Hidey hole or adventure tunnel? (Pet Planet Cat Tunnel)

Member Name: Tracy_1127

Product:	Pet Planet Cat Tunnel
Date:	03/11/09 (86 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: see review

Disadvantages: None except your cats may choose not to like it!

While buying some bits on www.petplanet.co.uk I stumbled across this cat tunnel. It was half price so reduced to £9.99 and immediately had me thinking how much fun my boys would have with it! I popped one in my basket and I'm not ashamed to say I was thoroughly excited by the prospect of this!

The tunnel arrived a few days later and came in a big jiffy bag. It collapses down so all the rings within the material are pressed together and this makes it both easy to package up and store when not in use. I immediately opened it out, even though my lads were snoozing, and had a good look at it.

The tunnel is about 120cm long and the diameter is 30cm. This is a larger diameter than most tunnels and the reason this one appealed to me more than the others. My boys are two big tomcats and wouldn't fit into most tunnels without having to really crouch which isn't so much fun for them now they're 15.

The tunnel is made up of 7 rings of plastic with material between them, it is coloured as the picture above in blue, red and yellow sections and the outside of these sections is like a light canvas material that can be wiped clean if necessary. The inside is like thin fleece so pretty warm.

Suitability check over I waited for my boys to wake up and frolick with delight at this new addition to their space! One of my boys woke up first and meandered downstairs, sauntered past the tunnel without even glancing at it and went for a drink of water. I waited until he'd finished drinking, expecting the tunnel to catch his eye and he wandered back past it without even ackowledging it! I was amazed he could ignore such a large object and fetched him back to have a look. I placed him near the entrance and put my hand inside to show him the tunnel and he did look this time but wasn't interested. That particular boy has only been through the tunnel once in the few months we've had it and shows zero interest in going through again. Disappointing.

My other lad is a bit more game for new toys so when he woke up and wandered into the living room he clocked the tunnel straight away and went to investigate. Within seconds he'd walked through it and back again and sniffed it, cheeked it and made it his own!

Over the next few weeks he took to sleeping in the centre of it so all you could see was a tail end or his little nose depending on which end you were at, he also started using it as a sneaky way through the room to avoid me at pill time! Dash through the tunnel where I can't get him then make a break for it and race to the door! We've had alot of fun with the laser mouse and the tunnel, I place the tunnel somewhere in the room then shine the laser mouse inside and he dives after it, usually squashing the tunnel up until it's only half the length. However after a few weeks his interest started to wane so I folded the tunnel up and put it to one side for a while.

I have tried to reignite his interest in the tunnel a few times since but he's not really enthusiastic at the moment, however I know as he previously liked the tunnel he will eventually go back in it. Cats are a bit funny like that and things are in and out of favour on a regular basis! I also know my other lad will never be interested in the tunnel. I had hoped they would enjoy playing together with this, one inside and the other pawing them from the outside kind of thing which is what they would have done in their youth but it isn't to be!

I still like the tunnel though, it's made to last and younger cats might use it more than my two do. I like the fact the outer can be wiped clean and I suspect it wouldn't harm the inner lining to wipe that too if you needed to. It's a good little hidey hole and as confirmed by my lad a comfy enough place to have a snooze! It can also be bent into a kind of C shape so cats can hide in the back section. For indoor cats it provides a bit of adventure and as I said earlier used with something like a laser mouse toy it can become an assault course! I like that it's large enough for my two to go inside with only minimal ducking to avoid the roof and the fact it collapses down into a small pile of rings makes it convenient to store when not in use.

I'm giving it 5 stars even though one of my boys doesn't like it. I think for young cats this would be a great toy to play in, especially if you have more than one cat. Reommended by me and one of my boys.

Summary: Recommended