4 DIY Cat Tunnel Plans You Can Make Today (With Pictures)
By Ashley Bates
Updated on
Our kitties enjoy tons of different fun activities, and there’s certainly no shortage of DIY projects you can find while scouring the web. If you’ve been wanting a new cat tunnel for your four-legged buddy but don’t necessarily want to rely on a store, you might try your hand at making one yourself.
We took the liberty of looking around for you. We found five nifty cat tunnels that will keep your cat busy. Most of them are easy as pie, but some require tools or mildly advanced skills. It’s up to you which would make your kitty the happiest. Let’s get into it!
The 4 DIY Cat Tunnel Plans to Try:
1. Outdoor Kitty Tunnel by Roeshel
| Materials: | Chicken wire or hardwire cloth, wood, nails, stain |
| Tools: | Hammer, drill, saw |
| Difficulty Level: | Advanced |
Does your kitty crave the outdoors? If you want your pet to be safe out there but also have some free reign of the backyard, the Outdoor Kitty Tunnel by Roeshel. It is a very complex design and will only work for specific skill levels—and living situations.
You can make this your own and simply follow her instructions as a guideline—or follow exactly, it’s up to you. She has a wooden fence that her tunnel attaches to, so it might not be feasible for every living situation. However, if you have the space, your little adventurer will surely love to explore it.
This is a perfect DIY for folks who can’t let their cats free roam but still want them to have some freedom. Most cats will absolutely love watching wildlife and checking out all the neighborhood goings-on.
If you have the grit and the time, it’s definitely a cat tunnel that will serve as entertainment for years to come.
2. DIY Cat Tunnel by NoLi
| Materials: | Old pants, clear straws, needle nose pliers, wire, thread |
| Tools: | Needles, needle nose pliers |
| Difficulty Level: | Easy |
The DIY Cat Tunnel is such a fun project to make that is inexpensive and ideal for beginners. NoLi goes over each step in a time-lapse in this YouTube video tutorial. It’s very simplistic and straightforward. Plus, we love that it’s a video, so you can follow along at your own pace—pressing pause as needed.
If you have an old pair of pants you aren’t using, it can turn into a cat tunnel that is cozy, dark, and soft—perfect for them to hide away or play. At the end of the video, you even get to watch her kitties explore their new creations.
Since this DIY works for any experience level, you could probably make it today with scraps at home today!
3. DIY Cat Tunnel by Haupanther
| Materials: | Chicken wire or hardwire cloth, wood, nails, stain |
| Tools: | Hammer, drill, saw |
| Difficulty Level: | Advanced |
If you’re looking for a DIY tunnel that is super easy and inexpensive, this one by Hauspanther may be a good option for you. It is incredibly cheap, if not free to make (permitting you have the materials on hand).
Using an old or cheap shower curtain, you can round up a few items and go to town. Depending on how hard your cats play, it will likely hold up for a while. However, extremely rough kitties might tear into it pretty quickly.
But this is another project on the list that is for everyone—no special skills needed. After gathering your materials, you simply follow the basic instructions, and you can have a new cat tunnel in just a few hours.
4. DIY Cardboard Kitty Cottage
| Materials: | Cardboard shipping tube, cardboard box, sisal rope, twine, cat toys |
| Tools: | Scissors, tape, box cutter, safety pins, wood glue |
| Difficulty Level: | Easy |
Do you need a use for those Amazon Prime boxes laying around your house? Your cat will take a good cardboard hideout. This isn’t a traditional tunnel, per se, but it definitely works as one. It also doubles as a lounger, play place, and safe haven. Introducing the DIY Cardboard Kitty Cottage.
Considering how inexpensive it is to create, you can make a new one each time one wears out. This gives your cat somewhere to sharpen their claws—so depending on their scratching potential, the life of this DIY will vary from cat to cat.
If you think your cat would enjoy it, you might be able to whip this up in an evening without even leaving your house.
Conclusion
So, are you gathering up your supplies as we speak? No matter which of these projects caught your eye, we have complete confidence you can make it a reality. These tunnels are fun and primarily simplistic, and each one will work better for particular cats—and particular humans.
Which one was your favorite, and how did it turn out?
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Featured Image Credit: tookapic, Pixabay
