Mewvie, The Motion Picture for Your Cat: Episode 1 Backyard Buffet

This is my 2nd cat DVD, the last one (a different company) I have 4 starts to and 6 out of 8 gave it only one paw up... this "mewvie" gets four paws up! It's really more like 6 1/2 cats, as one is pretending not to like it, but I do catch him watching it, although not yet fully addicted like the other six. As I type this, one of them is staring at a blank TV screen right now, hoping I'll turn it on. As soon as they hear the TV come on, they come running. They paw it, bat it, bite it, look behind it, beside it, on top of it and everywhere else to see where that pesky squirrel could have gone, that bird flew to, or the chinchilla jumped to. They look at me with incredibly sad little faces when I turn it off, even if none of them are actually watching it! Watching them watch it is hysterical and makes me wonder about my sanity and the lack of having an actual life. If you read my review on the other DVD I bought for cats, you'll know why I start this TV for cat obsession in the first place, but I don't feel like repeating the entire long story here, suffice to say, the cat we intended it for, shows very little interest, but he is the one that I have caught watching it on the sly. Maybe I'll get him yet. Long story short, it's to try and keep him entertained more inside, so he'll stop attempting to get outside.Pros: Cats LOVE it. I have 6 little TV junkies now! The video loops over and over from bird to animal and back again. You can select where you want to start the video, on a bird, on an animal, your choice. NO FISH! The other video had fish and they yawned at the prospect of the fish and it had way too much of the fish. Thank you for NO FISH!Cons: The background noise is birds, always birds, there may be crickets on the screen or mice, but you still hear birds. Maybe this is to attract the cats to the TV, I have no idea, but I can mute it and they still like it. The bird sounds seem to be repetitive and get annoying after awhile and I love birds. However, the same ole same ole over and over and over... yeah, not so much.I've tried three cat videos so far, Happy Cat TV, this one and Mewvie Episode 2. I thought they would prefer Episode 2, because in my Happy Cat TV they loved the birds. Mewvie Episode 2 is all birds. The birds however are not very "active", they don't fly around enough as in the Happy Cat TV. I cannot return it as it's opened, so I may try and see if they will get interested in it yet, but so far the second one just hasn't been as interesting to them. If you can't decide which one to buy from this collection, I recommend Mewvie Episode 1 (this one) over Mewvie Episode 2.

This DVD has eight sections:- Sparrows: a hanging feeder over a tray, both full of birdseed; sparrows fly (and occasionally fade) in and out of the picture, landing on both the tray and the feeder.- Degus: 2-3 degus (chinchilla-like rodents) crawling around on a few logs.- Crickets: a straight-down shot of a table full of crickets that run across the TV screen.- Squirrel Group: multiple squirrels running around the roots of a large tree.- Martens: a nest in the corner just under a roof; 4-5 half-grown birds that remain in the nest are fed by an adult bird who flies in and out of the picture.- Chinchilla: one chinchilla who runs and hops around on a small patch of lawn with a couple of stacked bricks to climb on.- Squirrel: a single squirrel eating acorns and wandering around on a large patch of lawn.- Mice: multiple mice crawling in and out of a loaf of bread in which holes have been cut.The soundtrack for each section alternates between two recordings of birds, one cheeping/squawking and one chirping/singing, regardless of the animal that's actually on the screen, but I find it unobtrusive. Each section is a chapter on the DVD so you can skip to a specific section, and the DVD does have a menu so you can start at whatever section you like. The camera work is very good; the camera is kept still and focused on the action, and the distance from camera to subject(s) is appropriate for each section - far enough away to catch all the movement, but close enough so that the animals can be seen.I have four cats and all four of them will watch this video with varying degrees of interest, ranging from "watched it once, meh" to completely obsessed. The obsessed cat comes and checks out the TV fairly often to see if her video is on - she actually watched Larry the Cable Guy do stand-up for ten minutes before I took pity on her and turned on the DVD. Each of my cats seems to have their favorite sections, with the martens and swallows being the big winners, and the mice being universally ignored.The caveat: think about your TV before you get this video. My cats have patted, scratched, and lunged full-force at my TV screen, and one of them climbed up on top of it, was unable to sustain her position, and slid slowly down the side of the TV, grabbing at the edge of the screen the whole time. If you're doubtful about the durability of your screen, or if you have a free-standing TV that's top-heavy or easy to wobble/push over, you'll want to be careful.

My kitten and my much older cats initially loved the movie. They jumped on the ottoman and tried to get inside the TV screen, just as other reviewers advertised. But I felt they were upset when I got home after leaving it on the entire day when I was at work. They didn't greet me when I came home and seemed almost turned into themselves. Hard to explain. So I don't leave it on all day anymore. Now I have had it for a few months, and while my younger cat still finds it interesting, the older one is kind of immune to it. But even the younger cat doesn't interact it with as much. He just likes the company. I think having the DVD is worth it as a treat to put on every once in a while. They get excited and like having it on for a few hours while I'm in the house.

My two cats have seemed super bored lately.I live on the 7th floor of a condo building in Downtown Columbus. There are NO trees or grass in the area.At my older house there were always birds and rabbits and squirrels running past their windows.I started searching the web for something to entertain them while i'm not around, and I found a posting where someone suggested the Backyard Buffet. I searched it on Amazon, read the positive reviews, and ordered the video.The DVD arrived, and I popped it into the player.When it started playing, the chirp of birds came out loudly through the TV Speaker.One of my cats came racing from the other room to see what was going on and the other jumped up onto the TV Stand.Both were memorized by the video. One of my cats kept going behind the tv to try to get at the birds on the feeder.They absolutely love the video. I plan to play it every few days so they don't get burned out on it.If you have a bored cat, get this video for them, they will definitely enjoy it!!