their paws. Accompanied by smooth jazz.

The Dog Tornado by Nina Ottoson –

This video proves that even handicapped cats can work for their food. In this clip Lefty is 15 years old, a tripod his whole life, toothless, arthritic and has kidney and heart disease. He prefers to get the food himself! Your cats can do this!

This toy is excellent as a canned food puzzle for cats, which are harder to find and incorporate. 

Give the Dog Tornado a try with your cats!

The Green by Northmate

The Green is a great beginner foraging toy. This is the doggy version of the feline "Catch" toy. Because it is larger, it holds more volume for multiple cat households and provides a slightly increased challenge as the interior portion of the puzzle is harder to reach.

If you want to increase the challenge even further add a foraging ping pong ball from Fundamentally Feline. Simply fill ping pong ball and drop it into one of the sections. The cat has to spin the ball to get the food to drop into the Green and then extract it from the maze with their paw. Yes, cats really do get this skilled at foraging!