Side by Side Comparison of: SmartyKat vs Ethical

Purchased this item for my 4 kittens and they really love playing with it! They like the crinkle sound the most! They also love laying on thier back, then tossing it up in the air and catching it with their front and back paws when it comes back down! It is the cutest thing to watch them do! Only one kitten out of 4 seems to be interested in cat nip right now but they all love the crinkle sound of this cute little fish toy. It is also a great way to find them when they are hiding, all I need to do is rub the toy together so it crinkles and they come running out of their hiding places.Will be purchasing a few more of these crinkle toys in the future because it seems to be one of their favorites. And for the price I can purchase a bunch of these! Love them!!

Our cats love these little mice - these are probably their favorite of all the many, many toy mice I've purchased down through the years. The mice hold up well to lots of play. With some mice, the tail comes off easily, but I don't think we've lost a tail yet with these. I'll be honest, I don't think the catnip ratio is all that strong in these; our cats don't seem to have the rolling silliness they usually do with strong catnip. However, they really seem to love that these little guys are great to toss in the air, carry around, or play mouse hockey with, so the catnip is the least of the reason to buy these. I usually try to keep some extras hidden away to replace those that end up under the refrigerator. They also make great cat-warming gifts for you friends' new kittens, if you're so inclined. (And if you're reading this, you probably are!)

 I picked up a set of these just before I got my new kitten (a very energetic little 12 week Siamese kitty.) She enjoyed it as a thrown to her kind of toy, but she goes absolutely bonkers when I use it with a wand. I have it skitter around and hide under furnature and my kitty is entranced, playing in absolute bliss for the better part of an hour at a time, with only a brief pause to use the litter box mid session. At the end I flick it out of site,throw another identical mouse there, then move it before she can see, so it seems like she's caught it. Like most Siamese, my kitten is smart as a whip, and I don't think that the switch actually fools her for an instant (if you have a sweet but dumb cat like my parents used to a few years back, it probably would), but she definitely appreciates getting to grab and bat around and mouth carry an identical mouse afterwards.IMO, If you have a cat and like to use a wand with your cat, you should buy a pack. even if your kitty doesn't like them, you are literally only out a couple of dollars.Pros:-my kitten loves them-relatively sturdy (in 8-10ish hours of rough play with a couple of mice, they still look new)-the tail can be used to affix it to a cat wand (which is how my kitty loves it!)-sized like a small mouse, with ears and eyes (of safe materials) even.Cons:-made in China, so the stuffing may not be super safe, making these a supervised play toy.-small enough that your cat can eat the whole thing, so if you have a large cat with pica or some such, you may want something else.

I wrapped these up and put them under my tree for my cat, Dracula. The same day, I heard a noise, and he was under the tree, unwrapping his mice with his teeth haha. He ended up getting them out, and ripping them out of the package haha. He loves them!

I have two cats - a very energetic siamese cat (Loki) and less active older cat (Cyd) and they both love these catnip mice toys. They toys are very light weight I really like that they are not made from fur. Loki destroys real and fake fur toy mice by skinning them and ripping of their tails. It was super creepy finding skinned cat toys on my pillow.The tail is made from some sort of twine that neither cat has managed to rip off and the cloth body of the mice is very durable. These things get lost under furniture before my cats manage to destroy them.

My cat loves to play with these little fish! But this toy has no catnip scent. The three little fish are lightweight, soft, and almost flat. They make a slight sound. If your cat likes to play rough, they could probably rip this toy open. But this is a very cute cat toy.The label says this toy is made out of polyester fiber, PET FILM, and catnip. Made in China. What is PET FILM? It is Polyethylene terephthalate, a polymer resin used to make synthetic fibers and plastic bottles. It is not edible. If a cat tore this toy open and tried to eat the contents, that would not be good for the cat.

My 4 month old kittens love these things. One of them hides them everywhere and the other brings them up to me when I'm asleep at night and drops them on my face. The best part, if you step on them, it is NOT a Lego experience. I've already reordered because we lost some, somewhere between the cushions. I can't recommend them enough. They are by far their favorite toys. They are constantly carrying them around. I've attached a photo of one of the kitten's stash. He believes they're hidden because he pushed them under the scale for safe keeping. My kittens carry these things around all day and hide them. So far I've bought 60 of them. When I die and my children go through my house they will wonder why I have hundreds of springs so I'm posting another picture of one of the kittens in spring carrying action.

I have never seen these. And I wanted so much for my furbabies to have things to stimulate their minds.These springs did it! they love them! they will go from batting them, to making them roll to running with one in their mouth to keep th eother from getting it and my fear was they would hurt themselves. But these are made of some type of material that willl not harm them even if they run 100 miles and hour down the hall from their nursery to keep one of many away from his sister and run straight into the front door! (Hilarious) Well, after I checked my furbaby but he was ok. Just wanted to tease his sister and needed to get out of my lap and do whatever he could to keep one of so many from her hands! They come in different colors that catch their eyes and they are shaped so differently from other items we can and do get them that I had to take pics of them playing with them. Mine came with two different colors inside the other and they loved getting them apart and to force them to think a bit, I put one color inside another and they catch on it will help a lot if we do this and thrown them all back down on the floor.You are in for hours of fun watching your fur babies play like never before with these new shaped toys that stimulate their minds.

Looooove these toys for my cat!! She went craaaazy when one of the toys fell in the floor she was sooooo excited and she looked so happy playing !!!

Ok, disclaimer here. It asked if I loved it, if I liked it, etc. Well, my cats LOVE them. So, this is really written from them.The kitten (10 weeks old), as well as the cat (5 years old), and the 2 elderly (10 years old) Love, love love these. The kitten and the cat especially love to each grab an end to one, and pull until it is stretched out, but still has some curve to it. Then they swat it around. The older cats just like swatting them around as they originally come. So I (the human adult) am rationing them out, otherwise the 2 younger cats would have them all stretched out :)

I was a bit of a skeptic at first about these springs but I decided to give them a chance. My cat loves them! She is a picky Calico who is not always pleased with my toy offerings, but she immediately took to these. Occasionally I have to get a yard stick to rake them out from under furniture that sits close to the floor; she bats these springs everywhere! I hand them to her one at a time until I have to go on a search for them again, and she is always inordinately delighted to start batting them around again. They really fly over tile and hardwood, but sometimes I will see her on her back with a spring in her paws. This simple concept has remarkable effectiveness, better than catnip for my hard-to-please feline.Several months later: this is one of my cat's favorite toys. I keep them is a particular drawer and she will sit in front of the drawer and beg for the springs. She will bat them around until she loses them and then will ask for more. She makes the springs fly and she is really on them!

I got these for my kitten when she was about 6 weeks old, now she is 7 months old. She has loved these toys since day one. She is always chasing after them around the house, or acting like a dog and bringing one onto my lap so I can throw it and she can chase after it. My only thing is that she losses them so quick because she is always hiding them or batting them under something she can't get to! :) I've seen a few reviews that state that these have broken and the cats have eaten them. So far I haven't seen any of these break througout the months. I have seen one bent slightly When I stepped on it but no breakage. I'd recommend it to anyone. I just ordered two more packs since she loves them so much :) Godbless

My cat's first toys were rabbit fur mice. She loved them but chewed a lot of fur out. So I chose Skitter Critters because of their sizes and materials.At first the cat, Daisy, only cared about the catnip inside. I could not get her to play with them. Once she started playing with the mice, however, all she wanted to do was play, as if there was no catnip. To my surprise she did not toss them in the air or carry them around like she did with he furry mice. She did push them under a door where I have tiles (it won't work in carpeted rooms). For some reason, Daisy also put them in her water bowl. If I had known she would do that I would have ordered the 6-pack because they take forever to dry and are too small to put in the dryer.This is why I don't get Skitter Critters 5 stars: the water damaged their eyes and ears. They expanded asymmetrically and had frayed threads. Also the eyes appeared ready to detach - I could easily cut them off. So I do not recommend them for cats who like to get their toys wet. Otherwise they are fine, although one mouse was ripped open, apparently by her claws. I did not see any catnip or plastic inside, just white fluff like cotton or wool. One tail became undone but it did not tear off the body. That was the last durability issue I had with these Skitter Critters.Overall, I recommend Skitter Critters to people whose cats keep toys out of the water bowl and like to carry and push them around.

Cats loved them, dog destroyed them for the bell inside. My concern is they are so small they slide under closed doors and couches way to easily. So constantly pull them out for the cats to play with before the dog couldn't resist attacking them anymore. I'd suggest finding a larger size toy.

My cats and foster kitties love playing with these little catnip nice. They are often the go-to toy among many in my house. These mice are small, but the perfect size for them to swat across the room or toss in the air. The only con to this cat toy is, like all soft cat toys, they can chew it up. Mine have severed the tails of several of these mice, and though they haven't swallowed the broken-off tails, they could easily become a hazard if ingested. Otherwise, it is the perfect toy and my cats enjoy playing with them.

The kitten loves these little catnip mice, they are well made & stuffed with catnip. My kitten loves to carry them around. She would give them a 5 star, but I can get a better deal at the Dollar Store. May be worth it for the convenience though, as an add on item. The picture represents them well.

My kittens like these, though not as much as the Skitter Critters mice. But these are a close second. The catnip attracts them and they do like the crinkle sound. With the mice, they're more interactive. With the Fish Flop fishes, I find them ALL over the house, so the kittens play with them without human help. They like to chew on them, too. Obviously the like them, or they'd be ignored like some other toys I've gotten them.

Our kittens really like these - our adult cats - meh. The fish are very light weight, easy to carry, with very little 'crinkle' sound to them. I thought they would sound a bit more like the Mylar balls crinkle. So it does not keep the adult's attention for quite as long as the kittens. We always make our toys 'more interesting' by keeping them in a closed container with catnip. We 'recycle' toys that are not being played with as much, and then give them toys that have been sitting in the catnip for awhile. These fishies are perfect for soaking up the catnip smell because of the lightweight denim bodies they are made from.This is the first time I have tried these toys, and I am not sure if I will buy them again or not. I am still am trying to decide.

The cats love to bat these around or chase them -- specially great if you have hard floors. They do tend to accumulate under the fridge and stove. Only giving a 4* because I realized these are just spiral binding coils cut into sections...you can buy a box of these coils (they come in various diameters), make your own and have plenty left to give to a local pet shelter. However, if you aren't that ambitious, these are a great value and provide lots of entertainment for your cats.

I volunteer for a cat rescue and foster kittens until they are old enough for adoption. I've bought these in the past and they're always a big hit. Hours of play time without the little jingling bells that are normally in the typical plastic ball cat toys. My only complaint is that the coil used to be a little more wide. The newer version seem to be a bit less exciting to the little kitties. However, at this price it's definitely worth buying a pack or two.

My cats LOVE these and go crazy for them. These springs can keep them entertained for hours. The only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 is because you really do not want to leave your cat unsupervised with these. My Bengal kitten bit the end off one of the springs after hours of play, and the smaller coil that was bitten off was a choking hazard. I ordered more of these for my cats to play with, but when play time is over I make sure to put the springs in a safe place so they can't choke on broken coils.

These end up everywhere, because they're light and my kitten likes to carry them in his mouth and bat them under furniture. But they are safe and light and colorful, and he really likes playing with them. Nice product.

Durable, great toys.My cats like them. :)Will get lost easily**

This lightweight and inexpensive toy keeps one of my 2 cats busy for 20 minutes at a time...or until he manages to knock it under the fridge, washing machine or a closed door. He carries it around, "hides" it from himself and retrieves it, sometimes with a single claw.The other cat isn't as impressed.My only complaint is that the springs tend to nest within each other in the package...a minor annoyance.

A bit smaller than expected (less than a real mouse). Cats were mildly amused, but not as much as with the classic bell-in-a-ball.

Nothing impressive, but they are adequate. Quality is pretty decent, but the material looked a little dirty when they arrived. A damp cloth cleaned them nicely.

It says you get three. I only received two. They were loose and not on a card or anything. Think I received something that had been returned. Not sure what, but minus one of what they said I was buying.

I ordered the 3 pack of crinkle fish as pictured - I received a 2 pack of fish with feathers. My Cat loves the ones I ordered so I have to replace them a lot. The ones we received with the feathers - he is not interested in. I don't know why we didn't get what we ordered. But it was an add on item so I don't know that its worth returning and reordering.

I purchased these because the ones in the photo are ones I purchased at PetSmart and my cats absolutely love these mice. My kitten plays fetch and brings me them back each time and fit perfectly in her mouth unlike other mice I've purchased. I got excited when I saw these online because I haven't been able to find them in the store. HOWEVER---I gave these only 3 stars because the mice I received are not the ones in the photo. They had neon colored ears and tails and different material for their tails. My cats play with them, but I was disappointed to not receive the item in the picture.

My cat loves the little mice. Those "real fur" ones.He is not crazy over these, however he will play with them on occasion.I try to spoil my cat and my dog with toys and have been trying different ones. These are good but they are not "realistic" by any means and I have a theory as to why my cat will not "love" these like he loves the "realistic" ones. (Here comes the story.)I adopted my cat from a local shelter about a month ago or so, he's adjusting well but slowly, and the shelter told me his history is very vague- they picked him up as a stray, but he was declawed and neutered already. (Who in their right mind does that to a cat and then abandons them? Poor Sushi!) They took all routes to find previous owners but couldn't so they put him out on the adoptions floor. He was totally freaked out and I don't blame him. But seeing as I could see past the freaked out part I took him home with me on a spur of the moment decision and have not regretted it since.That being said, I think the reason he prefers the "realistic" ones is because, lord knows how long he spent out on his own without his claws in the wilderness? He probably had to hunt for some food and to be honest probably ate some things he wouldn't eat here. Ever.So, I think he is used to the "realistic" ones, being real mice and animals, and thus has a bigger attraction to realistic looking toys- feathers, etc.However if you do not have a feral cat or a rescue who was a stray at some point, I would recommend these as they do provide some entertainment and they are quite cute. Just not perfect if you need the "realistic feel" to them.

My cat loves these springs. I would recommend these as long as you have a "causal play" cat like mine. She is not a chewer and only really bats them around. I would say these are for cats a little older not active kittens.

While my cat is obsessed with these, they are VERY DANGEROUS for cats! Both ends are extremely sharp and my cat has bled before from chewing on them. So now I only let my cat play with these while I'm home to make sure he never chews on them and then hide these when I'm not home.

I ordered these as an add-on item. At that price I knew if they were anything like other negative reviews, I was only out a couple bucks so what would it hurt? As per negative reviews I wanted to thoroughly inspect these for brittle plastic, wires, or sharp edges, peeling paint, etc, but they were in flawless condition. I have four cats, ranging from geriatric grump, adult scaredy cat, to two playful bengal kittens. Unfortunately, none of the four cared much for this toy. I threw it, I slid it, I bounced it, I bent it to send it flying, I shook it around in a box, and none of kitties played with it. They did inspect it, but it did not impress any of the furballs. I have ten of these around the house now, maybe some day a cat will find it under the couch and find it exciting, unfortunately it was not today. Oh well, at least it was inexpensive and well made. I don't regret my purchase at all.

I like these just fine. Unfortunately, my cats don't seem to care for them. I have one cat that will play with just about anything and he gave these a swat or two and moved on.These are pretty much what they appear to be. Thin plastic springs. My Maine Coon will carry these around in his mouth and bat at them a bit, so I'm going to put a couple in the treat bag and see if that makes him more interested.I don't have any issues with these, but my cats just don't care about them. For now. Next week they may be the best toy ever invented! But if not, that's ok too. For the price, it was worth a try. I can give them away if they don't take an interest in them. Sadly, that's the way it is with cats. You can't always predict the outcome.

My cats and myself still do them, or if they are supposed to do something...much confusion and discussion we had.Decided to try as rollers...yes worked.....best to do is just leave one or two randomly on friends desk, neighbor door, mail to anyone. They too can enjoy not know what when or why. .I suggest trying wearing in long hair for new fashion "twist" or put on your domestic long hair...

I got these because one of my cats likes to play with metal twist ties. I figured it was a safer alternative and just as springy, but so far my cats barely play with them. However, I will say that when one steps on them barefoot they don't really hurt, and that's definitely a plus. The material reminds me of the spine from a spiral-bound notebook: plastic, yet flexible. What I got, for the price, is a pretty good deal. Unfortunately, my cats just don't seem to like these as much as I thought they would.

Our cats didn't find these toys to be very interesting. Not sure if it's because they can't smell the catnip or another reason. Wished we would have bought a different catnip toy instead.

I ordered from the photo and thought they are cute enough to see around the house . What arrived was purple ash and dirty gray ,one of my sad looking things was lighter in color like a dirty orange .I'm particular about what I see in my house and the ones I have are NOT the cute one shown .I should send it back but for the bother Nah,whats to say the new ones would be any better?

I have a very playful cat, and she does not want anything to do with these. You might as well throw down a piece of cloth with a knot in it.

I thought I'd like these a lot but they broke open at the seams within 2 days. I have an 8 week old kitten and I can't imagine these holding up for even bigger cats. I'll stick with the ones made out of stronger material.

I bought these for my catnip-crazy cats. Unfortunately, although the canvas cover does keep the cat from biting through the toy, it also prevents very much smell from coming out. One cat was interested for a bit, but none of the others gave it the time of day. I was surprised and disappointed.

I put them on the floor. My cat sniffed them and walked away. He has never played with them. Not even once. One review on here says their cat ate one. I can see how that might happen, because these mice toys are rather small. They are cute enough, but for whatever reason, my cat has no interest in them. He's the boss.

These are a failure as a cat toy (or anything else) My cats don't even like them

Probably fun for the cat, but hurt pretty badly when you step on them.

I really do not know how to review these springs. I really thought my cat would love these but he wants nothing to do with them. Its not the products fault, my cat does not seem to be inspired by them. I throw them and he just looks at me, they just do not excite him. If I was smart I would have just took this off a spiral notebook since that is what it seems to be and saved my money.

Every cat is different with different interests, so no predicting whether your cat will hate/love these toys. (Mine was interested, but not terribly intrigued with them.) The are simply little plastic springs that probably cost pennies to produce and package. They squish if stepped on (one flattened out, another shattered into pieces, and I pitched the rest as I thought it could be a choking/digestion hazard if precious little kitty swallowed a piece. For the money, I'd pass on these and spend it on something that is more likely to lure your cat to play.

I got a bunch of these for my cat Fifi, but she barely played with them at all. She really just seems to prefer balls because they go further when she whacks at them.

I got these on a whim and my year old cat seems to love them. I always try to supervise my cats when they initially play with new toys (just in case anything breaks). While she was more interested in just batting them around, one of my older cats was playing a little rougher and I noticed that one had broken and they were trying to eat the pieces. We averted a crisis but it honestly scared me so they go away unless we are watching them when they play. I would feel awful if something happened to my babies!

I buy from Amazon very frequently, and seldom feel the need to leave a negative review. This product deserves one.The SmartyKat Catnap Flyers are very simple pieces of mesh, and the included catnip doesn't stay inserted in them. Please see the picture of the blue one - they are both like this, open on both ends.The "flyers" are thin, flimsy and very lightweight, and the catnip flies right out making a mess. Also, the included catnip is stale and not at all enticing to the kitties.The package is dollar store quality. I can't believe they are currently priced at 6x that.

I know they are cheap, but do they have any catnip inside? My cats showed no interest at all, and they love catnip.

My cat, who loves catnip, didn't respond to these toys at all. Waste of money IMO, because there also isn't a way to refill them.

The cats loved these at first. Perhaps too much. They soon eviscerated the mice, whose plastic guts spilled out. I don't think the cats ate any of the plastic, but I wasn't going to take a chance, so the remains of these mice soon found themselves in the trash. I'll seek out 100% all-natural mice from here on out.

I couldn't smell any catnip scent at all, and my cat was very slightly interested in them, at first. Her reaction was almost like these had been in proximity to catnip at the factory, but didn't actually have any catnip in them.

warning! this is not a safe cat toy. poorly made and to my shock had a plastic bag inside each one! BAD SmartyKat. DO NOT buy this toy.My kittens each had one for less then 2 minutes and they were ripped in half and the plastic bags could of been choked on, if I had not been there. Trash! See picture.

I ordered these for my cat and within 2-3 days they they started breaking in half or small pieces would break off. I just threw them all away. They are cheap plastic and could be havoc on a cat, dog or child's digestive system. Dangerous and cheap. Very disappointed. If you look closely, you can see my cat's teeth marks on it which weakened it and caused it to break.

My cats bit, broke & swallowed these. One threw a big piece up thank goodness -- hopefully that's all that got swallowed -- time will tell. I made the mistake of untwining the paired pieces so maybe if left as a twirled together pair they'd be safe but I wouldn't chance it. If there were a - 5 star option that's what I'd give these.

Cat chewed them to pieces in minutes, I find them to be a choking hazard. I understand that they aren't meant as chew toys, but if your cat chews, they will be. The others that don't chew didn't bother with them at all. Glad they weren't expensive, I threw what was left of them away.

Break easily. Hurts when stepped on. When it breaks, they are little pieces that can be choked on. and different material then wide ones. Does not feel springy at all. Get the wide ones folks! Doesn't hurt when stepped on. When it finally does break a piece off, too wide to choke on. Very springy.

I would love to give this product 5 stars because my 6 month old kitten LOVES these things like you wouldn't believe. But unfortunately they have EXTREMELY sharp edges which have now wreaked havoc with her gums. I had to take her to the vet today, and was told to immediately stop using this toy, and was shown the messed up state her bleeding gums are in. It's such a shame, because my cat was obsessed with them, but they are, unfortunately, dangerous, and you should NOT GIVE THESE TO YOUR CAT!!!!!Edit: I have since found these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00025YVPI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 which my cat loves just as much, but they have no hazardous sharp edges that will harm your cat. I HIGHLY recommend them, and again, please, for your pet's sake, do not buy those other springs, they are dangerous.

I do not recommend these thin springs at all especially for kittens in particular. My 12 week old kitten started to lose weight and failing to thrive when he was always the largest and strongest of a litter I am fostering. A barium study revealed 5 broken pieces of these springs in his GI tract which will now have to be removed either endoscopically or by surgery if the pieces migrated to his intestines. This would have killed him and/or caused perforation if not caught in time. I can't tell you how much I regret buying these toys. These kittens were carefully supervised for a month during playing before the one kitten ingested them a few days ago.UPDATE:My kitten is doing great now and we were lucky the pieces did not move beyond his stomach. I wanted to clarify that my kitten swallowed pieces of the Ethical WIDE Colorful Springs Cat Toy and Ethical THIN Colorful Springs Cat Toy which were both plastic. The thin and narrow version is brittle and do not coil and spring back like the wide version. They also broke easily. Despite the breakage, I don't believe my older cats would have ingested the pieces like my kittens. However, I do not want to take a chance moving forward with the wide coils either and wanted other pet owners to be aware of the potential danger.