MOODY PET Fling-AMA-String Cat Toy

I received this yesterday and my cat has literally played with it for 8 hours already. Even when he gets tired of it and walks away, it’s only a few minutes before he is back at it again! Essentially he is giving up because he is tired, but after a minute or two of this little string “daring to mock him”, he comes back to try to teach it a lesson; LOL, clearly a love/hate relationship...He has gotten pretty aggressive with it and it is holding up to his abuse without fail. The very durable string is mounted to basically an elastic conveyor belt, so every time he manages to catch the string, he can pull it out a little bit from the plastic base. When this happens, this thing is designed to essentially stop the motor, which starts right back up again the second he lets go; and I don’t know if this is by design, but as he pulls the string and conveyor away from the plastic unit, it seems to make a noise that mimics the shreak of a dying mouse or bird, which makes him absolutely crazy! Every once in a while he will pull on it extremely hard and it will get a little bit out of alignment, but it only takes me about 5 seconds to fix and it really isnt a problem at all. Although this product is meant to be set up on a door (which was so easy to install and the cat loves it there), I also tried attaching it to my cat tree which is even better! By putting it somewhere on a cat tree, he can now look at it and attack it from different angles. Even when he gets “sick of it”, I just turn it off for an hour and when I restart it he’s right back at it! He is a very high energy cat and this thing totally wore him out. Without a doubt, this is by far the best cat toy I have ever purchased! I applaud the designers; it is so simple, but a totally genius product. It gets out all of his restless energy and it saves me the hassle of having to play with him for hours on end. He slept so well last night and when I turned it back on this morning, he couldn’t wait to pounce on it again!

THE ONLIEST TOY!!! Amazon - thank you! I have had this for over 5 yrs - yes 5 yrs!! A couple of weeks ago, my Peachie was looking at it, then at me. She was telling me something wasn’t right. The white elastic had been stretched about 1-1/2 feet from all the play. So I cut the elastic and sewed it closer. She watched the entire process. It worked!! Crazy good!

My cats will sit by and watch the string go up, down and around for quite some time. I think it engages their hunting instincts, catching their eye and keeping their interest with the fast movement of the string. For that, I would give the toy five stars. Unfortunately, the batteries do not last in this toy. It has a great function of "turning off" after the cats stop interacting with it, yet even when the toy stops moving, it does not actually turn off, and drains the 3 AAA batteries. I was going through 3 AA batteries within a 24 hour period. Then I purchased rechargeable batteries for about $24, and now, that problem is solved. With that said, I do wish I could put the toy in sleep mode when the cats lose interest, so they can turn it on again when they decide it is time to play with the toy again. All in all, a smart invention, with quirks that need to be fixed, so, perhaps the 2.0 version with these fixes would be great, and would earn five stars from me at that time.

It is very difficult to find cat effective cat toys and this one works. Considering the medium price-point I recommend purchasing the product. I've given a rating of 3 stars for the reasons below: (a) If the toy is left "on" for an extended period by accident your batteries drain. For example I left it on yesterday and today the 3 aa batteries are wiped out. Not only is it unrealistic that cat owners will turn this on/off consistently - generally speaking it would be entirely better to have a timer which would turn the toy off. (b) The toy is intriguing to Shlomo (my cat) however his focus is short-lived. With that said, I have purchased other automated toys and will say that the Fling-Ama-String works best. All of the toys which keep Shlomo playing the longest are not electronic and won't offer "on demand" attention. Improvement suggestion: This isn't reflected into my rating because it's an extra feature not an issue - I think cat owners would agree that any toy which can keep the cat occupied when you are away is valuable. This product would be entirely better with a motion censor. Maybe there is some patent issue which is why it's not currently implemented. The more advanced version would be a motion sensor + a maximum playtime which cuts off the service temporarily after continuous use. For example if Shlomo creates enough motion the toy turns on. If he keeps playing non-stop (the motion censor is continuously triggered) for 20 seconds then it will cut off the service for 20 seconds. Btw - Does anyone have a suggestion for a motion censored toy which works and will keep my cat entertained while I am away (by any means)?

Five stars simply aren't enough for the Fling-a-ma-String! I've owned countless cat toys over the years, but nothing has captivated my two kitties, Milo and Lucy, quite like this. It's a non-stop, hilarious frenzy of feline fun! Milo, my more solitary hunter, loves to stalk and pounce on the string when it's moving slowly. He gets this intense, focused look in his eyes, like he's channeling his inner jungle cat. Lucy, on the other hand, is a social butterfly, and she ADORES playing with Milo when I start the toy. They chase the string together, batting at it with their paws, and even take turns trying to catch it mid-air. It's the cutest thing to watch! They've developed this whole elaborate game around it, and it keeps them entertained for hours. What's truly fantastic about this toy is its versatility. It satisfies both their individual play styles—hunting—and their need for interactive play. Whether they're playing together or independently, the Fling-a-ma-String keeps them engaged and active, which is wonderful for their physical and mental stimulation. And let's talk about Moody Pet! I was absolutely blown away by their customer service. After a few months of intense play (and believe me, Milo and Lucy are intense!), the elastic strap started to show some wear. I emailed Moody Pet, and they sent me replacement parts completely FREE of charge! I mean, who does that anymore? It's clear they stand behind their product, and that kind of generosity and customer service is incredibly rare. If you have cats, you NEED this toy. It's a guaranteed hit, and the fact that Moody Pet offers free replacement parts makes it an even better investment. My kitties, Milo and Lucy, give it a resounding paws-up, and I do too! Videos to follow! Thanks, Moody Pet.

EDIT: Have had this a couple years now. It does still work but the elastic that wraps under the door to the opposite knob is deteriorating. The toy is constructed in a way that accommodates replacing this and the rotating elastic loop if you were so inclined. The metal hook it hangs on could scratch some finishes and I do wish it had a rubberized coating or something like that. The eponymous string is sewn pretty securely to the loop, but I would still advise supervision while this is accessible to pets, especially if you have one who likes to eat ribbons, string, etc. The batteries we put in when we first got this have lasted a long time, so it’s not a bad value there, although the little motor is a bit noisy, which might be off-putting to many pets. It is a little awkward to store, which is an issue for a toy that could pose a hazard if a pet were unsupervised with it. The cat who liked this really really liked it initially, to the point of gazing at it or the place it was stored and then looking at us expectantly on pretty much a daily basis for months. She will still watch it if we set it up and turn it on now, but it has lost a great deal of its appeal over time. We bought a less expensive toy that hangs on a doorknob as well but requires no batteries at the same time, and it has proved to have more lasting appeal, but I feel like we got our money’s worth with this one all the same.

I was really disappointed in this product; mainly because it got such good reviews, so I expected it to last longer than two weeks, but yesterday was the two week "anniversary" of my receipt of this toy and it had stopped working three days before that. It didn't break, it just died. I thought it might need new batteries, because I had to replace the batteries it came with pretty quickly so I thought maybe this was a battery sucking toy, but even with brand new batteries, (and jiggling, banging, twisting and shaking) it won't turn on. I didn't even use it that much; maybe 45 minutes a day, broken into 15 minute intervals. Now, I do have to say that if this hadn't died, I suspect that the string would have broken off, or the elastic band would have shredded within another week or two of use because the materials are pretty cheap- definitely not adequate for a toy that is intended to be clawed and bitten by cats. When I first got it, the band rotated smoothly, but within days the band had a number of holes in it, and the string was so pulled, that it "jammed" very frequently in use. Usually my cat was able to work it free himself though so that wasn't a really big deal. Let me say, when it was working, my cats loved it. This is quite impressive when you consider my one cat, who is bored with jingling balls, catnip filled plush toys and laser points that he knows he wont ever catch. From the minute I turned this toy on, he was transfixed, watching the string repeatedly appear and disappear and biting and clawing at it in random bursts of rage/excitement. I would turn it off after about 15 minutes because not only does it make a "whirring" noise, but it would bang against the door I had it attached to - I finally figured out that If I pinned a towel behind it, it was much quieter. I really wish it had lasted longer because every time I approached it my cat would follow me, eager for me to turn it on so he could play. Overall though, I can't recommend that anyone purchase this product; you don't really get what you pay for. I would recommend a similar product though, made of higher quality materials if you can find it.

UPDATE: 8 months and still going. Read below re: how much our kitties love this. I just want to speak to maintenance issues. First of all, it is easy to remove and fix. Both our kitties have intact claws and are rough with this thing. They pull the elastic and snap it back up to a foot away from the door. They sit on the string for several minutes as the motor spins. Every once in a while it will twist, but it is easy to fix. You also need to clean the little wheel at the bottom. Just make sure to push it back in place fully (hearing it "click" in place) or else it will keep popping out. We have replaced the batteries 3 times in 8 months, with use at least 3 days a week. This past week one kitty stretched the hell out of the elastic and it was too loose to run. An easy fix. I just cut out about an inch length of the elastic and sewed the two ends back together by hand (and, no, I do not know how to sew). Good as new. One really funny thing, today the younger kitty learned how to turn it on. Seriously, we were amazed. If only she would turn it off when done playing. It is hilarious. We put this on the doorknob between the living room and front porch and the cats love it. It was easy to install and doesn't seem to rub or scratch the paint surface. We run it twice a day for about 30 minutes. Both of our cats are enthralled that entire time. One cat is young (a very playful 2-year-old) and the other is a huge, lazy old man who before would never got up off his butt to play. He even will get so hyped up that after we turn it off he will chase around other toys and play on his own. It has been in place for about two weeks and is still on the original batteries and shows no wear. For the price, I will be happy so long as it lasts for half a year. As recommended, do not leave this running unattended. We have had no problems, but I could see some potential dangers if a cat got stuck on the elastic strip and panicked.