Hartz Midnight Crazies Cat Toy Balls

Whiskey likes that he can pick these up in his mouth and carry them up the stairs so he can drop them down and try to catch them as they bounce down.

I gave this two stars just because my cat enjoyed it. In terms of concept, it’s great — right size for a young cat, very rolly and the right amount of ring. But, in actuality, it wasn’t well-designed at all — somehow, after perfectly normal type play (my kitten was rolling it about by himself), the bell within the ball broke — it literally split into two halves.

And then, because the gaps in the outer shell of the ball are big enough, the bell parts slipped out — I literally found my cat chewing on one of the tiny halves. Lousy quality bell obviously, and the least they could have done was make the gaps smaller to prevent any broken pieces coming out!

My cats bat these around like they’re on a hockey team. They’re small though, and will have to be retrieved from under the furniture or behind the doors as needed. Good for younger, active cats. One of mine is 17 and far too dignified now to join in the fun.

Try not to step on these, because the plastic will crack. I stepped on one of them, and didn’t have to throw it away, but it was a close call. Recommended.

Super bonitas, a mi mascota le encanto

The items I received were not as pictured. Years ago, I was able to buy two retail packs of these cat toys and they were in the colors depicted here – Red, Yellow and Blue. May cat, for reasons only known to cats, only really liked playing with the Blue ones most of all. Over the years the had become lost or cracked from repeated play time and hard tile floors that we used to sling them down.

I was happy to see that I could get these from Hartz direct on Amazon and that it showed the style that I could no longer find locally. However, I was disappointed to see that it had been substituted for the “Midnight Crazies” that has a pastel color scheme. This is now the second time I’ve purchased the product pictured with the primary color scheme on Amazon – the first time being from a 3rd party retailer. However, I was disappointed that buying it direct from Hartz, I did not get the item pictured.

After contacting Amazon for another issue with a different order, they went ahead and refunded me the cost of the 2 packs I had purchased. I ended up donating the toys to neighbors because my cat, being a cat, only wants to play with the Blues.

The product itself appears to be the same high quality that have lasted 3 years of rough play.

Colorful and makes a bell noise

These “jingle balls” really have a new (2-3 month old) kitten going great guns around the house! I really think the only thing that could be improved on would to have them automatically come out from under/behind couches, dressers, etc 🙂🙃😉.

A* has three items to rate about these balls. Durability, Suction & Value. Durability is, so far, great! These are coming up to 3 months old and with the exception of those I can’t currently find, they look like new. Suction: I’ll discuss this in depth in a bit. Value: Really great! The amount of balls for this small price is great!

Okay, now for the BAD part of this review. As mentioned above, A* has put three items to rate on these. One, Durability – discussed above. Three, Value for money – also discussed above both of which got five stars!

Finally, Two, Suction. Unfortunately, I could only give one star for this rating. I’ve tried & tried (until I looked like a Smurf) to develop a suction on these balls and the open waffle pattern just wouldn’t allow for a suction to be established. THEN a thought came to me, IT’S a waffle pattern, maybe it just needs some butter and syrup – smart, huh, surprised nobody else thought of that 😉🙃🙂. So I pulled out some of our best butter (Kerrygold) and some of our best pure maple syrup. Except for getting yelled at by my wife for making a big mess on the kitchen floor, it still didn’t work. I thought & thought about this for a good long time and FINALLY it came to me, waffle pattern, waffle maker a match made in heaven if ever there was one – boy oh boy did I feel SMART! I pulled out our Belgian waffle maker, when it was good & hot I very quickly put in a ball and promptly turned the waffle iron over like it states in the Instructions. When the light came on, I turned the maker back upright and opened it up. I think the kitten got to the ball before I could close the lid, although I didn’t see him, because the only discernable thing in the waffle maker was a bent bell – and a really gooie mess of something red & yellow – my wife yelled at me again because she thought the red & yellow goo was the ball – boy the joke is really on her, huh. I did try to develop a suction on the bell, but it just wouldn’t happen.

I thought & thought & thought and then I had a real revelation. What if I wasn’t supposed to start a suction on the ball, BUT that the ball was supposed to start a suction on me! WOW, I thought, that sounds like something that just possibly might work. Just think about it, all those holes in the ball could really cause an extreme suction! Being VERY safety minded, I made SURE I had all safety equipment that might be necessary considering how much suction just might be present. Having gathered all the appropriate equipment I set out to start my experiment. With a highly calibrated suction meter and anti suction material covering my arm I, very slowly, starting the ball toward my arm. Although I could feel my arms trembling, I knew that this experiment was for the better good and a better review!

It took almost 5 minutes to finally get up the nerve to actually touch the ball to my covered arm and then I very quickly pulled it away. Looked all over my covered arm and couldn’t find any indication that a suction had occurred. Finally decided that I really just needed to bite the bullet and touch the ball to my bare arm. I’ve got to admit, I was really scared. But for the sake of all reviews, I decided I’d just have to muster up the courage and do it. Once again I very carefully (and slowly) started moving the ball toward my now bare arm. The closer the ball came to my arm, the more scared I got. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime I finally touched the ball to my bare skin. To my great relief, it didn’t stick to me, it just fell to the floor and jingled. Was the ball laughing at me? I tried again, nothing. Hmmm.

I’ve come to the conclusion that these balls do NOT develop any suction AND they will NOT hold a suction either. Because of these findings I, unfortunately, must state that the suction power if these balls really stinks. It is for these reasons I had to only give one star for suction. Maybe next years model will be better!

Hope this helps!