DIY Cat Toys: Refurbished Feather Wand

Materials for feather wand
Photo by Kate Tompkins

5 or 6 feathers

Flexible stick, 2 feet or so in length

Duct tape

Cut off a strip of duct tape four or five inches in length. Lay the bottoms of the feathers side by side at one end. Wrap feathers and tape around end of stick. Squash tape together at non-feather end for close fit.

It works better if one of the feathers is stiff—a crow feather, for example—so it makes an intriguing rustling noise when you rub it across the floor.

Attach feathers to tape
Photo by Kate Tompkins

 I was in a pet store once looking for more of those sparkly balls my cat loves to lose under the furniture when I saw the most amazing feather wand. It had two black, iridescent feathers and two long thin strips of feather boa in bright colours attached to it. What cat could resist?

Mine, apparently. While she loved the rustling noise the black feathers made if I rubbed the wand across the floor or walls or under furniture, the dangly bits didn’t interest her at all. So when one of the feathers broke and I decided to repair it, I threw out the dangly bits and used more feathers instead. She loves the new version, though I have to repair it every other week or so as the feathers get broken in play.

The finished product
Photo by Kate Tompkins

You should be able to find feathers and duct tape at your local dollar store. As for the stick, if you don’t have an existing feather wand to repair you can use an actual stick, though you want one that’s somewhat springy.