Mouse Tales Cat Toy

I was impressed with the high quality, sturdy design of this cat toy given the price. I also found the toy surprisingly easy to assemble. My cat Aki likes the toy, but is a little timid around it. To be fair though, he was scared of his Drinkwell 360 for a week when we first got it. I also sent one of the cat toys to my aunt as a birthday present and her cats LOVE the toy. My aunt's cat, Walter, apparently grabs the wooden mice and tries to bite them and reaches his paws in to the tiny house to try to grab them when the mice "hide". The best thing about this toy is that it's entertaining for the human user as well, as you push the mice out of their doors with your feet or hands. It feels like a more "quality time" experience for the cat & human interaction than would a simple stick and feather. This toy also lasts much longer than would a feather toy!

My cat had no interest in this. The basic problem for her was that the "mice" did not resemble prey in any way. I could get her interested somewhat if I put a little furry mouse on top of the fake one or if I put a treat on the fake mouse, but even that had limited appeal. Additionally, the house is pretty flimsy. The little mice pieces that you move in and out of the doors do not line up well. One of them never worked in my set. The other one was easily dislocated. The cat could easily knock the whole house out of alignment. In short, a good idea, but bad construction and unrealistic mice made it useless for my cat.

For the price, this toy was great for about an hour. It is a foam puzzle you put together and then push the 2 "pedals" down in the back that will slide a piece of foam with a fish sticker on it out from under the little fringed door. After an hour of play, both fish permanently stick out about 1/2. The most intelligent of my 2 cats, turned the toy around to pull the fish out from the back side. If you want a special toy/treat for a cat and do not mind that it is good for an hour, this is your toy! If the fish were hinged better and would fully retract, I would give it 5 stars because both of my cats loved this toy.

My cat likes to play hide and seek. She likes to see something poke out and then go back in with lots of variations. It's the thrill of the chase. My cat loves this toy. It does require constant human involvement. You push on the mouse from behind the house and the mouse pops its head out. My cat was so curious she tried to disconnect the house to get to the mouse inside....completely determined. Sometimes it's the simlest things that our cats love. Please be aware, this is a very cheaply made product. The mouse is a flat cardboard cutout type thing. It really looks nothing like a mouse. Theres a little cloth like curtain that hangs at the window and the cardboard mouse peaks its head in and out. There's no real looking mouse with fur or that makes noise. The house is some sort of foam/cardboard that you piece together like a puzzle. Instructions are poor but it's not hard to figure out. Just be careful because it breaks easy and the plastic on the mice will snap and break if you bend them during assembly. This is a great little toy.

My cat likes to be entertained and doesn't like to play on his own. This little house is great. The wood mice withstand his claws and teeth, as does the heavy cardboard house itself. He likes to gnaw on the corners of the roof, yet it help up nicely. I took off a star because you need to angle the mice properly when you move them in and out. If they're crooked they won't come out of the hole properly. Seems like a little design reengineering might find an effective solution so that it can come out of the hole properly without needing to babysit the angle. 1/30/13 - Update: The original toy that I bought was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, and since my cat loved it, I decided to buy a new one. The new one is VERY different the old one. The video you see in the review section is the old, wooden mouse version. The picture in the product description is how it looks now. The "mouse" is a foam mouse and flat, whereas the older version was wood and elevated. The house itself is also made of the foam material, not the old cardboard of the old one. On the plus side, the mouse now exits it's hole straight and doesn't get stuck (like I described in my original review). However, the problem with the new material is that it's easily ripped up by my cats' claws and teeth. There are multiple punctures in the house from my cats teeth, and his claws and teeth have begun shredding the mouse. It seems like they constructed the toy of cheaper material and left the price the same. The idea is great, and my cats LOVE the toy, but I'm disappointed in the degradation of the construction material. Seems like it'll need to be replaced (from being destroyed) MUCH more often than the old wood/cardboard version.

My 2 younger cats (both under a year) enjoyed playing with it, but one of them has the habit of chewing on things she shouldn't; she chewed this up a bit and may have swallowed some of it, making her sick (can't be 100% sure it was this toy that she ate but it's the best guess at this point). She's better now but I can't fully recommend the toy as a result--if you're sure your cats don't chew on things, though, it does provide some entertainment value!