Furry Fun For Feline Friends (Kong Cat Naturals Crinkle Tail Teaser)

Member Name: wigglylittleworm

Product:	Kong Cat Naturals Crinkle Tail Teaser
Date:	17/04/09 (234 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: the cat loves it

Disadvantages: The string too thin

I love spoiling my cat Shadow but unfortuately he is as fussy with his toys as he is with his food. Most toys just dont interest him with the exception of his skooby doo on a string which drives him wild and he will spend hours chasing. This toy originally started its life with a giraffe on the end of the string, he showed little interest in the toy which fell apart after a few bites anyway. Once the toy was cut off he liked the string and once he chewed through that it has been replaced by a succession of new pieces of dangly things for him to chase.

I have heard loads of brilliant things about the Kong range of dog toys and was happy to see that they have produced a new range of cat toys. These are designed to encourage a cats natural behaviour like hunting and pouncing. I thought that he would probably turn his furry little nose up at most of the range but decided to give the crinkle tail teaser a try. At £4.50 it's more expensive than other dangly type toys but I was hoping that Kong would live up to its name and be a good investment.

The crinkle tail teaser consists of a bamboo pole which has a furry tail with feathers sticking out of the end of it attached by a piece of elastic. The tail is around five inches long and curls round and is filled with buckwheat and catnip and makes a crinkly noise when you squeeze it. To get your cat to play with it you just drag the tail across the floor or make it fly in the air and the cat will chase it.

This toy drives Shadow absolutely wild. I dont think it is the catnip as he doesn't normally react to it but there is something very attractive about this toy in his eyes. The toy is a nice weight to either drag gently over a floor and flies nicely too and whichever way I do it he goes mental trying to catch it, he even leaps really high into the air to get a hold of it. When he catches hold of it he grips it with his teeth and front paws and kicks it like mad with his back paws. I also weighted the bamboo pole down and placed it on my breakfast bar so he could reach it himself. He loved this and would get massively frustrated when it pinged away and go chasing after it again.

I've owned the toy for a couple of weeks now and we have played with it everyday and I'm really impressed at how well it has held up to being bitten and scratched. It is obvious the fur has been wet as it looks a bit bedraggled but there are no signs that the toy has been bitten and scratched repeatedly. The feathers are mostly all in place, the two that have came out are when I have pulled hard on them to see how well attached they are. Kong say on the packaging that the toy will not last forever but I'm impressed with the amount of rough play it has had without being damaged. The only part of the toy I dont like is the elastic as it is far too thin. The cat has not tried to chew it yet but he has chewed through much thicker strings in the past.

Overall this is a great toy that both me and my cat love. He is an indoor cat so I like the fact that he gets a little bit of exercise racing around trying to get the tail. He sits at my feet and meows when he wants a play session and this is happening more often since we got this toy so he obviously loves it. It's also great fun for the owner watching their little fur baby race around clumsily so this toy is a winner.

Summary: A brilliant cat toy