Do you have a cat? Does he sometimes scratch where he’s not supposed to?
Ours may look angelic, but Bosco’s certainly got a naughty streak!
Cats need to scratch with their hind legs or bad things happen. But we don’t really want them “bunny kicking” our arms to shreds, either! That’s where the Kitty Kicker comes in – your cat will nuzzle the felty, catnippy wonder to his face and kick at the body with his hind legs! And the offset end seams means it rolls really easily, giving kitty something to chase as you throw it around the room.
Like with all downloadable patterns, make sure to print it at 100%! Unless your cat is very small, or utterly enormaincoon, in which case feel free to scale up or down. Also feel free to change around the felt piece – make it long and fringed, or spiked, or even replace it entirely with ribbons or yarn if you’d rather.
You will need:
1. Small piece of tough fabric like denim, twill, canvas, or home dec fabric (IKEA do great heavyweight fabrics for cheap!)
2. Small scraps of felt (optional)
3. Fiberfill, or scrap fabric for stuffing
4. Catnip!
5. Hand needle and thread
Instructions:
1. Cut out one of the main piece and two of the small felt pieces.
2. Mark the fabric at the “T” and triangle markings (I like to snip mine with scissor a tiny bit)
3. With right sides together, fold the main piece right sides together along the marked fold line. Starting from one edge, stitch 5/8” (1.5cm) away from the edge until you reach the first “T” mark. At the T, pivot and sew towards the fabric edge. At the other T mark, sew from the fabric’s edge to 5/8” in, then pivot and sew the rest of the seam 5/8” away as usual.
4. Insert a felt piece inside one of the short edges, with the scalloped edge inside
5. Stitch across this short edge, from your previous stitching to the fold.
6. On the other short edge, move the triangular notches so they are at the edges and the long seam is in the centre, and insert the other felt piece as before
7. Stitch across this short edge
9. Turn the kicker inside out, making sure the corners are pulled out fully. You should have a neat hole in the middle (where my fingers are).
10. Spread out a wad of fiberfill and sprinkle catnip on top (like oregano on a pizza!), then roll the fiberfil up and stuff it inside the opening
11. Repeat until the kicker is stuffed solid
12. Stitch the opening closed by hand
13. Delight as your kitty goes properly spazztastic! (See photo of our Bosco at the top of the page!)
We originally made these to help our friend Laura’s cats, Honey and Oscar, keep their claws worn down while they live their happy, indoor lives.
Honey and Oscar may look pretty chilled here, but that’s only because they kept going mental on their kickers in unphotogenic places (under the couch, behind the table, etc)!
Please send me photos if you make this, preferably photos with with kitties!