The wand Pusur got for Christmas broke the second day, so I wanted to repair it. But before I got that far, I picked up a ribbon from a gift wrapping and attached that to the wand. Worked really well.

One wand (mine is 20 inches long and plastic, but can be other materials)
One silk ribbon. Mine is red, 1.5 cm in width and 33 inches long as it hangs off the end of the wand
Duct tape to secure the ribbon

The wand with the ribbon works very much like the cat charmer. The cat charmer is better (multicolor striped fleece, ultra light), but this is much better than any DIY wand I’ve tried before (sisal rope). What is better about the DIY wand is that it’s sturdy (Pusur has almost chewed off the end of the cat charmer ribbon), and you can replace the ribbon if your cat is the destructive sort.

So, where do you get the wand? Maybe you have a broken cat toy? If you don’t, look for branches off bushes or trees that work. I’ve had one I cut off a lilac bush for quite a while. They’re easier to skin during spring. If you have ideas for other ways to get wands, DIY, please let me know.

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I wanted to give my cat a toy for Christmas, but I knew he was easily bored, and it would take a very special toy to get him excited.

I finally found something I thought would work. It looks a lot like this wand.

It’s a wand with what looks like a long Christmas tree wreath. It’s plastic, with hot pink center and white tips. The wreath is built with a metal thread, so it wafts lazily, a bit like a cat’s tail. And the tip of the wreath has a few feathers with what I’d describe as a light weight. That way, the action is just right. And IT RUSTLES!!!!!

Pusur went wild.

And since he usually goes wild Christmas Eve with all the gift wrappings, I combined the wand with the paper. Instant hit. No risk of me getting clawed by accident, and the rustling combined with the rustling paper got him all worked up.

Poor guy didn’t want to get to bed. He kep looking at me late at night, hoping I’d come up with more fun…

If you want to buy your cat a toy like that, beware if your cat is the destructive type. The metal thread and plastic doesn’t taste that good. In fact, Pusur lets go quickly. He’s not the destructive type. He can keep toys for years without ruining them. But if yours is destructive, be careful exactly what materials, and how sturdy the wand is.

Update: The wand broke the second day, after I wrote this entry. Not because the cat is destructive, but because the wreath was made with metal thread. Metal that thin has a tendency to weaken if you twirl it around too much. A weakness in the design, would be my guess. I’m thinking of repairing it, and putting something else between the metal thread and the wand, to shore up the place where it would break a second time. Maybe a piece of string. But in the mean time, I accidentally made another wand out of a piece of ribbon and the wand.