Da Bird Cat Toy - Easy Store - 2 Part Pole

by Da Bird

Product Features

• Realistic feather toy activates your cat's hunting instinct
• Pull-a-part rod for easy storage
• Cats love its flight-like motion and prey-like appearance
• Available Accessories include Fur Fun, Feather, Kitty Puff, Super Feather, Sparkly, Mouse
• Hand crafted in the USA

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 17 x 3 x 0.5 inches ; 7 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B000F9JJJE
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (240 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39 in Pet Supplies (See Top 100 in Pet Supplies)
  • #1 in Pet Supplies > Cats > Toys > Feather Toys
  • #1 in Pet Supplies > Cats > Toys > Catnip Toys

Product Description

This is the Easy Store 2 part pole version of the Da Bird toy. You can pull it apart and it takes up half the space.

Handcrafted in the USA with top quality materials, Da Bird Feather Teaser simulates the motion of a bird at your control. Set on a swivel, its feathers look, sound, and feel like real bird wings and will drive your cat wild!

Encourages instinctual behaviors and exercise to keep your cat healthy and alert. Fiberglass wand comes apart in two pieces for compact storage. Toy includes 36" 2 part wand, 32" nylon string, and one feather dangler.

Replacement feathers are available as well as 5 additional accessories made to fit the Da Bird.

Comes in assorted colors and picked at random.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great toy - but fiberglass splinters dangerous to cats and people!, January 18, 2011

By 

D. Baker (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Da Bird Cat Toy - Easy Store - 2 Part Pole (Misc.)

We first purchased a "Da Bird" cat toy, based on its mention on the ASPCA website. Our cats loved the toy from the start: enough so that we purchased a second one along with some feather refills. The cats get a ton of enjoyment and exercise with these, and having two toys allowed us to play with both cats at once.

Unfortunately, during one session, a few weeks after buying them, my wife felt a burning/stinging on her hand where she was holding the wand. Upon closer inspection it was apparent that the wand, made of fiberglass, was damaged, and splintering at the "handle" end, leaving dozens of shards of fiberglass in the palm of her hand and fingertips. The shards are painful and tiny. Removal was only possible with tweezers and a flashlight; even then only a few of the largest shards could be pulled from her hand. She had to let the rest of them "work their way out" over the next few days.

Needless to say, we were alarmed by the hazard Da Bird was causing, not only to us but more seriously to our cats. -Our boy cat is especially fond of playing with and chewing on the wand end of the `fishing pole' type cat toys. Had he gotten a paw or his mouth on the splintering fiberglass wand, he likely would have been in real pain and/or danger.

Doing a simple Google search of "Da Bird fiberglass splinters" we came across several product review sites and online cat forums where people had suffered from the fiberglass splinters, however these warnings were not known to us when buying the item online for the first time.

Given that Da Bird's manufacturer, Go Cat, prides itself on "Quality interactive cat toys handcrafted in the USA", we contacted them in early 2009, hoping that they might issue a warning to resellers of the toy, post a warning in the toy's packaging and change to a more safe and durable material to prevent serious injuries to cats.
In spite of the skin injury mentioned, they never responded to us.

There are certainly other materials that could serve as the wand, without the fiberglass splinters included! The fact that GoCat hasn't improved the safety of the product after several years of this issue being known speaks poorly of the company and its leadership.

We still use the product (two of them, actually), but had to tape the ends with electrical tape in an effort to "seal off" the fiberglass shards that are exposed at the tip of every wand, (exposed even when the wand is not damaged). The manufacturer does put small rubber caps on the wand ends, but they aren't very secure and both of them fell off of the ends after a short while. We're also now careful to keep the toys stowed away from the cats when not in use (BTW this also keeps toys interesting for cats: if they know a toy "lives" in a place they cannot normally access, they're a lot more excited when it comes out to play!)

One other tip for users: Our cats destroyed the feather ends pretty quickly so we've ordered a lot of refills - then a family member put an end to those purchases by making some cool, sturdy attachments out of scrap leather and fur from a fabric shop: we call them the "bat" and the "mouse", and we haven't had to order refills in a year!!

57 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Da' Best Cat Toy I've Every Bought!!!!!!!, May 9, 2007

By 

Amazing Larry (Lansing, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Da Bird Cat Toy - Easy Store - 2 Part Pole (Misc.)

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.

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Priceless!, January 25, 2005

By 

Eduardo Nietzsche (Houston) - See all my reviews

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!