Hi everyone,

after playing with my homemade imitation Dabird, i laughed alot! Keman and Shana would literally jump/pounce onto the bird at the same time, and then proceed to quickly hiss at each other and the bird! I mean, they would hiss in short sequence, maybe a second long, 5 -6 time in a row!

Does yours do that or are mine going bonkers?

My cats love the DaBird, too. I have to patch it up regularly. I bought a pack of feathers at the craft store to replace those that get chewed-off during play and it's got duct-tape all over it by now to hold it together.

They are typically pretty good about taking turns. When the bird is "flying" Mikesch will jump and twist and turn to catch it and Binky will watch. When I drag it over the ground, most of the times Binky will pounce on it and Mikesch will watch. I haven't heard them hiss at each other yet. Actually, just the other day, Mikesch caught the bird in the air and then placed it on the ground in front of Binky's nose to share his catch. So cute! Sometimes though when he catches the bird, he'll grab it tightly in his mouth and run off with his "prey" to his "cave" to hide it and chew on it. Hence the necessity for frequent repairs...

there doesn't seem to be any malice behind the hissing, more like a benign dominance game, or a warning to the prey not to run away. Does that make any sense?

well we only have one kitten now -- so no not quite that much fun yet. Although I have only heard Confetti hiss once and that is when he got his paw stuck in a box that he couldn't get his paw out of. That was kind of funny. The noises and stuff he does at the window... very comical when he sees anything of interst.