Looking for a great cat gift box? Here are five fantastic options your furry friend will love.

My Little Project: The Cat Gift Box

Alright, so the other day I was looking at my cat, Whiskers, just lounging around. Seemed a bit bored, you know? Same old routine. Stare out the window, nap, demand food. I thought, maybe I should shake things up a little bit. Didn’t want to spend a ton of money on some fancy new toy he’d probably ignore after five minutes. Cats are like that.

Then I remembered seeing those “cat subscription boxes” online. Looked nice, but again, the cost. And honestly, most of the fun for the cat seems to be the box itself. So, I figured, why not make my own “gift box”? Seemed easy enough.

First step, I needed a box. Found a perfect one from a recent online order. Not too big, not too small. Just a plain old cardboard box. Good start. Didn’t need anything fancy.

Next, I thought about what to put inside. Had to make it interesting, right? Otherwise, what’s the point? I rummaged through his existing toy pile, which is frankly ridiculous considering he only plays with like, two things consistently.

Here’s what I gathered up:

• A couple of those crinkly foil balls. Always a hit, for about three minutes.
• That one feather wand toy he kind of chewed the feathers off. Still good for batting around.
• A small baggie of his favorite treats. Can’t go wrong there.
• A little bit of catnip sprinkled on the bottom for extra excitement.
• And just for texture, I threw in some packing paper that came with the original box. Cats love weird paper sounds.

Didn’t really “arrange” it much. Just tossed it all in there. The goal wasn’t presentation; it was cat entertainment. Closed the flaps loosely, didn’t even tape it shut properly. Figured that would be part of the fun for him, figuring out how to get in.

Then came the big moment. I put the box down in the middle of the living room floor. Whiskers, naturally, eyed it with extreme suspicion from his perch on the sofa. Took him a good five minutes to even approach it. He circled it a few times, sniffed it intensely. Typical cat investigation.

He eventually nudged one of the flaps open with his head. Peered inside. Saw the crinkle ball, batted it once, then seemed more interested in the box itself. He started rubbing his face all over the corners. Then he tried to squeeze himself inside, which was pretty funny because he barely fit with all the stuff in there.

He pawed at the paper, ignored the feather wand completely (as expected), but did manage to fish out a treat eventually. Spent maybe ten minutes interacting with it? Then, of course, he got bored and went back to staring out the window.

Honestly, it wasn’t some huge success story. He didn’t play for hours. But for a zero-cost project using stuff I already had? It was alright. Gave him something new to sniff and poke at for a bit. And true to form, later that day I found him sleeping next to the box, not in it or playing with the toys. Cats, man. You just never know. But hey, it was a simple little thing I did, and it broke up the afternoon monotony for both of us, I guess.