I should have 'listened' to another reviewer - this book is a waste of time and money. Most all of the 'toys' are difficulty level one - since it isn't difficult to give your cat a box or the ring from the milk jug. This book also suggests tin foil is a cat toy! I will not even donate this book to my library - it is nothing more than recyclable paper.
This is an extremely disappointing book. I assumed it would be filled with interesting and fun ideas for cat toys that you can make out of household items, craftsy stuff, and trash. Beware: it's NOT. Almost the ENTIRE book is filled with single trash items you can give your cat without any modification, things that are extremely obvious (unless you for some reason NEVER KNEW that a cat would enjoy hanging out in a cardboard box or shopping bag).
Here's a sampling of descriptions of "make your own toys" in this book. About half of the projects are as follows...and by projects I mean items of trash that the author spends at least an entire page, and often two pages, describing:
"Schrodinger's Box" - give your cat a box.
"Classic Shopping Bag" - give your cat a shopping bag.
"Tape Ball" - give your cat a ball of tape.
"Juice Pull" - give your cat a juice pull.
"Juicy Hoop" - give your cat the seal ring around a bottle of juice.
"Madcap" - give your cat the cap off a bottle.
"Unwrap This!" - give your cat the tissue paper from a gift.
"Ping Pong Pinball" - give your cat a ping pong ball.
"Nuts 'n Bolts" - give your cat a metal nut (severe choking/hospitalization hazard, NOT recommended)
"Classic Ball of Yarn" - give your cat a ball of yarn.
"Penned Up Energy" - give your cat a pen cap.
So let me make it clear, again, what this book is filled with: one- and two-page sheets of instructions and materials for giving your cat single items of trash. That to me seems like a huge, huge, HUGELY hypocritical waste of paper on Holly Tse's part. Throughout the book she advocates recycling and conserving. She could have conserved a LOT of paper by telling cat owners in a simple sentence: "Give your cat a cardboard box to play in," and maybe just filled one page with many of these suggestions, instead of wasting two sheets of valuable paper on each item, every description page as inane as the one before it. Sounds like a big fat moneymaking scheme to me: write about the trash items that are small enough for cats to play with. Look how many gullible reviewers fell for it.
And, to be fair, I gave the promising ideas a fighting chance. For example, the "Lazy Wrestle Sausage" seemed like a good idea (sock filled with plastic bag and catnip, tied to a string). My cat played with it for two seconds, then lost interest. I dragged it around the house, dangled it in front of him, hid it under a couch, hid it around corners the way he loves to play...no response. My cat's the sort of fellow who drags his toys (even the large ones) around the house and deposits them at my feet when he wants playtime, then gets frisky for an hour (which I gladly oblige to). And even HE was bored to death by the suggestions in Make Your Own Cat Toys and quickly went looking for his old favorites (namely, Da Bird). Really, you don't need to buy this awful book to be aware of one very simple fact that should probably have been already made clear by your cats' behavior: cats will play with anything, including/particularly trash items, if YOU are interactively playing with them. You don't have to buy a fancy cat toy. You REALLY don't have to buy this book. Save a lot of paper by not doing so.
Love this book!!!
What a great book! I am very impressed with this book. Many great idea's for toys for your cat... with items you likely already have lying around the house. Definitely a good buy!! :) And, eco-friendly too!! :)
