Da Bird smells like a real bird?

[jezahb]

So my kitties, like most kitties, are completely bonkers for Da Bird. I have never seen them so insane about any toy in my life, they are very intense about catching it and then trying to carry it off. I noticed in particular, when I attach a new replacement feather to it that they go more bonkers than before. The last time I got a replacement pack with a dozen or so replacements in it (we go through them quickly here as I allow my youngest to walk around gragging the wand after a play session as that is her "victory lap" but leads to quickly mangled feathers) I noticed a very distinct smell when I opened it. It was a very musty, animal like smell and I realized it was from the feathers. I wonder if this is part of the reason why our kitties go go nuts for them, if the manufacturer doesn't deodorize the feathers or adds some sort of pheromone to them? Anyone else notice the smell?

 

[Anne]

I never noticed the smell myself. It's possible that untreated natural feathers retain some of the original bird scent?

 

[stephenq]

 
So my kitties, like most kitties, are completely bonkers for Da Bird. I have never seen them so insane about any toy in my life, they are very intense about catching it and then trying to carry it off. I noticed in particular, when I attach a new replacement feather to it that they go more bonkers than before. The last time I got a replacement pack with a dozen or so replacements in it (we go through them quickly here as I allow my youngest to walk around gragging the wand after a play session as that is her "victory lap" but leads to quickly mangled feathers) I noticed a very distinct smell when I opened it. It was a very musty, animal like smell and I realized it was from the feathers. I wonder if this is part of the reason why our kitties go go nuts for them, if the manufacturer doesn't deodorize the feathers or adds some sort of pheromone to them? Anyone else notice the smell?

It was so intense one of my cats went kinda crazy  and we had to throw it out immediatley.

 

[kntrygrl256]

I've never had one but it would be worth a try if my cats would play with it.

 

[wendalore]

I have one Da Bird and my cat likes it quite well, but he also likes other toys on wands.  This one is only at its best up in the air, and he likes some of the ground ones more of the time.  The reason this toy is special, I think, is that it uses what seems to be a fly fishing thingy which causes the feathers to twirl around very fast when you drag it though the air.  So it probably looks more like a real bird to them.  I haven't noticed any smell, and I have a good sniffer.  It's funny, my cat chews and pulls on the feathers, but has not dislodged them yet!  Since feathers DO come from "real birds," maybe to a cat the DO smell like birds. Cats have a FAR better sense of smell than humans, I read.  But the feathers they use on toys look dyed and I'm not sure if the bird smell would last through a bath of dye. 

And, as I said, my cat doesn't go crazy for Da Bird.  In fact, I would say he is not as interested in it as he was at first.   I'm new owner (yes, "owner" (lol) of a cat,) so I don't have a lot of experience to compare different toys to each other—but for sure my Jesse likes toys on wands, and he wants ME to be the director of his stalking stories!  Try giving him mechanical toys that you put on the ground, and he stares at them for a while and then walks away.  In the reviews for some of those toys, people are saying their cat went wild.  My cat just went wild with boredom, maybe you could say.  Oh, and also, I leave little toy mice around.  Sometimes he'll get creative with them, toss one up in the air and pounce on it when it lands.  RACES through the house carrying the mouse in his mouth!!  I go along with this by play- whispering "Get that mouse!!!!" and he's learning to add to his excitement when I encourage him like that. 

When you play with your cat with a toy on a stick or wand, make sure you make the toy look like it is real, and "make it" scurry away, hide behind things, or move very slowly, jiggling it, getting closer and closer to disappearing from sight.  It's that last second just before or just after it disappears that makes them run crazily after it, as if it's their last chance to chance their dinner forever!!

 

[bundle]

We adopted a 10 year old cat from the shelter 2 years ago. In the first few days when we were still getting to know each other, I tried different toys with him. He was not particularly interested in any of them, even Da Bird. My 4yo daughter grabbed the handle of Da Bird and started whipping it around. I started to tell her not to fling it around so hard but before I could get more than a syllable out of my mouth, my cat's pupils shot open, his whiskers went forward and he leaped up into the air like a kitten trying to catch it. I had been moving it back and forth gracefully to maximize the twirling of the feathers but kitty felt that was yawn-worthy. Once the "bird" became erratic and crazy, that was MUCH more exciting apparently. LOL. We found that he would also chase the kids down the hall as they held Da Bird and let the feathers flap wildly behind them. You'd think that 2 kids screeching with laughter and stomping like buffalo through the hall would be enough to keep any cat from going near them, but he loved it. He is otherwise a very dignified and gentlemanly kitty.