Cheap or Free Puzzles to Enrich Your Cat’s Life

Last Updated on July 30, 2021 by Holly Anne Dustin

Why Use a Food Puzzle?

In the wild cats are predators. They hunt for multiple small meals throughout the day. But in the average pet home, we give our indoor cats a never ending bowl of dry food with no challenge. Such a typical environment without enrichment can lead to boredom, overeating and obesity, and behavior problems like aggression, excessive scratching, and overgrooming. (Feeder Puzzles Study) Cat puzzle toys are one way to relieve the boredom and make meal time more of a challenge.

Meal time feeding of moist or raw food is becoming more common as people learn more about appropriate cat nutrition and behavior.  Adding treats or dry food in cat puzzle toys can give Kitty something to work on while you’re out at work. There are a variety of commercial cat puzzles and foraging toys on the market from CatAmazing, Trixie, and Nina Ottosson, among others but you can make your own with imagination, duct tape, hot glue, and some items you have at home.

Related Post: Benefits of play for your cats

Life&Cats received a CatAmazing cat toy in exchange for my cats’ honest opinion and an honest review. No cash compensation was received. I will only share products that I believe will be relevant to the cat loving community with our honest opinion. The opinions shared are mine and my cats’ alone. Life&Cats is a member of the Amazon Associates program. As such we receive a commission when you make purchases through our links. It doesn’t affect the price you pay.

DIY Cat Puzzle Toys:

1. Foraging Box:  use a small flat box like a pizza box, cereal box, or small delivery box.  Seal it closed with duct tape. Cut some paw access holes across the box at random places.  If your box is big enough, don’t forget the sides. Toss in some small balls, crumpled paper, and bottle caps or wine corks. Add some treats and catnip or valerian and let your cat discover the wonders you gave her.
2. Paper Bag Cave: Save your paper grocery bags. Put the bag on the floor.  Most cats will be more than happy to just crawl in for a nap in their new cave. Watch your toes if you have kittens, a cave’s a great place to hide out and pounce on something going by.  For more paper bag fun grab a lunch bag. Fill it with treats, catnip, and your cat’s favorite toys. Crumple the top of the bag and let Kitty work out how to get to the treasures.
3. Easy Egg Carton: Think mancala for cats. Drop treats or food into some cups. Use different textures and flavors to make it more interesting.
4. Plastic Cup Wheel: Use yogurt cups or similar type of container. Cut holes in the side. Glue a cover from a second container to the bottom of the cup. Add food or treats. Put the cover on. The wheel should roll a little crazy when Kitty starts pushing it about to try to find her prizes.
5. Bottles in a Box: Use a small box; like a tissue box turned upside down.  Cut plastic bottles in half to form tubes mounted in the box. Vary the depth for more of a challenge.  Again, offer a variety of textures and flavors in the bottles. You can use cat puzzle toys like this one with wet food or treats. It is easy to clean the bottles or replace them if you don’t glue them into the box.
6. Simple Rolling Tubes: take tubes from toilet paper or paper towel rolls, fill with the treats, catnip, or small toys.  Fold the ends and duct tape closed. Cut holes in the sides of the tubes and let Kitty get rolling. Tubes filled with catnip are a big hit here.
7. Discovery Panel: for this one you need a lot of toilet paper tubes, a couple small plastic cups, a piece of an egg carton or ice cube trays, and a piece of cardboard to glue it all on. Glue the cups and egg cartons to the cardboard. Glue some paper tubes together sideways to make a little pyramid. Attach the pyramid to the cardboard base. Turn a couple more tubes, cut and flare out the ends and glue these tubes standing up. Fill up the containers with small toys or treats.  Using ice cube trays makes this feeder puzzle adaptable for wet or raw food. If you plan to use the puzzle this way don’t glue the tray down. Then you can wash it easily.
8. In the “go big or go home” class, try something like this:
   

The Amazing CatAmazing Puzzle Toy

If DIY is not your thing and you don’t want to break the bank, you need to check out the CatAmazing classic puzzle toy.  A classic foraging toy, CatAmazing is a great way to keep your kitty stimulated and engaged. She will have a great time hunting for the treats and toys you toss in for her to find. CatAmazing retails for under $20 on Amazon or available for purchase directly at the catamazing.com estore.

CatAmazing is  100% environmentally friendly.  It is lightweight, easy to assemble, and fun to play with.

There is a range of challenge built into the toy to keep your cat busy and entertained.

If the challenge in the CatAmazing Classic isn’t enough to keep your furbaby busy, step him up to the CatAmazing Epic for double the challenge and double the fun.

Food puzzles, whether I DIY them or purchase them, are always a tough sell for my cats because we don’t feed dry food and they don’t particularly care for hard treats.  Their favorite treats are moist meat treats or squeeze purees that don’t really fit in well with a foraging board that can’t be washed. But they do like to explore.

Throwing in some catnip and small toys got more interest going. I’m going to pick up some higher value treats and see what happens. In the meantime, the little cats can try and tear it up. I have a feeling this something Plush will try out in the middle of the night when no one is watching or competing for it. I  think it might be a big hit for my daughter’s ferrets as well.

Enriching your cat’s environment is important to keep her mentally and physically healthy. Give her a variety of experiences including the opportunity to hunt for her meals and explore her environment. Whether you DIY a puzzle toy (or a mega castle) for your cat or try out CatAmazing, let your Kitty indulge her predatory nature.  The mental stimulation and physical exercise she receives will not only keep her healthy and prevent behavior problems but watching her attempts to solve the puzzle will be quite entertaining for you as well.