While we were on vacation missing our fur babies we decided that we should be sure to bring them back a new toy in order to make it appear that we were merely out looking for a new toy for them for the entire week.  The toy we brought back was the Large Crazy Circle by Petmate (blue).  Mostly chosen because he shares the similarity of having a bat-able ball in a track which has proven successful previously with my Feline Horde, plus it doesn’t hurt that it was on clearance for six dollars at the pet store.  What the fur babies don’t know won’t hurt them, so let’s keep that part our little secret.

What the Large Crazy Circle consists of is a primarily a circular lightweight blue tube with holes in it with a lightweight yellow ball on the inside.  It measures in at around 17” in diameter and it weighs only a few ounces.  The outer shell (the big blue part) has a solid underside which permits the interior ball a smooth surface in which to roll around in, while on the sides and top there are slits large enough for any cat or kitten to get their paws into the inside in order to bat at the ball as they try to capture the uncatchable.

What I first noticed about the product is that it is incredibly lightweight, for its size I would expect more heft, even the interior ball must be not much heavier than a ping-pong ball (although slightly bigger).  This weight apparently is no issue for my feline horde because the girls instantly took to it, plus with such a light weight it is a very quiet cat toy.  The big difference between this toy and our other circular ball toy is that this one is enclosed, and even if one of our chunkers decides they want to cheat and just lay on the ball (“nah nah I win I caught the ball”) they can’t, the play will just go on underneath them. 

Initially Hera, Kara, and Six were the big players with this toy.  Kara and Six taking a side and Hera sitting in the middle having a spaz attack, the first thing that surprised me was when Six accidentally (although she claims she does it intentionally) jabs at the toy, underneath the ball and thus underneath the toy, she could easily lift it with her paws and roll the ball to the other side.  Therefore making a new way for them to play with it, after a while the boys were enticed enough to join in.   Sam surprisingly was able to fit his bear-like paws into it and bat around the ball, at least for a bit until he decided to start picking up the side of the toy when he tried to bat the ball, leaving him with a “What da ****, get back over here ball!” expression on his face.  Finally even Dante played with it for a bit, which leaves the Large Crazy Circle to be only the second ever cat toy we found to have a universal appeal with the entire feline horde.

Since we first got the toy playing with it has been sporadic since the first night, and it is probably due to be hidden for a while so that the newness can be returned to the toy.  On the downside for this toy I am a little concerned about its durability, if I were to step on this thing I can’t imagine that the Crazy Circle would come out the victor against my foot, so I recommend trying to keep it out of high traffic/night walking territory.

Overall the Large Crazy Circle by Petmate has served well as our excuse for that week long absence, and the cats seem to enjoy it at least for stints of time or whenever us humans are willing to play with it with them.  The only real problem with it is that it doesn’t feel all that sturdy and could probably reach its demise with one misstep.  

Recommended: Yes