Da Bird
Made by: Go Cat
Found at: Petsmart (Offline. This is where I got it. Also it can be Ordered from the company website.
Price: 10.00 + tax (Petsmart) 5.95 + Shipping. I don't know how much the shipping is from their site, but when looking around at other places, I found the "Shipping" costs often upped the price to where it was just as cheap for me to buy it from Petsmart. They also sell "refill" kits, so you don't have to buy a new wand every time. Refills vary in price. 6.99 at Petsmart, less on their website.
Socalization: This is a cat/human bonding toy.
Action style: Flying style.
Catnip Enhanced: No.
General Information: Da Bird is often advertised as the greatest cattoy ever and it's not all hot air. With Jesse's love of birds and feathers, I hesitated, but with the reputation, I decided it would be worth the money. Surely, a decent brand name, and the price they were charging, it would be a good investment.
Nope.
In many ways, it lived up to what they said. It does flutter about. Jesse went wild for it, doing leaps and backflips for it. Had I been willing to never let him grab it in his mouth, it would have been fine. But, as anyone with a cat knows, you can't expect them to jump, leap, play about without grabbing the toy on occation.
The moment the toy got into his mouth, it started falling apart. This was about seven minutes after taking it out of the package. The feathers are glued into a red, plastic cap. Jesse was able to rip the feathers right out of the red, plastic thing. I looked it over, and decided that maybe the glue was too weak. I reglued it with a stronger, better, glue and let it sit for 48 hours. The stronger glue was better, until he ripped it again, this time tearing the red covering.
I thought that perhaps I'd gotten a defective one, so I bought one of the refills. The same thing happened. I'm willing to say it might be that Jesse is impossibly rough on toys, as many people claim to love this toy, even folks who raise Bengal or Savanah cats. But, with Jesse, I have to be so very, very careful not to let him get a good grip on it, or risk it being destroyed in seconds. You can't let a cat play with a toy and not "catch" it once in awhile, it's not fair to the cat. (Some day, I'll review lazer cattoys and discuss that issue in greater detail.) I have tried dropping the toy as soon has he gets a good grip on it, to avoid unecessary yanking, but he drops it on the floor and holds it with his paws and yanks on it, doing the same thing.
Cat Opinions
Chrissy: It makes a noise that I actually find interesting. A flipping sound through the air. Once I even woke up to watch it! Were I a much younger cat, I might even take a swipe at it.
Goten Another toy that I'd love if Mommy and Daddy would just throw Jesse in a closet before letting me play with it. The flipping around is really interesting and I love to watch it too. It's fun to chase a bit, but it makes Jesse go crazy and become a wildcat. I can't get near him when he's playing with with it. Not that I want to get near him when he's not playing with it, but when he is... well, let's just say that it would be a great way to get rid of one of my nine lives.
Jesse Wow, this toy is amazing! It's just like a real bird, except that it's all feathers, no warm, soft, gooshy body. But it flips through the air and makes me feel like I'm only eight weeks old, instead of eight months. I just wish Mommy wouldn't take it away from me all the time. Or, that it would just last longer!
Rating:
Value:
While the idea of a stick that "refills" can be put on is a great one, the value just isn't there. Yes, I can reuse the stick, but the refills are over six bucks, unless I can buy them online in a large enough quantity to make the shipping price worth it.
Overall cat enjoyment Jesse =
Wonderful, wonderful fun, if it just lasted longer, it would be perfect!
Goten =
While I'm not a leaper, like Jesse, I have to admit, this is a pretty good toy for swatting at.
Chrissy =
The noise is so aluring. No, I won't play with it, but the noise does keep me amused.
Rebuying Chances
Tough call on this one. I give it three, because if I can find a way to get the refills cheaper, if I can get enough money together so I can buy a huge box of refills and get them at a cheap price, I'll do it. But I'm not going to keep paying seven dollars or so for a toy that just doesn't last, or that I have to be so careful about when I play with him.
Human Amusement
This is a great toy to watch a cat enjoy. However, a lot of the pleasure is outweighed by this paranoia to keep the toy "safe" from being destroyed.
Safety Fairly Safe The package warns that this toy should be played with under supervision and I agree with that. However, it's not so risky that I'm afraid if I left the cats alone with it for a few minutes, I'm risking killing them. Using the toy as directed and you'll be fine.
Final Word I guess I do understand why the toy has a great reputation, but overall, I was very disappointed. I can't have the only vicious young cat in the world, I can't imagine I'm the only person who finds this toy "weak" for the money. Honestly, it lasts like a cheap, poorly made toy, but costs like a premium one. If the price was lower, it would be much more worth it.
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