SmartyKat MadcapMouse Refillable Catnip Toy

If I were a cat, I would want the SmartyKat MadcapMouse Refillable Catnip Toy. I would especially want the mouse pictured here, with the whitish-creme colored body and the leopard print ears! I think those leopard ears are quite the stylish touch along with the black whiskers and the tan-colored tail.

Here is a picture of the actual product! Online you can purchase it for a fairly reasonable price. I paid $7.27 in total for one catnip mouse!

This was my second such purchase of the SmartyKat MadcapMouse Refillable Catnip Toy -- the same one; i.e. with the whitish-creme colored body.

Both of the catnip mouses were bought at my local KMart store. I picked up the first catnip mouse on August 3rd, the day that the white mommy cat was returned to my neighborhood after spaying.

On August 1st, the mommy cat and her six kittens were picked up by the ACPS. I didn't expect to see the mommy cat returned just two days later! When she arrived back in the neighborhood, she was quite distraught.

Once I was able to get her to come to my back door, I brought her inside and tried to make her comfortable. She was going through a lot of separation anxiety from her recent experiences. Aside from making her comfortable, I thought she might be distracted with this catnip mouse. It rather seemed to be color-coordinated; made for her.

On August 30th, I delivered the white mommy cat to the ACPS on Forest Street. She had been placed in the Wild Whiskers program. That morning, I wasn't sure how I would get the mommy cat to go into the pet carrier. However, I placed this catnip mouse inside the carrier, along with a sprinkling of some other organic catnip. As I stood in the Florida Room next to the pet carrier, interacting with and saying goodbye to mommy cat,  she turned and walked right into the carrier!

As I picked the carrier up to carry it to my car, the mommy cat was content. She had her mouse. We had about a twenty or so minute drive downtown Jacksonville. The entire trip, I didn't hear one sound out of mommy cat. I did see her looking intently at me throughout the trip.

When I arrived at the ACPS early that Saturday morning, I cautioned the girl taking mommy cat. "She is friendly, but doesn't like to be handled. Open the carrier into the cage and let her come out." The girl returned with the carrier, but the catnip mouse was still inside. I handed the girl the mouse and told her, "This is her mouse. Can you be sure she keeps it with her?"

Those two videos are of the first catnip mouse that I purchased for the white mommy cat.

Cat and Mouse!

Check out the mommy cat with the catnip mouse filmed the next day, August 6th. And just one more video of the cat and mouse on August 6th.

The Second MadcapMouse!

I bought the second catnip mouse on September 11th. This one was specifically for Boots the cat.

It was interesting to see the subtle differences from one female cat to another in how they reacted with the catnip mouse. Boots is a six-year old female. She was also a rescued cat who went through the feral spay and return. From my observations, Boots was a bit more reserved when she interacted with the catnip mouse. A short while later, I observed her resting on the mat.

Are you thinking of a catnip toy for your cat? Well, I heartily recommend the SmartyKat MadcapMouse Refillable Catnip Toy. Who else do you know who would buy two of them in about two month's time?

This refillable catnip toy comes with a resealable vial of certified organic catnip. That catnip is grown and processed without any chemicals or pesticides added.

Pet Luv Cat Scratcher Board

On July 3rd, I was at Big Lots and picked up one of their Pet Luv Cat Scratcher Boards. Less than 24 hours later, on July 4th, I returned the item. I am not recommending that you buy this item for your cat! Let me tell you more about my experience.

BIG LOTS PRODUCT PAGE

Pet Luv Cat Scratcher Board - Big Lots Product Page

Before I purchased the single-wide cat scratcher board, I had not visited the Big Lots product page. I only just visited that page when I was researching this product online and found that Big Lots actually had that page! Take a closer look at that tabby cat on the board. I don't think the product photo is an accurate depiction of what YOUR CAT will experience with the board.

THE SCRATCHER BOARD BEFORE USE

Pet Luv Cat Single-Wide Scratcher Board

In the product photo with the packaged scratcher board, you can see the plastic bag of catnip that is lying on a section of the cardboard and plastic wrapped to the board. The fact that the plastic bag of catnip is directly on top of the cardboard is a design flaw. You see, that entire section of cardboard will smell as though you sprinkled catnip there!

MOMMY CAT FINDS THE SCRATCHER BOARD

I have been taking care of a white mommy cat and her six little kittens that I rescued on June 20th. They occupy my Florida Room. I calculate that the kittens were born the end of May and as of the writing of this blog post, they are well past 5 weeks of age. I thought a cardboard cat scratcher board would be a good cat toy for them.

On July 3rd, around Noon, I put out the cat board by another of their toys. I unwrapped the scratching board and set aside the plastic bag of catnip. I did NOT want to put any catnip on the cardboard scratcher since it was intended for the six kittens to use. A couple of the kittens walked over the board, but no kitten engaged in using that scratcher board. Then, it was around 7:30pm that day. I just happened to look out the living room window into the Florida Room and see the mommy cat had found the scratcher board.

Mommy Cat on Pet Luv Cat Scratcher Board #1

At first, nothing looked out of the ordinary. Mommy cat seemed to be intent on using the board as a scratching toy. I snapped that first picture above; however, when I look closer at the board, it looks wet in the area directly in front of the mommy cat's front paws.

Mommy Cat on Pet Luv Cat Scratcher Board #2

Watching the mommy cat, it all seemed to happen so fast! One moment, she seemed OK and then not. She had detected the catnip smell that had permeated the cardboard from the wrapped plastic package!

Mommy Cat on Pet Luv Cat Scratcher Board #3

In the third picture, you can see the mommy cat is now seriously concentrating on that spot on the cat scratcher board that housed the wrapped package of catnip!

While I was watching what the mommy cat was doing with the cat scratcher board, so were two of her kittens. They were off in the distance carefully watching mommy. Both of the kittens started to creep backwards away to a hiding place. It frightened them when they saw their mommy not like herself.

It wasn't a long time that mommy cat was engaged with the scratcher board. Perhaps five minutes or so. I came into the room to get the scratcher board and to wipe the tile floor and clean up all the wet pieces of cardboard that were lying on the tile floor around the board. I then removed the board from the Florida Room and set it down inside. I returned to the Florida Room to check on mommy cat and her six little kittens.

Pet Luv Cat Scratcher Board After Five Minutes of Use

When I came back inside, I saw that my cat Boots had found the board and was also experiencing the same effects of the catnip smell. Boots is a six-year old female tabby. So, now I had two female cats that had reacted very dramatically to the cardboard in the scratcher.

Pet Luv Cat Scratcher Board After Five Minutes of Use

Take a closer look at the wet spot on the scratcher board and compare it to the size of the catnip package. It pretty much demonstrates how the catnip had permeated the plastic package and tainted the cardboard scratcher.

PRODUCT DESIGN FLAW

I believe there are two design flaws with this product:

1. The plastic package of catnip should not be packaged directly on top of the cardboard. There is no telling just how long that package sat with the catnip odor permeating the plastic into the cardboard.
2. Do you really want to use catnip on a cardboard product? I'm not the expert, but I rather think NOT!

When I returned the scratcher board to Big Lots the next morning, the cashier asked if anything was wrong with the product. They couldn't see that the area beneath the catnip package was all wet and torn up. I told them, "Yes, this product has a design flaw. You shouldn't be using catnip on a cardboard product!"

Searching on the Big Lots website, I see there are a lot of Pet Luv cat toys available. I did settle on two other cat toys that seem to work fine with the kittens. No more catnip for the white mommy cat and her six little kittens!!

P.S. I had previously had a conversation on Facebook with a fellow cat lover. We were discussing how I surely wouldn't want mommy cat experiencing catnip because it might get into her system. Since she is still nursing the six little kittens, I don't think the little cuties need to feel the affects of catnip at such a young age!

SUPPORT MOMMY CAT AND HER KITTENS

I am caring for the white mommy cat and her six little kittens until they are adopted. That means another three weeks before the kittens can be put up for adoption. July 25th would mark approximately 8 weeks of age for the kittens. We are hoping to raise enough funds so that we can provide the spaying and neutering of the kittens and mother. Won't you help us? Please help to support the mommy cat and six little kittens during their care.

ADOPT A KITTEN

Would you like to adopt one of the six kittens? Or, maybe you would want an older kitten like the mommy? We think these are some special kittens. They are cute in disposition and have beautiful markings. If you are interested, please leave me a comment with your contact information.