Cat Toys - How Do I Make The Tunnels More Stable?

[KarenKat]

All three of our cats seem to love tunnels - hiding in them, ambushing cats that are hiding in them, running through them to pounce on prey that is in no way near the tunnel. The problem is, I bought one of those Jackson Galaxy brand tunnels and it rolls around everywhere. Is there a way people anchor these so the cats feel safe running through them?

I saw that he also sells a "hub" that the tunnel zips into, but it's $45. Any good hacks out there instead?

Base Camp Combo: Cat Crawl & Hub

 

[Purr-fect]

If its for indoor use, you could buy a sono tube for pouring concrete for fence or gate posts. They come in different diameters, including 10 inch diameter sizes. They are made out of tough carboard and available at homedepot, lowes, any building supply place. You could connect it to a large cardboard box and cut another hole in the side of the box for the cats to enter.

 

[Kieka]

I tend to let them roll. Half the fun is in them being unpredictable.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Are they the type of tunnel that already has some string ties or ribbons sewn onto them, on the tunnel ends? If so, try tying one end of the tunnel(s) to a dining room chair... as I do know that many cats love darting underneath and through chair legs anyway, so a hooked-up tunnel would be par for the course, so to speak.

And if your tunnels do not have ribbons or ties on the ends so that you can tie them up to a non-moving object for stability, you can make ties of your own and sew them on there yourself.

 

[KarenKat]

I like the variation in solutions! They do have Velcro ties on the end for collapsing it for storage ... I'll give the chair leg a try I think. The instability was discouraging them from entering sometimes. This will leave one unpredictable end and one predictable end.

Maybe I'll even drape a towel over that chair, make a nice sniper cave ...

 

[goingpostal]

I've not used the tunnels but long shipping boxes are very popular tunnels at my house, sturdy enough and I can cut holes wherever I want and hang toys in them.

 

[fionasmom]

I tend to let them roll. Half the fun is in them being unpredictable.

Jamie thinks it is a laff riot when his rolls. He also dives into it and slides across the hardwood floor, often with questionable consequences like landing in a water dish, but he loves it to be in freefall.

 

[1 bruce 1]

Our agility club uses sand bags with heavy duty straps on each and in the middle, but most cats don't do as much damage as dogs do.
Anything you could find that can be weighed down should work, if your cats like high speed chases something on each side that has a handle would be good, you can use a strap to attach them to one another which would weight it down pretty much past the point of being able to be moved at all.