DIY Yarn Ball For Cats

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser, Mars, Incorporated. All opinions are mine alone. #IAMSVisibleDifference #IAMSCat #CollectiveBias

I’ve been talking a lot lately about how I’m trying to get healthier by eating better foods and exercising more. As a pet parent I realize that it’s important for my cats to be healthier as well. I can do this by choosing more quality foods for them and giving them toys that encourage exercise.

I recently started feeding my cats IAMS™ because a lot of my friends had been sharing about the visible difference they saw in their cats. IAMS™ cat foods have a customized mix of protein and carbs which contribute to healthy energy levels. Not only that but their foods contain ingredients which promote excellent skin and coat health and also ingredients to aid in their ability to absorb nutrients. Boomer and Peaches seem to really love the food and I feel confident that I’m giving them a healthier option.

In addition to the new food, I decided to try my hand at making some cat toys for them. I thought a colorful yarn ball would be fun to make. This toy will increase their exercise levels because as it rolls around they will have to chase it around the house.

Materials needed:

  • Yarn (2 or more colors)
  • Small to Medium Sized Styrofoam Ball
  • Scissors

Directions:

Cut the yarn in to pieces about a foot long.

Take two pieces of different color yarn and tie one end together.

Continue tying pieces together one end at a time, alternating colors.

Once you have enough yarn tied together wrap part of it around the Styrofoam ball and tie it in a knot, making sure the string is tight around the Styrofoam ball.

Wrap the string around the ball, again and again, varying the direction the string is going so it zigzags across other pieces in different directions.

Continue wrapping it around the ball until you run out of string.

To finish, loop the end string under a few pieces of string on the ball and tie into a knot at the end, securing the end to another piece of string already attached to the ball.

I left some of the Styrofoam showing since my arthritis in my hands was hurting but you can add more string if you want a more complete look. You can also just use a multi-color roll of yarn to start with but I like how it looked tied together with all the pieces sticking out to encourage my cats to play with it. Boomer goes crazy when he sees a shoelace or the hem coming undone on a blanket so I knew he’d love all the knots and strings on it!

Want to start your cat on a healthier diet like I did? Try an IAMS™ diet and look for the visible difference their quality food can make. You can find IAMS™ Proactive Health Indoor Weight & Hairball Care Cat Food with Chicken and other IAMS™ cat food at Walmart.

Also make sure to enter the sweepstakes for a chance to win IAMS™ for a year or Walmart eGift Cards! #IAMSVisbleDifferenceSweepstakes 

 
#IAMSVisbleDifferenceSweepstakes

A healthy cat is a visibly happy cat. How do you make sure your cat is healthy and happy?

PURRfect Cat Food Storage And Feeding Schedule

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #NutrishCatCrafts #CollectiveBias

Last Summer I unexpectedly became a fur mommy when we adopted two kittens. I had been wanting to get a cat for a while but hadn’t had the chance to find one so when a friend posted on Facebook about two kittens looking for a home I jumped at the opportunity to help. I hadn’t ever thought of getting more than one feline friend but I couldn’t split them up so we took both in. We named one Peaches and one Boomer and they are quite the little characters.

I remember the day we were going to get them I headed to the store and bought hundreds of dollars worth of items. We got a cat tree, food, litter, and two of many other things I viewed as necessities. Since we needed so much at once we stayed on the cheaper end of everything and that included cat food.

I didn’t realize until recently just how different cat foods were, or the benefit of some over the others. I just assumed it was all the same and bought whatever was on sale. When I heard about the new line of cat food by Rachael Ray I was intrigued and wanted to try it for my cats. The Rachael Ray™ Nutrish® cat food line is dedicated to “Real Recipes. Real Ingredients. Real Good,” which means whole ingredients you can see for a taste your cat will love. I decided to gradually introduce the food by incorporating it into their current food over the course of 7-10 days and slowly replaced their current food with Rachael Ray™ Nutrish® cat food until it was completely switched over.

I picked some of the cat food up while I was shopping for food at my local grocery store, Jewel-Osco. Though Rachael Ray™ Nutrish® cat food is sold at a variety of retailers and online at Amazon.com, I like being able to just pick it up when I’m getting my weekly groceries.

There were a number of choices of dry food so I got the Zero Grain Food for Cats (Dry) Chicken & Potato Recipe. U.S farm-raised chicken is the #1 ingredient in it and it has zero grains, gluten, fillers, artificial preservatives, colors or flavors or meat-by-product in it. This high-quality protein provides essential nutrients to help support healthy organs & lean muscle mass which I thought was especially perfect for Peaches who has gotten a little chunky.

I usually just purchase dry food but noticed the wet cat food on the shelf as well and decided to buy some to give to Peaches and Boomer as an occasional treat. Like the dry cat food, the Grain Free Wet Food for Cats has no grains, artificial flavors or artificial preservatives, meat by-products, or fillers. They come in fun flavors like Chicken & Shrimp Pawttenesca™, Chicken & Salmon Catterole™, Chicken Purrcata®, Paw Lickin’ Chicken & Liver, Tuna Purrfection™, Ocean Fish-a-licious®, Lip Smackin’ Sardine ‘N Mackerel, Ocean Fish & Chicken Catch-iatore, Chicken Lovers Variety Pack and Ocean Lovers Variety Pack.

 I liked that I could see real ingredients, like the chunks of meat, through the clear bottomed containers. I chose four different flavors that all sounded like they would be delicious for my fur babies.

One other thing I love is that Rachael’s personal proceeds go to Rachael’s Rescue, which was created to help shelter pets in need. To date, she has donated over $14 million. This money has gone toward food, medical supplies and treatments for these unfortunate animals. It makes me feel good that my purchase helps such a great cause.

I have tried a few different ways of storing my cat food but found the best way was putting it in a large, rolling plastic container that I could keep in my kitchen. This makes feeding the cats very convenient because the food is right nearby and the container it’s in keeps it fresh since I heard cat food can go stale just like our food can if it’s left open.

I grew tired of the plain plastic container so I decided to decorate it a bit. I bought some washi tape that went with my kitchen decor colors and used it to add a little fun to my container. I also decided to make a feeding chart to go on the container since my kids do great with their chore chart and this would be easy to incorporate with that. With Jacob, my oldest, waking up before everyone else he normally feeds the cats but sometimes he forgets and has to be reminded. This chart helps keep track of if and when the cats were fed and who is supposed to feed them each day so I never have to wonder if they were already given their food and fresh water or if one of the kids needs a reminder to do so.

To create a special food container for your cats you will need the following:

  • Large container on wheels (additionally you can also get a smaller container as well to hold wet food, treats and other cat necessities)
  • Small dry erase board (find one that comes with sticky adhesive and magnets)
  • Washi tape
  • Cardboard cutout letters
  • Dry erase marker
  • Double sided tape
You can decorate the outside of the container however you’d like. I chose to keep it simple with a handful of strips of the washi tape. To make the feeding chart that goes on the outside of the container do the following:
  • Choose what you want your feeding chart to say and then cover the cardboard letters with washi tape
  • Use the double sided tape to stick your letters down at the top of the dry erase board
  • Use your dry erase marker to write the days of the week, add boxes for AM and PM feeding, and who is feeding the cats each day
  • If you’d like you can put washi tape along the outside of the board, like I’ve done, to decorate the board even more
  • Once the board is ready attach the magnets on the back using the sticky adhesive
  • Put the second half of the magnets on the container to match up with the magnets on the back of the board
Now you have a rolling food center for your cats and an easy way to keep track of their feedings! You can find Rachael Ray™ Nutrish® cat food at your local retailer or on Amazon.com.
Want more fun tutorials and cat related content? Check out the Rachael Ray™ Nutrish® Pinterest page!