Back in 2018, I began selling loose catnip from my garden under the brand “Kat’s Nip”. I’ve been trying to make cat toys to add to that collection for almost as long. Preferably sustainable ones.
But it’s a hard balance. Finding sustainable materials, turning them into a toy, and then selling it at a price that isn’t absolutely obscene has proven really difficult.
As much as I love gardening, sewing and other textile crafts don’t come as naturally to me. So over the years, I’ve talked to people and offered the challenge: a (preferably re-fillable) cat-toy that can be made and assembled quickly enough that it doesn’t cost $50 in labour.
Turns out: without slave labour, that’s not an easy ask.
Enter, felting
Over last year’s Christmas break, I took up needle felting and immediately saw the potential.
Wool is natural – and therefore biodegradable and can be composted at home. It’s also anti-microbial. It’s not a bad place to start.
The first felted mouse I made looked like a tampon. But the cats liked it. The problem was they absolutely destroyed it in 20 minutes.
And it looked like a tampon.
The second mouse I did took three hours to make – at a living wage, it would cost around $80 to purchase, before materials.
I might be able to bring that down now, but it was still pretty intricate, and it was clear some of my ideas were not going to work.
So the toys are fun. As you can see, cats like them.
But I hadn’t cracked re-filling them; they didn’t last long (at least around our crew); and the time it took to make meant the return was terrible.
Fluffy balls
The most simple shape to needle felt is a ball. It’s a basic building block of any needle-felted sculpture.
A few weeks ago I measured out 0.5g of catnip, put it in 2.5g of wool, and turned it into a ball. Then I gave it to the cats.
The prototype was destroyed, refilled and remade, destroyed again (this time by the dogs), and re-made again.
Success?!
Having (mostly) cracked the ‘time to assemble’ problem (they take 15-20 minutes each), I spent a rainy day making a bunch of them.
Then I set up a sales page and quietly released them to the internet. First on an Instagram story, then on a Bluesky post.
I sold out, and more. I made more. And here we are today – Fluffy Balls are officially part of the Kat’s Nip collection, they’re available in the store right now.
Possum prototype
After I’d sold out my entire stock and was working on the backlog, Richard posed an interesting idea: fluffy balls made out of possum fur.
We’ve got sacks of the stuff. We’ve been collecting it as part of our pest-control efforts for years. And we thought the cats might enjoy the smell of possum too.
Now, I’ve felted a few odd things – I was given some sacks of alpaca wool and I’ve felted that. I’ve even felted our dog Hine’s fur just to see if it was possible (it is). But I hadn’t pulled out the possum fur to give it a try.
After fulfilling the backlog of orders, and making a few extras just-in-case, I got to work on a possum prototype.
And I’d love to say it was a success, that you can buy them now. But it took over an hour to felt the ball itself. Each time I try a new material to felt, I need to get a feel for it.
I hated felting possum fur. I haven’t poked myself with the needle so much in a long time, it takes forever to felt together. Meanwhile, all the catnip fell out over me with each stab of the needle.
When I finally did get a fluffy ball made from possum fur, I offered it to the cats and they honestly couldn’t care less. Sometimes that happens. So I’ve offered it a few more times since, and nope – they reckon we should stick to wool.
It was a good idea, but less good in practice I guess. Ah well, I tried.
100% biodegradable
I think this is the bit I’m most proud of introducing these cat toys – they’re not gonna put more plastic into the world.
When your cat destroys the fluffy ball (and trust me, they probably will), you can simply pop it into the compost or bury it in the garden.
There is a small chance you could grow your very own catnip plant, as there may be seeds in the catnip. Otherwise the wool and the catnip are 100% natural products, and therefore entirely biodegradable.
So, Kat’s Nip Fluffy Balls are officially A Thing. You can get a toy for your cat filled with home-grown, hand-picked, naturally dried catnip below, or in the store.
