My kittens have loved the CrackleChute since I adopted them at two months of age. They play with it everyday, diving in at each other, as well as "attacking" each other while one is inside and the other is outside. The chute is 33.5" long, and the openings have a 9.5" diameter. As you can see from the video, the crinkling is quite loud, and so it's probably not something you'd like to keep anywhere you sleep. It also slides all over the floor, and I've learned to keep it away from walls after a couple of over-enthusiastic dive bombs led to bumped heads. The chute collapses down and ties up neatly with the attached strings, which also provide their own source of entertainment. I bought this for about $10 at Wal-Mart.
My boyfriend purchased this for $5 at the Wal-Mart in Honolulu in June 2009 for our then 2-month-old, 2 lb orange tabby kitten we'd just rescued. He was our first rescue adoption and didn't really know what kind of toys to get him.
I thought he was nuts for buying the kitten such a flimsy and cheap-looking toy and wondered if the kitten would even play with it.
A year and a half later, I eat all of my words, along with a huge scooping of dirty cat litter!
Our kitten absolutely loved this tunnel! He'd crouch on one end of the tunnel, wiggle his orange little butt from side to side and proceed to run and "pounce" on imaginary things in/on the other side of the tunnel, would run through it just for fun, sleep in it, and we enjoyed sticking toys through the top opening & watching him chase after it.
Suffice to say, our "little kitten" blossomed into a 16-lb fat cat a year and a half later and STILL enjoys playing with this. In fact, it's his favorite toy! We also ended up adopting two more kittens along the way who grew to be 10 lbs and 13 lbs each. They enjoy chasing each other through the tunnel, the two male cats love to perch at each entrance and give each other "stare downs" until one gets gutsy & playfully tries to run after the other through the tunnel, and my 16-lb enjoys "hiding" in it when we he's in a playful mood running away from us.
1.5 years, it's still holding up, although it's wrinkled and material on one end of the tunnel is starting to come off its wire support. Overall, though, it's held up great with all of the wear and tear it gets in my multiple cat household, gets used everyday on a constant basis (probably one of the few toys that gets a lot of usage), and it gives my cats great stimulation & exercise. Please note that I received this toy while my kittens were quite young, so they've been acclimated to the loud noise given off by the crinkly material & it's tendency to roll over & move around a lot (especially when the fattest ones goes crashing through it). If you have shy, skittish, and/or older cats, it may take them a while for them and your ears to be adjusted to the noise.
Occasionally, my cats love to crash through this thing at 3 AM. Because of that, we make sure we put it away before we go to bed. Otherwise, it's been out everyday since we first got it.
The 10-inch diameter holes of the tunnel barely fit my 16-lb; I wouldn't recommend buying this for a cat any larger since his fat butt sometimes catches the end of a tunnel & ends up being dragged by him. My other 2 cats play just fine with it.
I'd pick this up for any active cats you may have, especially if you're bringing home a new kitten or 2! The color scheme is ugly, but the cats don't care. It's compact enough, doesn't take a lot of space, and price is reasonable even for what Amazon has (I'd buy it again at that price!).
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I bought one of these a few months ago, and the cats had a blast with it. I decided to get another one to attach to the first, so I could make them them a longer tunnel. They love to dive-bomb through it, and play hide & seek through the "portholes". Just be aware that they call it a "crackle" chute for a reason. It does make a goodly amount of noise, so I don't even consider placing this in my bedroom, lol. I have a "plain" chute in there, so they don't wake me up at night :o). I would definitely recommend this for cats with a major case of curiosity, or who get bored without something exciting to do.
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My cat loves this thing so much that he is OBNOXIOUS! Over a year later and still i will wake up in the morning, and when he sees me (at 0400) he immediately jumps into the tube and wants to play! it is very durable and a lot of fun for him and my ferrets.
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I bought this a few days ago & my kitten plays with it a lot. When she plays with the dog, she likes to run in it & pop out the opening on top. I think she really likes the crinkling sound it makes as she plays in it. Bought it at Walmart for $7.88
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Misrepresented!! My cat will only play with the old Hartz mice that were made with real rabbit fur. These say they are and the picture shows the old packaging, then when I got it in the mail, it was just colored mice made from fake materials! My cat won't have anything to do with them, and the company who is selling these tried telling me on the phone that it was the same product! I THINK I KNOW! DON'T ORDER!
