Cat Toy Massager

This cat toy removes shedding fur, massages, and provides cheap entertainment for your favorite cat. The dangling cat toy is fun for playtime. The stiff bristles massage your cat as she goes under or beside the arch. The bristles also snag loose pet fur. Intended primarily for cats, the toy could also be used with other types of pets.

I made this inexpensive toy for our resident cat, Bubbles. Bubbles was rescued from a shelter as a kitten, and she was very ill. She had caught a respiratory illness at the shelter, and had a runny nose, and her tiny nose would blow bubbles when she wheezed.

To make the cat toy massager, you will need:

· Two toilet bowl brushes

· A lid from a plastic storage box

· Various tools: scissors, utility knife, pliers, hammer

· Duck tape

· A small (1-2 inch) cat toy, and piece of string

I suppose that you could be really cheap, and recycle some old toilet brushes, but I decided to splurge, and buy two new brushes at a discount store for $1.50 each. My lid was from a discarded plastic box that I already owned.

Hit the handles of the brushes with a hammer, to release the brushes. Poke two holes in the lid, about 12 inches apart.

Twist the metal wire ends of the brushes together. You need to be very strong to do this step, or have a strong friend. If you just broke up with your body-building boyfriend, do not despair. Just use a heavy pair of pliers. Push the other ends into the two holes of the plastic lid. Bend the wire back underneath the lid. Brushes should be on the top of the lid, and the wire ends underneath. The brushes should be bent into a nicely shaped arch.

Add duck tape underneath to hold the wire securely to the bottom of the lid. Wrap duck tape around the wire connection on the top of the arch, so that the cat will not be harmed by the wire ends. Add a cat toy with a piece of string to the center of the arch.

We gave our new toy to Bubbles, and attempted to recruit her as a cat model. As always, we are cautious regarding the legalities of having a blog, so Bubbles was asked to sign a model release. This feline was not very cooperative. I obviously have no future in the field of cat photography, and Bubbles desperately needs to take modeling classes. At first, Bubbles expressed no interest in her new toy. After a long stretch of visual inspection, she did finally start to paw at the dangling toy. Frustrated, and with a dying battery, I gave up my photography attempts. Later that night, when the lighting was too poor for photography, Bubbles kept all her sleeping housemates entertained with the gleeful noises of playing with her new toy. Sigh. This is the life of being owned by a cat.

Come visit Bubbles, and her minions, at www.cheapDIYprojects.com