Cats test toys: reviewing the butterfly, spinning top and ball track
There are over 2,800 cat toys at Galaxus – far too many to find the perfect one for your four-legged friend. To give you an overview, my two new arrivals, Jasper and Joy, are starting a test series.
Looking for the perfect cat toy is like hunting for a treat in a snuffle mat. So, where should you start? What does your cat like? To help you and your furry friends, I’ve had various gadgets tested by a high-calibre jury with different tastes.
The jury
Jasper, expert in twine goods
Whether it’s shoelaces, dressing gown cords or charging cables, Jasper (1) is the expert when it comes to thread-shaped objects. This self-confident cat is known for being unimpressed and hard to please.
Joy, specialist in mice and rolling objects
Our resident rodent and rolling expert Joy (3) is a lot more lenient. However, her narrow specialisation in mice and balls makes her an extremely meticulous tester in her field.
Darina, jury assistant
I’m in charge of all organisational matters. For instance, determining the test criteria. This review looks at ease of set up; stability, durability and noise level; how much they encourage movement and how much variety they offer. The rating system ranges from one to five paws.
The products to review
The butterfly: deceptively real hunting fun
We start with a toy that’s neither in Jasper nor Joy’s wheelhouse: the All for Paws Butterfly. This is a shimmering insect on a metal wire, attached to a base that rotates 360 degrees. It whirls around haphazardly and is designed to encourage cats to catch it. A sensor ensures the butterfly only moves when a four-legged friend approaches.
Jasper and Joy do this immediately when I set up the toy. Even before I press the start button on the underside, Joy starts to reach for the butterfly with her paws. This makes it vibrate. Jasper sits next to it, still unimpressed.
Jasper’s curiosity awakens when I switch on the device. However, his attention is focused less on the insect and much more on the green attachment button, which he keeps pawing at. This in turn brings Joy back on the scene, who also likes the slowed-down insect.
Verdict after a few weeks: Joy still enjoys chasing after the butterfly, which is now badly damaged, bent and dragging across the floor. Fortunately, it comes with a replacement butterfly. Jasper likes to watch the fluttering, but still doesn’t actively hunt the insect.
- Ease of assembly: 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
- Stability: 🐾🐾🐾🐾
- Longevity: 🐾🐾
- Noise: 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
- Encouraging movement: 🐾🐾🐾🐾
- Variety: 🐾🐾🐾🐾
- Total: 24 paws
The spinning top: sweet wiggling temptation
Perhaps Jasper will be more interested in another rotating toy: the Catit Pixi Spinner. This spinning top with an attachable feather on a plastic hook rotates at intervals. Snacks tumble out of a treat dispenser while it sways back and forth in circles. Sounds tempting.
Jasper agrees. He immediately grabs the gadget, kicks at it with his hind legs and nibbles on the plastic wire until he leaves bite marks. He repeatedly knocks over the Pixi Spinner, causing it to freeze, which in turn makes him lose interest. Joy only paws at the feather from time to time. The strong rocking movements seem to intimidate them a bit.
Verdict after a few weeks: both cats still watch the toy from a distance and occasionally reach for the feather (it also comes with a replacement), but they no longer actively play with it. The treats don’t change this.
- Ease of assembly: 🐾🐾🐾🐾
- Stability: 🐾🐾🐾🐾
- Longevity: 🐾🐾🐾🐾
- Noise: 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
- Encouraging movement: 🐾🐾🐾
- Variety: 🐾🐾🐾
- Total: 23 paws
The marble run: entertaining and fun
That leaves one last toy for now: the Catit Senses 2.0 Play Circuit. It’s a bit like a marble run. You put it together with various play tracks (very laborious!) and cover some sections of it with transparent pieces. The cats can manoeuvre the ball underneath with their paws.
Just the sound of the jingling ball makes Jasper and Joy jump excitedly. When I put it on the track, they both start to push the ball back and forth with their paws. The whole thing looks like great fun – for the moment.
Verdict after a few weeks: the ball track hype fades as quickly as it started. Even changing the track layout only yields bored yawns from both Joy and Jasper.
- Ease of assembly: 🐾
- Stability: 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
- Longevity: 🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
- Noise: 🐾🐾
- Encouraging movement: 🐾🐾🐾
- Variety: 🐾
- Total: 17 paws
Verdict: interim winner
Narrowly scraping a win with 24 paws is the All for Paws Butterfly. Its unpredictable movements – unlike those of the spinning top in second place – stimulate cats’ hunting instincts over a prolonged period. It’s easy to set up, stable, quiet and, unlike the ball track in last place, it encourages extensive and varied movement, getting cats to run, jump, bite and grab.
Although you have to bend the attachable butterfly back into shape or replace it after a while, the toy is still impressive. Especially with its energy-saving sensor, which only switches the gadget on when a feline approaches.
Jasper doesn’t seem to have found the perfect toy yet, but the search continues. The next three products are already being tested. All I can say so far is that the cat reviewers are going to deliver a tough verdict again.
Have you tried any of the toys we tested? What do your cats think of them?
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Darina Schweizer
Senior Editor
Darina.Schweizer@digitecgalaxus.chI like anything that has four legs or roots. The books I enjoy let me peer into the abyss of the human psyche. Unlike those wretched mountains that are forever blocking the view – especially of the sea. Lighthouses are a great place for getting some fresh air too, you know?
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