DIY toy guide
Cardboard Treat-Dispensing Wheel
A spinning forager that rewards a curious paw
Turn a couple of round cardboard discs into a wall-leaning wheel that drops a treat each time your cat bats it round.
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Time
- 30 min
- Cost
- Free
🧺 You will need
- 2 identical circles of stiff cardboard, about 20 cm across
- A short cardboard tube for the hub
- A skewer or pencil for the axle
- Tape and scissors
- A handful of your cat's usual treats or kibble
🔧 How to make it
- Cut two matching cardboard circles and mark a ring of small pockets around one face of each.
- Cut short flaps to form little cups or pockets that will hold a treat around the rim.
- Sandwich a short tube between the two discs at the centre to act as a hub and tape firmly.
- Push a skewer or pencil through the centre so the wheel can spin freely, and rest the ends on a stable box frame or lean it in a shallow tray.
- Load a treat into each rim pocket and show your cat how a gentle paw makes the wheel turn and drop a reward.
💡 Tips
- Start with the treats sitting loosely so early spins pay off quickly and build your cat's confidence.
- Use lightweight cardboard so a small paw can move it without frustration.
- Wipe or rebuild it when it gets grubby — it costs nothing to make another.
Safety: Supervise the first few sessions and make sure the skewer ends are blunt or capped so they cannot poke your cat. Remove and replace the wheel if it starts to shred, so pieces are not chewed or swallowed.
📝 Notes
Slow, foraging-style feeding turns an ordinary treat into several minutes of mental work, which helps bored or overweight indoor cats burn energy and eat more slowly. The whole thing is built from recycling, so you can make a fresh one whenever the old wheel wears out.