Customer Reviews

Da Bird Teaser on 36 inch Rod

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have to give this a mixed review.

My cat ABSOLUTELY LOVES THIS TOY!
She wasn't much of an active cat, but I wanted to interact and play with her more. And this toy makes her jump and run and spin and pounce and prance and dance and do the cat-equivalent of laughing and giggling (big wide eyes, slightly vibrating, hunkered down behind a pillow, watching its every move).

She knows where I store it, and when I come home from work, she sits infront of its hiding place.

HOWEVER --- it is not that durable.

She and I play with it twice a day and it last about two weeks.

When it breaks, the hardware that holds the feathered part shears off somewhere inside of the pole. After that, it really isn't usable any more, because if you try to attach the feathers back by simply tying the string to the feather part, the spinning magic is pretty much gone and the string gets tangled in an instant.

So, consider this a disposable toy with a two-week-or-so life span.
That is what I decided to do and now I buy three at a time.

'Cause I've not found a better toy.
My cat goes CRAZY over it.

We've had our cats for about 4 years now and bought them every single toy that eBay or PetSmart offers. Mice, cat nip, feather toys, cat castles (have 3 of them) and giant fishing poles.

Their favorite toys are the interactive ones and they recently chewed through both their fishing-pole toys with features at the end so I started hunting around for a better one.

As a side note, I noticed the longer the pole the more fun they had and easier it is to play with.

After searching Amazon I ran across this toy and went to the main homepage for it. The company only sells about 10 toys that they claim they have personally tested and think they are the best. We figured what the hey and bought this toy.

It's wonderful.

First off the handle is a solid, thin piece of flexible metal about 3' long and no real handle to speak of. Then there is a really thing line connected to it, maybe 2' long and from there it connects to a special joint that hooks to the feather that is made specifically to allow the feather to rotate and spin around as you whip it around in the air (it's like a ball-and-socket joint).

What happens is the toy ends up looking like a bird flying through the room.

The first time we pulled this toy out of the tube it ships in and let our cats sniff it, they thought it was OK. As soon as we started to whip it around the room, their eye's dilated like dinner plates and they got really low to the ground. From that point on it was just a blur of activity and flipping cats. They loved it.

I really cannot recommend you try any other feather toy before getting this because of it's price. If you walk into PetSmart and buy a feather toy (or wand) it's about $15. Just buy this, if your cats have a heartbeat I imagine they will love it.

My cat loves this toy. It moves like a bird flying, and she jumps 3 feet in the air trying to catch it. It's easy to use since it's light and it has a long pole. She gets so excited that she grabs it and instantly puts it in her mouth and chomps down for safekeeping when she can catch it (she does this before she hits the ground). The bird needed to be replaced once already, so beware if your cat is an avid hunter. It's durable, but cats can bite aggressively!

My cat loves Da Bird and comes running every time I open the closet where it's kept. The only reason I didn't give it five stars is that it's just not that durable. While I'm happy that real feathers are used and my cat's not chewing on some synthetic, the feathers themselves break pretty easily once my cat gets them between her teeth. We've gone through two of these toys in as many weeks. I suppose I could just never let her catch it, but what fun is there in that?

I was skeptical before I bought it, but this is far and away the best cat toy I have ever had.

My younger active cat loves it. He is fascinated by it, and pounces all over it. My other, fat, lazy, sloth-like cat also loves it. Usually he can't be bothered to do more than stretch out a paw to play with something if it interests him, but he actually actively plays with this toy.

What I didn't realize is that the way the feathers are positioned causes it to spin as it is being pulled through the air, and as such makes it much more interesting than your average cat toy on a string. I just bought another one for my mother's cats because I think it is so wonderful. I highly recommend it!

I purchased one of these kitty joy toys locally and it was even a thousand times better than the previous peacock feather ($1) favorite. My first one got killed off quickly when I let Phoebe play with it non-stop. So, I had to get a second. Having learned my first lesson I made sure to hide it away when not playing with her. But my parents recently adopted a new kitten who I house-sat for a week. Maggie was jumping 2 feet or more in the air after it! I learned how to pull carefully to limit cat success damage. I lent it to them afterwards, but Ginger, one of their two shelties was just as excited about it and a lot harder on it. Mom did not stash it away, so after a week, the bird is still attached with all its bedraggled feathers, but no longer flies in that magical fluttering way.
So, the magic is in the feather design, which has a short shelf life even when carefully managed, since the feathers were already compromised with controlled access. I am now going to buy a THIRD da bird along with extra birds and pray that it lasts at least a few months with careful management and no Ginger. (Mom's kitten Maggie actually taught Ginger to jump for da bird!)

I have had cats for over 20 years and breed cats, and out of all of the toys I have purchased over the years, this is their all time favorite. I promise your cat will love it too. As it flutters around the room, the feathers make a fluttering sound like a bird and it drives the cats crazy. So much fun!

My 9 month old kitten really likes this toy. At first, he was afraid of it because it's so realistic, like a bird in flight. Now he's jumping high into the air to catch it. I bought some of the refills because my cat is rough on his toys. I still am using the original feathers after about a month of use, so it's a well-made product to keep your cat active. I like that they sell a variety of attachments and refills to change the toy. I have to hide these behind a locked door to keep him from playing with it and eating the feathers when I'm not in the room with him. If you want a fun toy to entertain your cat and give him/her exercise, you can't beat this!

This is a great toy for almost any cat (and some dogs). You can make sure your kitty is getting it's exercise in with this thing. I am a professional pet sitter and I take this to all my kitty sits, they all love it!

So my kitty loves to play. Loves. He gets a little rough about it because he just doesn't know any better. We bought a bunch of toys when we got him and he loved some for a wile, then forgot abut them. Or vice versa - the ones he didn't show interest in at first suddenly became exciting. He loves his little catnip mice the most but they keep disappearing under the appliances. I did a little browsing online, looking for something to distract his attention away from our bodies, tire him out so he would sleep at night and keep him interested. I found Da Bird.

Da Bird seems like a simple concept: a flexible metal rod encased in plastic, a connecting elastic-y string with attached feathers. It may almost be too simply because it seems like we spend a lot of time looking for more complex toys that our pets ignore. The feather attachment is replaceable and the feathers themselves are real and arranged in such a way that they have the aerodynamic appearance of a bird in motion.

Phantom just loves it. He is already active but this thing gets his attention and keeps it. He is doing jumps and flips and somersaults. He even did a back flip from the floor onto the chair chasing this thing. I play that he has to catch it so I cannot immediately pull it back up to 5 times. I think I overdid it the first day; we played to 20 and he slept the rest of the day, something he has never done. So, as a toy that will attract a cat rather than our hands and tire him out, this is great. If you have a cat who plays during the night, a round before bed might be just what the vet ordered.

As others had said it quickly needs to be replaced, I tucked it away in the closet when we weren't playing. My kitty didn't freak out when I went to open the door but as soon as he would see me bring it out, he would get excited. It seemed like every time we used it, he liked it even more. I was actually a little disappointed the first time but, after that, Phantom really liked it more. It got to the point where he would catch Da Bird and I would just let him run off with it because I could not pull it free. However, after letting him do this, he managed to break off the bird and I will have to replace the whole unit which isn't a huge deal but it something I will watch for next time.

Da Bird doesn't take a look of effort from you, but you will need to swing it around so it catches the air. However, it's very light weight so it definitely will tire the kitty out before you. Don't be surprised if your DaBird starts looking pretty tired itself. With how much the cat swats and bites at it, the feathers start looking pretty gross. This is a downfall to us because, now that he has broken off the feathers, he continues to play with the feathers and brings them in bed with us. Ick.

At least he likes it. And that was really the whole point. I think this toy could be a bit durable but, considering that it accomplishes everything I was looking to do, I still give Da Bird Kudos.