Great news – Sookie got adopted yesterday!! That means that half the True Blood 6 have been adopted, which leaves only Terry, Bill, and Lafayette waiting for their forever homes.
I have faith that it’ll happen soon for them.
About a month ago, I got an email from someone asking if I’d be interested in trying out and reviewing a cat toy.
Now, I’ve had companies offer me stuff to review before, but it’s always boring stuff like clothes or fiber bars, and I’ve always just trashed the email and gone about my day.
But I have a weakness when it comes to cat toys – I don’t think there’s any such thing as too many cat toys, and if you’ve ever walked through my house and witnessed the cat toys strewn all over the place, you know that.
(I do pick them up from time to time, but the cats are pretty sure toys belong on the floor in an optimum position for me to step on them. Preferably in the dark. And preferably in a way that it really HURTS the tender instep of my foot. I think they probably have an ongoing competition to see who can make Mom yell “OW! GOD! WHAT THE -?!” the most.)
So I accepted the offer, and the toy arrived in the mail, and then I was so busy that the box just sat on top of one of the kitchen cabinets for a little while. Finally, I got the box open, got the toy out, and checked it out.
It’s the Cat Quest, a battery operated toy. You know the sticks you can buy in the store that have a string attached to the end, and then at the end of the string is a feather or a rattly toy? This is the same idea – the wand fits together, and at the end of the wand is a cord. At the end of the cord, a plastic dragonfly. But not just ANY dragonfly – when you push a button on the handle of the wand, the dragonfly flaps its wings and MOVES.
I was pretty sure that the little kittens would be most interested in the toy, that the older cats would be briefly curious, and then bored.
I got the wand put together, pressed the button for the dragonfly to start flapping its wings, and from the other end of the house, Sugarbutt (who’s 4) jumped down from his spot atop the back of the couch and FLEW into the kitchen. He jumped. He leapt. He grabbed. And when he had tired himself out, he sat and watched.
Miz Poo, who is 10, was very, very interested in the toy, and took a few smacks at it once Sugarbutt was out of the way.
At one point, I had six or seven cats gathered around me, watching in fascination as the plastic dragonfly flapped and flapped.
After I let the older cats (and a couple of the True Bloods – these pictures are from a few weeks ago) play with the toy, I took it upstairs to the foster room, where the Wonkas were. I was worried that the toy might scare them, but I held it out, pressed the button, and the leaping began.
So, I did the initial tryout of the toy about two weeks ago, and since then, I’ve played with it (with the cats) at least a couple of times a day. It remains a big hit – if Sugarbutt is anywhere in the house when I hit that button, he races to come bat at it. I keep the toy in the kitchen, and it’s very good at distracting Jake and Elwood from the fact there is FOOD being PREPARED (whenever there’s food being prepared, they are under the impression that it should be going into their mouths).
Had I seen this toy in the store, I have no doubt I would have purchased it (see above about how there’s no such thing as too many cat toys), and I’m pleased to report that I believe it’s worth the price.
I do have one gripe, though – it runs on batteries (that’s not the gripe, keep reading) and to replace the batteries, you have to remove the back of the wand handle. Instead of being one of those backs that you can slide off, it’s attached with screws which require a precision screwdriver to remove.
That’s not a big problem, because as far as I can tell, the batteries keep going for a good long time. But I thought I’d mention it!
The Crazy Cat – Cat Quest retails at Amazon for $12.99. (You could likely find it for less if you Google around.)
The Crazy Cat Cat Quest is from Cardinal Laboratories, and you can read more about them at their site.
“Dear God, please let this belly rub never end. Amen.”
“Wait. Wait. WAIT. Seriously? A belly rub, just for ME?”
Little Miss Attitude.
They LOVE to perch on my foot. LOVE IT. I have to wear slippers into the room, though, or they’ll start sharpening their claws on my sock and those little claws are SHARP.
I think these guys have had a liiiiiittle too much catnip!
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Previously
2008: No entry.
2007: Talk about your come-hither look!
2006: Y’all just shut UP. We do NOT have eight cats.
2005: “What can I do to convince you to adopt Sugarbutt?”
Yay for Sookie!! Whoever gets those precious little babies is sooo lucky. I wish we can see pictures of them as they grow up.
The pictures of the Wonkas with that toy are hysterical. Love it when they stand up like that!
That toy does look like fun. Around here, anything on a string is a hit — so if it MOVED like that, too… I can only imagine! Haha.
Happy to hear the good news about Sookie! I am impressed with the cat toy; it might just fire up my two “elderly” cats. May have to try it out.
Yay for Sookie getting adopted! So happy for our little girl…now if someone would please hurry up and adopt the remaining 3 TBs, I could feel less worried 🙂
By the way, if the Cookies need more belly rubs, I can volunteer to be their official Belly-Rub-er…just put them in a box and ship them to California and I promise I will hold them and pet them and rub their bellies all day long 😉
The cat toy looks like fun…my cats tend to get bored by toys very quickly…the only toy that they insist on playing with day after day is Mama! I swear they look at me like I’m a mechanical “Monkey Girl” toy placed on this earth solely for their amusement…I almost hear “Dance Monkey Girl, Dance!” in their meows 😉
Yay Sookie! I’m sure she’s happy in her new home today.
The cat toy photos are hilarious–gotta check that out for our kittens and big cats (although the big cats might fight over it!)
Sookie – YAY!!
Cat toy – YAY!!
Photos of cats and kittens with cat toy YAYAY!!
Good for Sookie! Hope the others get a forever home soon too!
Love that toy! Maybe chubby Elphaba will get it for Christmas. The only problem I can forsee is the dogs wanting it too. I will probably have to put them out in the yard for Elph to be able to enjoy it. The pictures are great and I love when kittens stand up too.
So happy Sookie found a family! Her humans are going to be so smitten! I really love those True Blood kittens… they are so special. I hope the three boys will find a home soon, or I might have to fly to you and catnap them!
That toy looks really interesting. Thanks for sharing your review with us… might give it a try for the tribe here.
Also, I don’t think I can ever get tired of the intense Wonka and Cookie cuteness. The whiny faces crack me up every time 😀
Katamari is also a fan!
http://retrolife.typepad.com/katamari/2009/05/product-review-crazy-cat-cat-quest.html
http://retrolife.typepad.com/katamari/2009/05/action-cat.html
http://retrolife.typepad.com/katamari/2009/06/stand-at-attention.html
http://retrolife.typepad.com/katamari/2009/06/still-after-that-dragonfly.html
http://retrolife.typepad.com/katamari/2009/07/catching-the-dragonfly-lazystyle.html
I’m not Katamari’s owner, but I wish…
We’re so glad to hear that Sookie found her forever home! Keeping our paws crossed for the rest of the True Bloods.
We just love watching the kittens grow and play!
Charlemagne and Tamar