Kitten Stork

Review by K. Barnes:

The turbo scratcher is simply a plastic circular base with a ball that rolls around the track on the outer edge. It has cardboard corrugating medium as a clawing area on the inner part of the circle. It is very simple, yet highly effective.
I don’t know why, but this has been a success with every cat — young and old — that I have seen around it (15 different cats). Once they get the ball moving, it really flies around the track! The younger cats manage to pull the ball out of it within 10 minutes, but they have a blast in those ten minutes. The smartest cats realize that it is more fun when it does stay in the track, though. A word of advice: don’t put this in or near your bedroom. If your cat feigns disinterest when you first bring it home, watch out if you are a light sleeper — a couple of hours into sleep you will wake with a start to the sound of the ball whipping around the track over and over and over again.
The two 14-year old cats that I currently reside with love this thing. They aren’t usually interested in toys (in our presence), but did manage a very disinterested tapping of the turbo ball if they were sitting on the mat anyway. These senior cats’ main interests in the Turbo Scratcher are 1) using it as a meditation/sleeping spot — it is so much more sophisticated than sitting ON the floor, and 2) actually scratching it (and these two are declawed!).
The fact that the ball comes out of the track so easily is a small disappointment (granted the cats do have to grab it with both paws to pull it out). You can easily pop the ball back into place, but some of us have too many places that the cats can hide such a small item.
Besides that, after 4 years, all our cats still use it daily. As a toy, well, its success may depend on the age and personality of the cat. As a scratching post, however, it is the only one I have ever bought that all the cats consistently used as such (though they do still get use out of the couch, too). I have been a “cat caretaker” for many many years so I do have some experience with several different types of scratching posts and this is by far the best.

Review by MattthewsMom:

I’ve been using the TurboScratcher since it came out in the early 80s as a toy and scratching item for my cats. I have NEVER paid for than about -13 for it, and the inserts used to be available from WalMart for 3/. The catnip helps get the attention for the scratching part, and once the see how much fun it is to scratch, they rarely go back to carpet or furniture. I’ve had more than one cat that never ONCE went for furniture because I made sure he/she had her own turbo-scratcher from the moment they arrived in my house. I have one that is a light blue from back in the 80s when everything was light blue and mauve. If left in the sun a bit too long, they do tend to get a little brittle, but while they feel a little flimsy, they are perfect for the cats. For those without carpet — use the rubber shelf or drawer liner cut in a square or circle a couple of inches bigger than the whole toy and it doesn’t move at all. I have never had any problem on any surface until I recently moved into a house with handscraped hardwood floors that are uneven. This trick worked wonders there and I suspect it would have been more stable on the tile floor in our last house as well, but our cat like to sleep on it in the window in the sun just as much as playing or scratching it. I recommend one to any cat that I adopt out at rescue, and for my foster babies, I give one to the family that adopts them because that’s what I teach them to scratch on and I don’t want them developing bad habits of scratching furniture or carpet in their new home — where they are often trying to cope with the unfamiliar. I’ve been told by my adoptive families that this was a really great thing to send esp since it was familiar and they were surprised at how much it was used. Before replacing the cardboard circle, make sure you turn it over and use both sides! if they seem a little bored and you are out of catnip, just pic up a little bag of it and it will totally get their attention again.

Review by skategirl:

I have two cats, and these springs are their favorite. They just love batting these around and chasing them, and they never get sick of these inexpensive toys. I suggest buying extras, as these springs get lost pretty easily. I used to buy them at a local store and then was disappointed when the store stopped carrying them. Luckily, I found them on Amazon! These springs end up under furniture, doors, kitchen appliances, and the washer and dryer. You can fetch them out with a yardstick, but these things do have a knack for disappearing. I usually ration them out to my cats until all have disappeared, and then every once in a while, I get out the yardstick and go searching for the lost ones.

Review by Michsooh:

My cats love these. I ordered four sets because they go missing for days at a time, only to end up in a cache behind a chair or in the basement. My cats will play with these for hours. Our favorite game is fetch. I toss it, the two little ones bat it about a bit, then one of them brings it back to me for the next round. Having a small black cat walk up to me with one of these sticking up in the air makes all the harder parts of the day just fade away.

Review by venatrix:

Like any cat owner, I’ve wasted my fair share of money on cat toys that produced no reaction from the feline in question, so it was with some trepidation that I clicked the “add to shopping cart” button for this item. The two things that convinced me to go ahead with the purchase were my guilt at leaving my cat unstimulated all day when I’m at work, and the veterinarian’s insistence that “tubby boy” become a little less tubby.

So, I got the pieces out of the box and messed about with different shapes. The aforementioned feline was trying to play with the track before I even had it fully assembled. The figure-eight set up is the most successful, at least, so far. I’m not sure if the cat will leave it alone long enough to let me try other configurations.

For a change, I’m delighted to have spent my money on a toy that makes us both happy. I’m not saying that every cat will take to this, but it’s definitely worth considering if you have a cat that needs additional mental and physical stimulation.

Review by Kathleen Rose Maier:

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RNC3VP2LO9UKP Bergan Turbo Track Cat Toy, Green

Review by Chicago Lawn:

I have a kitty that I adopted at the local Animal Welfare League where she’d been abandoned with a note saying her previous owner had passed away and she (the cat,) needed a new home. She’s almost six years old, had been declawed, and had no desire to play with anything other than to bite me whenever the mood struck her. Now, however, she -LOVES- to play with her squirrel, tossing it, stalking it, chasing it, doing the old rear paw burn out with it, so I have to say that I am impressed. It’s the first thing she looks for in the a.m. when she wakes up, even before nagging me for her morning food. I’d bought her freshly cut catnip, fresh-growing catnip and some of the packaged stuff and she ignored it all. Since I put some of the cheap, dry stuff into the squirrel’s catnip pouch, she has even learned to enjoy the catnip. I’m happy for her, as she had done little other than sleep and eat since I adopted her. She’s finally being a kitty again.

Review by Sydney Edelbrock:

I have two cats and they both love Secret Squirrel. He has a velcro tummy that you can open up and stuff full of catnip. He comes with two little catnip “tea bags” to stuff in him, but my cats prefer the loose leaf catnip inside him. That way if you give him a good rub between your hands the catnip is refreshed and smells new. They like to carry him all over the house and toss him in the air. It’s definitely one of their favorite toys. They also enjoy the chipmonk version of the same toy.

Review by Sam Davis:

This has been the most used toy by our Maine Coon cats and kitten. The largest cat loves to play fetch with his “bird”. Great exercise for the pet and the pet owner. We have bought several and they have not grown tired of playing with them. Highly recommend for active cats who just want to have fun.

Review by puravida:

My cat really enjoys playing with this toy. The only downside is that the feathers come loose easily.

Review by D. Baker:

We recently purchased a “Da Bird” cat toy, as it was recommended on the ASPCA website. We’ve had the toy for about 1 week and used it approximately a dozen times with our two 1.5 year old cats. We were initially very pleased with the toy – our cats loved it and we were excited to find a simple and affordable toy that provided so much enjoyment and exercise.

However, last night as I was using Da Bird with our cats, I felt some sharp fibrous needles on my hand where I was holding the wand. Upon closer inspection it was apparent that the wand, made of fiberglass, was splintering and had left hundreds of shards of fiberglass in the palm of my hand and fingertips. The shards are painful and tiny. Removal was only possible with tweezers and a flashlight, even then only the largest shards could be extracted from my hand.

Needless to say, we were quite alarmed by the hazard Da Bird was causing, not only to humans, but more seriously, to our cats. One of our cats is especially fond of playing with and chewing on the wand end of other `fishing pole’ type cat toys we have had. Had he gotten a paw or his mouth on the splintering fiberglass wand, he would have been in serious danger.

Upon doing a simple Google search of “Da Bird fiberglass splinter” we came across several product review sites and online cat forums where people had suffered from the fiberglass splinters, however these warnings are not obvious when buying the item for the first time. Given that Da Bird’s manufacturer, Go Cat, prides itself on “Quality interactive cat toys handcrafted in the USA”, we highly recommend that they issue a warning to resellers of the toy, post a warning on their website and immediately change to a more safe and durable material to prevent serious injuries to cats and humans. We have also contacted the ASPCA and Go-Cat (the maker) in hopes that they will take steps to improve the safety of this product.

Review by F. Pak:

This toy is one of the best items I have ever bought for my cats. They’re pretty finicky and they haven’t taken to other toys or cat items. This toy they love. They both perk up whenever I bring it out and are willing to play with each other during this time (they typically stay as far away from each other as possible). They love the noise it makes in the air which is supposed to mimic the sound of a bird flying.

I recommend putting it away in the closet because the cats will destroy the bird attachment fairly quickly. They love tearing it to pieces on its own. I also recommend getting the value pack since I’ve already had to attach a replacement feather and it’s only been about 2 months since my purchase. (This might be because I didn’t put it in the closet.)

I have no regrets and I will be always purchasing this toy for my cats and any future cats that come into my life.

Review by Eduardo Nietzsche:

This is ESSENTIAL for truly enjoying your cat(s) and having them truly enjoying themselves…it’s a cat toy that they’ll actually USE, not one that just looks good in the store and then collects dust as soon as you get it home.

I discovered it on the cats dot about dot com forum, and it’s totally lived up to all the raves it got there. (BTW, that forum is an excellent resource for cat info in general, especially cat food information.)

The key with using DaBird is to occasionally let your cat capture the feather prey so it won’t get frustrated and stop responding altogether.

Also it’s good to make the cat STALK the DaBird…put the feathers behind something and just make noise with it, soon your cat will approach it on tiptoe, crouch, and spring. It’s a beautiful sight to watch all the predatory instincts come out in your otherwise normally subdued domesticated kitty.

Using this toy say 15 minutes a day with your cat will provide it with plenty of exercise, mental as well as physical, and this in turn will keep your cat happier and less likely to vent its energy on your plants, rug, etc. It can also provide YOU with some exercise, too! Sure beats watching TV all the time…

I’d give this TEN stars if I could!

Review by Amazing Larry:

Before introducing them to Da Bird, my two indoor cats were none too impressed with any of the myriad of cat toys I had purchased for them. In fact, they were much more enthralled by a plain old drawstring that I had removed from a pair of sweatpants than by any of the various mice, balls, or wand toys that I futilely dangled in front of them. Da Bird, however, has them in an absolute frenzy, so much so that they know it by name. If I even motion toward the living room, where we typically engage in our Da Bird sessions, the cats will come darting in immediately in eager anticipation. I don’t know if it’s the the colorful feathers, or the spiral flying motion, but something about Da Bird drives my cats wild. I never before had heard my cats growl or hiss, until the first time they each proudly captured the bird in their jaws. They will chase, chew, and bat at the thing until exhaustion, and not boredom, brings and end to the play time. Many thanks to the inventor of this toy, for it has allowed me to throw out my cluttered congeries of useless mice and balls, although I’m still hanging on to the sweatpants drawstring.

A note of caution…If you want each bird to last as long as possible, it’s a good idea to stash the toy away after use. Otherwise, you may return to find a shabby, featherless, and rather un-aerodynamic object. Even with proper storage, I still replace the bird about once every 3 weeks or so due to wear. Also, I found that the string needs to be replaced every so often as well. Rather than purchase an entire new wand, I simply bought a spool of elastic stretchrite thread and replace it myself.

Review by Ana Mardoll:

FroliCat Bolt Laser Toy / B0021L8W6K

I wasn’t too certain about buying this toy for my cats’ fifth birthday. I knew that they like to chase lasers, so that wasn’t the problem – my concern was that they don’t like to STOP chasing lasers. Our last foray into laser pointer territory ended with me letting the laser dot “escape” through an air vent in the wall, thinking that would end the game – no, they just sat vigil under the air vent for five hours. I didn’t want a repeat of that.

On the other hand, they are housecats and seem pretty bored and listless, and they definitely need the exercise, so I broke down and bought this… and could not be happier.

The best thing about this laser toy is that if has a mechanical ‘servo’ sound – a kind of light-pitched soft whirring and turning whenever it is in operation. The sound is soft enough to not really bother a human (although you probably wouldn’t want to sit next to it while you watch TV), but it is distinct enough for a cat to hear it in the other room and come running. The practical upshot of this is that your cats figure out really quickly that the magical laser dot ONLY appears when the whirring noise turns on. So if the whirring noise goes off, the laser is gone, and they don’t hunt endlessly for it. Indeed, my most active cat has figured out that the laser dot COMES from the whirring thing and will lead me to its spot on the table and demand that I push the button to activate it. Awesome.

I suppose the other best thing about this toy is that it works. It’s silly that has to be a product ‘plus’, but such is the state of the cat toy industry these days, I suppose. But boy, does this thing work! It takes 4 AA batteries, and I recommend they be fully charged (try Eneloop batteries, you won’t be disappointed) in order for the light to be as bright as possible. We have the toy sitting on a coffee table, with the adjustable mirror set to the perfect angle so that the light appears on the carpet a few feet away. The light swirls in slow patterns, jumps in fast leaps, and holds still for a few seconds so that my lazy calico can leap on it and cover it with both paws. The best part is that the cats never seem to get frustrated with not being able to ‘catch’ the light – they seem to recognize that it’s a game, not real prey, and that’s fine with me. My tuxedo always plays, but sometimes my calico just likes to lay on the floor and watch the light. Thy both come running at full speed, though, when they hear that motor start.

The toy has a fifteen minute shut-off point so you can turn this on and leave the room without worrying that your cats will make themselves sick chasing a dot for hours. It’s as easy as putting the batteries in (with an easy sliding-door chamber – no tricky maneuvering required), setting it down on a table, and pressing a button to turn on. If you want it to shut off before the 15 minutes are up, you press the button again. So easy! I am seriously considering buying more of these – one for each room in the house.

Review by JA in Pgh:

This toy is much appreciated by the cat who uses it. The Frolicat is very easy to use: just load the batteries, push the power button, and it runs for 15 minutes. You can adjust the mirror to change the range of the light play. You can’t change the speed at which the light moves. When I ordered this toy, I looked for information about batteries–what size, how many, and whether they were included. I did not find this information, and when I got my order, I was dismayed to find that the 4 AA batteries required by the toy were not included. If I had known I would have ordered a pac with the toy.