Indoor cats need enrichment in their environment to keep their minds sharp and to keep them out of mischief. Since we humans can only wave a wand toy around for so many hours a day, toys that engage cats attention on their own are especially important. That’s why I was excited at the opportunity to review the PetSafe Cheese cat toy.
All right, I’ll admit, I was partly excited about it because it looks like a huge wedge of cheese, and I’m addicted to cheese. There’s now scientific evidence to show that cheese is addictive now, so I can say that. But let’s face it, your cats or mine aren’t likely to recognize that wedge shape as representing cheese. They probably don’t even recognize the little, yellow mice that pop out of the cheese at irregular intervals are supposed to represent mice.
What they do recognize, though, is the prey-like behavior of the little battery-driven mice. (You need 3 AAA batteries to make them go, unlike actual mice.) Just as a cat’s prey might peek out of a hole and then scurry right back inside, the mice from the cheese entice cats to try to catch them. Newton, caught surprise by the behavior of the cheese, was a little startled by them at first.
It didn’t take him long to start to wonder what was hiding inside the hole in that plastic cheese, and he had to take a closer look.
What was really surprising was the length of both Newton and Pierre’s attention spans for the cheese. Newton was interested for nearly half of its five minute runtime, which is a long time for what we jokingly call his attention deficit feline disorder (ADFD) to hold out.
Pierre, on the other hand, can watch for the entire ten minutes, which is is a very attention span for anything not containing food.
He spent the whole ten minutes inching closer until he was nose to nose with the mouse.
Finally, he was ready to catch his prey… only by then, the cheese had stopped.
Pierre: Make it go again!
One of the really neat features about the cheese is that it has a “play while you’re away” mode where the mice will come back on for another cycle in two hours, and again for another cycle after that. Since I suspect the cats sleep all day, it’s nice to know there’s something that will get their attention and have them active during the day, and there’s nothing about the cheese that makes me worry about leaving it for them to play with unattended. It has simple, solid construction, and even if they managed to knock it over, it wouldn’t hurt anything for the mice to continue poking their little, yellow heads out.
One really funny thing happened while testing the “play while you’re away” feature. All three cats were in the kitchen with me, begging shamelessly at the table while I was eating when suddenly all three went running out of the room. They don’t abandon the kitchen table before the food is gone, so this seemed strange. Then I realized I could hear a low, mechanized sound in the living room. The cheese’s timer had gone off and the mice were starting to peek out again. They were so irresistible, the cats had to rush to see them, even though it meant abandoning a chance at snacks from the table. If that isn’t a sign of approval, I don’t know what is!
PetSafe Cheese Cat Toy Giveaway
If your cats would like to try their very own PetSafe Cheese cat toy, PetSafe has sponsored a giveaway. For ways to enter, see the Rafflecopter widget below. This giveaway is open to readers in the United States only, and ends Tuesday, November 17th. Winners will be chosen by random drawing.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Winners will be notified via e-mail. Prize winner must provide Sometimes Cats Herd You with a physical address to which the prize will be mailed within 72 hours. If this information is not received, an alternate winner will be chosen by random drawing. Winners will be announced in a separate post following the drawing.
FTC Disclosure: We received our PetSafe Cheese cat toy at no charge from PetSafe in exchange for our honest review. Receiving free product did not influence anything we say. All opinions expressed on this site are our own.
