Do you like making things? Do you want to help homeless animals? If the answer to both of those questions is yes, then you may want to put a little pawprint on your calendar for July 21st. It’s National Craft for Your Local Shelters Day! This is an excellent way to do something to help the sweet pets that are languishing in shelters, hoping someone will adopt them. It can also be a great rainy-day project for kids! Here, a vet lists some things that you can make for your shelter.
Rope Toy
Fido loves playing Tug O War! It only takes a couple of minutes to turn old tee shirts or towels into rope toys for shelter pups. First, cut the cloth into thin strips, and braid them together. Use different colored materials to make them look nice. Then, braid the braids together, and tie the whole thing off with a big knot. You can also incorporate a tennis ball for extra tail wags.
Catnip Mice
Get a big bag of loose catnip, and some fabric. If you want to go all-out, you can make these shaped like mice. But here’s a secret: kitties really don’t care if their toys are actually shaped like anything. You can also just make little squares, and stuff those. They’re purrfect either way!
Kitty Tent
You can make a really cute kitty tent out of an old tee shirt and a wire hanger in just a few minutes. You’ll make the neck into the ‘door’ and then use the hanger as support. This one is great for timid kitties, who feel safer in enclosed spaces.
Cat Tower
Get an old wooden stepladder, and attach some smooth boards onto the steps to widen them out into kitty platforms. Make sure that there are no sharp edges or splinters sticking out. Then, cover the whole thing in carpet or sisal rope. Done!
Crafts For Smaller Pets
There are also plenty of bunnies, birds, and pocket pets in shelters. Little pets need toys too! You can make playthings for these smaller animals, using things like paper cardboard tubes, popsicle sticks, shoeboxes, and even plain copy paper. For example, you can turn an old toilet-paper tube into a little ball by cutting it into rings and reassembling it. Look online for more ideas and instructions.
P lease feel free to contact us, your vet clinic, for all of your pet’s veterinary care needs. We’re here to help!