****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I was doubtful at first, as I've bought enough fancy schmancy cat toys that usually disappoint or aren't built safely enough for cats (I have worked in the veterinary field for many years) or they putz out after a few play sessions and/or they fall apart. Many of the mobile toys, like the snake that moves, usually get so full of hair and fur that they cannot move, or they break, or they do not move well at all if they come across carpetting.This one was beyond a good deal. There are 3 different settings, which cause the ball to act differently. It rolls around of its own accord, once turned on...it reminds me of the same tech that the robot vacuums use, when it rolls into a obstacle, it changes direction. It has slightly ridged rubber outer shell that manages to get itself over small obstacles, like if it runs over a power cord or a rug...it has enough oomph to get over small obstacles like that. It rolls under the couch and still manages to come back out. It took a day or two for my 2 cats to start really engaging with it. The first day was a lot of watching it and following it and occasionally bapping it, but they were still trying to figure out WTH this thing is. It does make noise, so I would not recommend letting it just sit out overnight, as it does go into like a hibernation mode where it will stop moving, lights out and no noise but if someone touches it, it starts up again. No batteries but it is rechargeable with a USB cord that can attach to my laptop or other electronic device that has a USB post...I have an alarm clock and a few lamps that have USB ports for charging.Cleaning it is a breeze. Any hair or fur that gets wrapped around the "axel"...easy peasy...the arch that holds the "tail" detaches easily, pop off the hair or fur, put the arch back on. Do be careful, in that one side has a small, round, metal "washer" of sorts that can come off when detaching the arch. Just pop it back on and the other side has a square peg so there is only on way of putting the thing back together.This particular version came with two tails: one plain red fleece-like material, which is the one I'm using. It did come with another fancy mesh tail with shiny, plastic little fins that makes for more flashy tail but seeing my cats utterly destroy things made with mesh, I will not use it because I do not want to risk my cats accidently ingesting it or parts of it and them ending up with a foreign body obstruction. The plain red fleece tail is holding up quite nicely.I am genuinely impressed with this toy and would definitely recommend it to others. Do BEWARE of some that are selling it for super cheap, as all of those I have found are coming straight from China and the shipping cost waaaay more than the price they were charging for the toy itself.Have fun!
