SmartyKat Electronic Motion/Moving Toys for Cats & Kittens, Battery Powered, Mimics Motion of Real Prey, Fun & Interactive Play - Multiple Styles

4 month old Maine Coon Kitten's favorite toy! This is well designed. The toy moves erratically in circles with stops and starts. There is a pause and lights flash. Initially, my kitten was a bit overwhelmed, but the pause gave him time to examine what was going on, and he quickly went from concerned to enthusiastic play on the slower speed and then the faster speed. The batteries seem to give a good amount of play, considering that my kitten often pounces on the whole setup and pins the movement mechanism. It is holding up well, in spite of that. This toy has been so rewarding for my kitten that he seems to have gained confidence and is now playing with more gusto with other toys as well. I'm so glad I got this!

Update 3/11/22: still working fine, and getting used daily by 2 cats. The feathers have completely been ripped off now, and wand is surprisingly still intact, despite my senior cat always trying to chew on it. Having trouble with replacements feathers though. All the ones I’ve tried are too heavy so the ball can’t stand up and swing around. For now I just hot glued some feathers and ribbon from an old toy, light enough for it to work. Kinda disappointed like others that replacement wands are not available. But I can see another seller listing 2 balls w/ wands & 2 replacement wands for about $30, so weird how I can’t just purchase individual wands :(PROS: This is hands down the best toy I have bought for my 9 month old kitten. She has been playing with it pretty much nonstop since we got it. She plays with it all over the house (carpet and tile), she seriously just purrrs nonstop playing with this thing! She bats at it and attacks it while it’s on and moving, she still plays with it when turned off but keeps waiting for it to move, then looks at me like WTF Mom, FIX IT haha!!! My senior cat enjoys it too, but he loses interest after a few minutes…I think he just enjoys being bigger and faster than the kitten at attacking it. We have only had it for 1 day so I can’t speak for longevity of toy, but my husband picked up the kitten while she still had the feather wand in her grip. It dropped on the tile floor pretty hard but still stayed together in one piece and haven’t noticed any difference in the motor function so I would say it’s pretty sturdy!CONS: I will say that when I bought this (even after reading some reviews, but not enough) I thought this was motion activated. I thought it was always on standby and would start moving when touched, then stop after a while. So I was kinda disappointed when I realized you have to press the button for 10 min of motion that auto shuts off. So a little inconvenient to keep pressing the button every few minutes for my very active kitten, but it’s worth it. Keeps her occupied, when she’s bored or wants attention she just meows nonstop and looks for ways to get in trouble so she gets attention haha.As other reviews stated, packaging was tough to crack or cut with scissors but no more than other plastic packages. I was able to open it with 1 arm (other arm in a sling), scissors and muscle and DID NOT cut myself! Opening the battery pack was also a little tricky but not difficult. Just get a small screwdriver, lefty loosy, screw becomes loose but does not pop out, then I took a flat head screwdriver to pop the battery pack open, insert batteries then with a little force pop it back in and screw it tight.All in all, it was reasonably priced, does exactly what I wanted, and my kitten is seriously LOVING this thing. 9/10 rating for me, only reason it’s not 10 is cause I have to keep getting up to turn it on cause kitten meows at me 😹

One of the reasons most of us purchase electric toys is to have entertainment for our cats without having to be 100% involved (while still monitoring, of course). This idea was great for this toy, but the execution was poor - because the human has to straighten out the toy every minute (or more often) for it to work properly.Some reviewers don't understand how this is supposed to work... so let's clear that up first. This furry/feather/ribbony end isn't supposed to peak out from the fabric like other similar toys. Instead, it helps cats with their hunting instinct. It is jointed to stay under the fabric. The hoop within the fabric hem then keeps the circle somewhat taut to make it arch in a few places, so the cat can see the movement above the fabric and gets a peek every so often of a mouse-like shape when viewing it from the side. This concept was right on the mark. I love this concept about the toy... if it only worked with the materials used.Here is where it goes wrong: 1) Fabric is too light. 2) Wire/filament hoop within hem is not attached properly to form a full circle or becomes detached with very little play.The shaping provided by the hoop/wire/filament is essential to keeping the mat flat to the floor but raised at a few places for the cat to "peek" at the mouse. When the frame becomes detached, the "mouse wand" continues to become caught on the place where the circle hoop is not connected - making the fabric twist and twist so that the point is lost and the motor unit is often turned upside down due to the tangle or the cat trying to play with it. I have now had two of these toys (initial order and the replacement order because I thought the first was broken as a fluke). You will see in my third picture where there is about a 1-inch gap where the filament has become detached so that there is no longer a full circle. Even a gap this small causes the problem. I have tried and tried to rethread the "wire" to reconnect it, but the hem is so full of thread or the "wire" is at a seam that it will not reconnect and eventually rips through the fabric if you keep trying.So.... I ordered a replacement. The second arrived with the hoop already disconnected upon arrival. The first and second picture within my review are within one minute of opening the new box. I'm returning both units for a refund. (If I were not already too busy, I would be seriously tempted to just keep one of the motor /machines and make a "fabric and hoop cover" of my own.... because the manufacturers did get so much right on this.)If the too-light fabric and frame/hoop for the mat were not issues, my cats would love this toy. They DO love it for the seconds that it works properly before I have to reset it and reset it. The "mouse," the random motion, the lights, being able to peek at the animal... all of these are often missing from other similar toys, so again, these parts were wonderful.But, I do not want to reset this toy every 20-60 seconds to make it work properly. I would recommend not buying this - as the manufacturers need to resolve the design issues.

I have a 9 month old cat that loves to play but I don't always have time. She doesn't like static toys, things that don't move, but likes chasing and hunting. She loves this toy. Press the button once and it runs for 15mins and she plays with it the whole time.Reason for 4 and not 5 stars: Batteries are in a compartment held in by a screw and takes 3 AA's. Rechargeable battery would have been a lot better and the plastic tray should have been held on my a clip or snap into place. Also, the wand holding the mouse will unwind itself as the cat plays with it. After a 15min session will be on the verge of falling off and sometimes will fall off before that.