Trail a soft silver fish low across the floor, slip it under the sofa edge, and let your string-loving cat hook it and win the catch.
How to Use Your MoriCat Magnetic Catch Wand — Slim Ribbon Fish
A shoelace hits the floor, and your cat has it pinned under a paw before you can bend down. Long, stringlike lures give a cat the feel of reptile-like prey on the ground. For a cat that loves anything long, the Slim Ribbon Fish is a ribbon of its very own: soft, silver, with a fish's face, and steered by you from a rod. Your first move: lay its tail on the floor and draw a slow S away from your cat.
What Is This Toy
Head to tail, the fish runs 63 cm, hanging loop included. It is 2 cm wide at the head, 3 cm at its widest and 0.5 cm at the tail. Magnet and all, the fish weighs 8 g. Each side carries a heat-pressed, stitched eye, so a face looks up whichever side lands on top.
You steer it with a rod that slides from 18 to 86 cm, through a short connector at the tip.
Why We Built It This Way
Why so long? A long body lets you lay a slow S across the floor, the route a snake would take. We made it a ribbonfish instead of a snake: the same long prey, with a cuter face.
Why a 4 cm connector? With the fish hanging this close to the rod tip, each turn of your wrist shows up in its path, so the route is yours.
Why silver on both sides? Whichever side lands up, the fish catches the light. And because it is fabric, it does that without a bell or a crinkle.
Materials
- Rod: telescoping stainless steel, plastic handle
- Connector: orange Oxford thread, small magnet
- Fish: silver PVC fabric, two sewn layers
Best Suitable For
- String thieves. Cats that make off with laces and hair ties.
- Floor batters. Long enough to bat while lying flat.
- Sparkle chasers. Every slide across the floor throws a flash of light.
How to Use
Set the trap
- Clip on the connector. Hook the connector's clasp onto the ring at the rod's tip.
- Add the fish. Bring the magnet on the fish's loop to the connector's magnet until the two join.
- Extend the rod. Pull out each section in turn; there's no lock to undo.
Three moves and the fish is ready to tease.
Trail it low
Think low, slow, then suddenly fast.
- Draw an S. Hold the rod low and sweep your hand side to side, so the fish curves across the floor in an S.
- Creep, then dart. Let it inch along, then snatch it off; a sudden escape usually draws more of a reaction than a steady pull.
Hide, then hand over
Does your cat poke a paw into every gap under the sofa? That gap is where the fish goes next: slide it under the edge, leave a hand's length out, and wait.
A cat's sensitive paws can hook prey out of a gap and scoop it up to the mouth. Our own cats hook the fish, then press it under their bodies.
No sofa nearby? A table leg does the same job: trail the fish slowly behind it and stop with part still in view, since cats can pick out a half-hidden shape. Or draw it past a door frame until it is gone, then hold still: prey that has just vanished round a corner is hard for many cats to leave alone.
Once your cat has it pinned, the round is won: stop steering. A cat that plays but never catches anything loses its sense of achievement.
If your cat tugs, let it: when the pull is hard enough, the magnet gives way and the fish stays in its paws.
Starting again takes no crouching. Lower the connector's magnet onto the loop at the fish's head and raise the rod; only a cat lying on the fish makes you wait.
Take-Away Notes
- Low first: the tail stays on the floor.
- S, then dart: slow curves, sudden escapes.
- Half hidden: a sofa edge, a table leg.
- Theirs to pin: stop steering at the catch.
Care & Safety
Drool happens. The fish can be wiped down or hand-washed in cool water with a little mild soap. Towel the magnet dry straight away and let the fish air-dry flat. The washing machine, dryer, iron and hot water stay off the list: heat can weaken the magnet for good.
When the fish comes apart or loses its magnet, only the fish needs replacing. Order a single fish at moricat.com; the rod and connector you have keep working.
Folding up takes one push: press the sections back into the handle. If one ever sticks, contact us.
Safety
- Play together: Use this toy only while you are playing with your cat.
- Check first: Check the magnets before each game. The fish is sewn, so also check the seams, the eyes and the tail end for loose threads.
- After play: Put the cord and the lure away when the game is over.
- Replace parts: If a magnet comes off or the cord breaks, replace it with a new one.
- Swallowed parts: If you think your cat has swallowed any part, see a veterinarian immediately, even if your cat seems well. Never pull a string out of your cat's mouth or rear.
- Age: Kittens 4 months and older can play with it.
Somewhere under your sofa, a paw is already waiting for this fish.
References
Brown, S. L., & Bradshaw, J. W. S. (2014). Communication in the domestic cat: within- and between-species. In D. C. Turner & P. Bateson (Eds.), The domestic cat: The biology of its behaviour (3rd ed., pp. 38–59). Cambridge University Press.
Delgado, M. M. (2024). Play with your cat!: The essential guide to interactive play for a happier, healthier feline. TarcherPerigee.