Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

As a veterinarian, I am always interested in simple ways to improve health and decrease pet stress. Feeding toys such as this are based on studies done on farm animals and in zoos which show that mental stimulation leads to decreased stress. It's a simple concept-- think of the depression that often results when a human is chronically unemployed. I like toys like this for a few reasons. First, a lot of our pets simply bolt all of their food. This kind of toy can help slow them down and put them on a more "mindful" track of eating. Second, pet boredom is pretty big problem considering the indoor lifestyle that most of our pets currently live. I see stress related behavioral problems in both dogs and cats on a regular basis. A multi modal approach to giving our furry kids a good life is important in helping to prevent stress and behavioral problems. Although I feed my cat a primarily wet food based diet, I actually bought this toy and a cat specific Trixie toy which allows me to add bits of wet food to the wells for my senior cat. He can do both and he gets very excited when they come out. I do not, however, actually add treats to this toy or the cat specific toy as suggested. I add either small amounts of very low-calorie dry food, flakes of dried bonito fish, cat grass leaves, or, in the summer, fresh cat nip leaves to the various compartments. It doesn't really matter what I put in here, he loves the challenge regardless. In fact, I would recommend things like little frozen dollops of canned food and a different brand of kibble vs. several high calorie treats. Even if your pet is lazy most of them will enjoy engaging in this, particularly if you put it out at meal time Instead of the giant bowl of empty mindless calories known as the food bowl. The round stand up shapes take my cat a while to bat out of place as they were designed for a dog's mouth, but it doesn't deter him from trying, and succeeding, with this game. He Did manage to hide the red stand up cone under the sofa for a few weeks but I finally found it the other day and our game is up and fully functional once again! Five stars from this vet!!!!