Works as intended but my cat is piiiissed
So I’ve used various “reach inside to get food” puzzle feeders. And when it’s treat time, I lob the little Temptations kibbles across the floor hard enough that she definitely burns more calories chasing after them. My cat’s also smart enough to learn sit, stay, fetch (on her own), and likes to open doors when she thinks she’s alone. So I thought, hey, a treat ball must be a good marriage between the two for her morning kibble, right?
Well, it works as intended, 5 stars there. The little holes allow various pieces to get through and will work for future kibble sizes, and it seems like it’ll be easier to clean than some alternatives. And she definitely understands how it works. She even humored me a few times by seeming to go “yeah yeah, hit the ball, get the food, I get it.” She always leaves some dry kibble to snack on throughout the day and into the night after her wet food; therefore I went to bed, confident that it’d all be gone by morning.
Nope, seems like she’d rather starve than be obligated to use the ball since her way of cat-like rebelling is to pretend to be too helpless or stupid to figure things out (food puzzles and even some toys) and then end up bored with normal toys. Dumped the remaining food out onto the mat for the time being, but I side eyed her with a “we’re gonna revisit this later, you betcha; stand by” because my way is “then I guess this is how you’re gonna eat now, my friend.” Next attempt is going to be a mix of catnip and “you want treats? use the ball” so we’ll see how it goes.
By Barbara on Apr 29, 2023
Fantastic for dogs!
I originally bought this for my cat but have ended up using it for my dog as it is great for her meal times! She was eating her food in like 15 seconds and this ball slows her down. I use it for every meal now and have already bought 2 more - one to keep at my mom's when we're visiting her, and a backup as her current one is getting worn out!
Holes are too big
My vet recommended I get this for my very active new 7-month-old kitten. He can get all the treats out in 30 seconds so it's not doing the job of keeping him busy. The big holes are too big and let the treats out too quickly. The smaller holes are too small for the Greenies to get out so that doesn't work either. It's too easy for him and doesn't provide the challenge to get the food out that I wanted. I was hoping this would be a good solution but it's not working for us.
Finnicky Toy
I found that the ball doesn't do a great job at staying in the opening you have set it to be so kibble will fall out way too easily since it will switch from the small opening to the large opening as it moves across the floor.
By KateNWill on Feb 14, 2023
Not even slightly...
The toy is well made. Two stars for that. Can't give more bc my boy rated it two paws down.
William is smart, 2 yrs old. (Learned Fetch in a week. He's part Maine Coon). Loves his treats, compulsively curious, yet couldn't get him to touch this thing. Filled it, left a short trail of treats to it, then showed him how to roll it to get a treat. He sniffed it, walked away. I tried several more times, and interactively playing him/it. Nope.
By Katono107 on Feb 20, 2023
My Cat Loves It
My cat is a cookie monster. He loves his treats and will scarf them all up, as quick as I put them down. I swear, he barely chews them. I thought this interactive ball would slow him down, a bit and it does. Now, he must work for his treats and can no longer inhale them quite so fast. I load the ball with a bunch of treats, in the morning and he goes to it, throughout the day. Purrfect.
My cats love it
Using treats at first helped my cats to learn to use the ball - it us cute to watch them using it! I would recommend.
Perfect for my vacuums
My two cats will inhale their food if fed from a bowl. I've been using the blue slimcat for a little under 2 years for my older of the two, and he's gotten very good at learning how to self regulate over the day with his food. (He gets high quality stuff that only calls for half a cup a day.) The younger of the two is getting the hang of it quickly, but isn't quite up there with the self regulating just yet, which is why I'm glad there's two settings for the size of holes.
To combat the idea of cat food all over my carpet, I paired my Slimcat with an xs size litterbox (brand new, no litter used in it, obviously, lol) and it works great. I can clean out the box whenever it starts to look like it needs it, and the high sides keep the ball in one place and from escaping under furniture. For anyone else struggling with that, I highly recommend finding a small/kitten size literbox and putting it in there.
She loves it!
I actually bought this for my yorkie and she loves it. I bought tiny Kong treats that fit through the hole and she loves to play with it. She even paws at it like a cat would! :)
can't rush the treats
I love this ball, it can be adjusted to different sizes of food/treats and it takes my cat a little time to get them out instead of scarfing them all down all at once.
