SmartyKat Hot Pursuit Cat Toy Concealed Motion Toy

The media could not be loaded.  I just received the SmartyKat Hot Pursuit in the mail, had it put together and running within 3 minutes, and my two 4-month old kitties LOVE it! We bought the Mystery Motion brand concealed toy first and it was awful. It was so slow, even on the fastest setting, that it did nothing for my cats. They would watch it, but they always caught it. And it didn't have enough power to pull free of their claws, so they got bored with it really fast. So I was curious if the SmartyKat would do a better job. It does! On slow, it's still intriguing, but they catch it every time. On medium, it's a challenge, probably the right speed for an older or lazier cat. For my young, spry kittiens, the fast speed is just right to really make them work for the "kill." I don't use the random speed much. It seems to be fairly fast, but it goes back and forth in one spot a lot rather than around the whole toy, so it's a bit easier for them to catch.So far the toy's motor has proved strong enough to keep going after the cats catch the "bird." I just trimmed their claws, though, so perhaps that's why they don't hold this one as well as the other one. Or it could be the stronger motor. But it's been going for 20 minutes so far and hasn't shut itself off. They catch the "bird" but it has pulled free each time so that the auto-shut off hasn't engaged. If your cat is activating the auto shut-off feature a lot, I would suggest trimming their claws or using a higher speed. (I have one kitty who's a hoarder--once she catches a toy she likes to walk off with it and gloat over it. She has tried with this toy, but it has always pulled free pretty quickly. So I'm happy about that. I was worried she'd break it or get it to a remote corner of the house where it would auto shut-off.)Just like the Mystery Motion version, the fabric on this is a slick nylon, like a windbreaker or a tent cover. It allows the toy to move freely, but it also doesn't show the movement of the ball that is hidden underneath very well (the arm has a round ball right before the toy attaches.l. My cats LOVE playing the game where I move my hand or foot under the bed covers and they pounce on it. That doesn't really happen with this toy because of the stiff fabric. But my guess is if it were a limper fabric that showed the ball's movement better, it would catch the cats' claws more and get shredded. Oh well. At least it's an attractive periwinkle blue instead of the crazy pattern on the Mystery Motion.I know people have reported the "bird" attachment has fallen apart quickly. And I expect mine will too since every feathered toy I've ever bought has been shredded within one day. So I'll update on that. (Why can't they make a better method for holding feathers on??) But so far (first 30 minutes) my cats are loving it! So much so that I'm going to order a 2nd one so each kitty can play on her own.Bottom Line: I would recommend this toy.

UPDATE: We still love this, but ours died suddenly after about 6 months. I contacted SmartyKat customer service and they said we probably got a defective one and sent us a new one free of charge. Adding a star for stellar service! My cat was clearly missing his favorite toy while we waited for the new one to get here and he got so excited when he could play with his "robot" again. :)ORIGINAL REVIEW: My cat is picky about toys. He wants nothing to do with anything ball or ball-like. Ribbons, feathers, treat puzzles, and laser lights are his jam. A friend told me her cat loved this thing and it sounded like a good "play on your own" toy. It's basically this little round robot with a "wand" or arm with something interesting on the end of it. It rotates around, under the provided cloth, peeking out at various times and places, backwards and forwards. You can set it to slow, medium, fast, or random. And, glorious day, my cat loves it! He actually seems to prefer the little red "mouse tail" over the feathers. He will play with this - pouncing, grabbing, batting - for 20+ minutes some days. So he has a project to do while I'm working close by to supervise. :) He also likes to try and get his head under the cloth to see what magical beast is operating the toy and if he can also pounce on that. :)TIP: If you have hardwood floors, the arm will clack around on the floor. We stuck those sticky-backed felt circles used for furniture legs on hardwoods and it silenced it ASAP and stayed stuck on. My cat wasn't as keen on the toy until we decreased the noise. A towel or rug would work too, but it will get bunched up periodically.Minus one star: This eats batteries pretty fast, causing the arm to spin slower and slower. Rechargeable batteries would be a good idea.Wishlist: If this had a remote control or a timer, it would be amazing. My cat will play for a bit, then run off and come back. It would be nice to turn it on/off with a remote to save batteries. Would also be nice if it was rechargeable itself, vs. battery powered.Bottom Line: My cat loves this. He asks for it some days. He gets to hunt and play and ninja jump all over it and I get enjoy the show while I'm working from home. He still gets interactive playtime with me at night, but this really helps to keep his day interesting. Enrichment for the win!

Cool toy, bad quality. Stopped working after 3 month.Buen juguete, mala calidad. Después de tres meses dejó de funcionar

Good toy and takes abuse ( kitty sitting on the rod). Great if young kittens need to play while you need to work- sort of like sticking the kids in front of the TV. LOL

Very sturdy and keeps the cat distracted/happy. great way to keep your cat active in doors

It is a little noisy, but over , exactly what I was looking for

Arrived quickly, which means it made in time for my kitty's birthday. Very serious business yknow. The product itself it's exactly as shown and it works great. My only suggestion to the developers is in addition to the multi speed settings, have the gadget hold still time to time. Without a pause, just solid movement, I found the cat's became bored quickly, despite an enthused start. Still, excellent product, worth the $25.