Help us find grey mouse

August 11, 2017 9:25 AM

Our cat Strider loves his toy mouse (the one in front of him), but it is getting worn to bits, and is often lost in the apartment for weeks at a time. I would love to buy him a dozen of these but can't find them in any store, and he has no interest in any other mouse toys. It makes a light rattle sound when shook. He has had grey mouse since he was a kitten and even took it with him for meals.
posted by ridogi to Pets & Animals (27 answers total)

This is ridogi's wife. The mouse is soft, so he can pick it up with his mouth. Any mouse we get cannot have catnip.
posted by Four-Eyed Girl at 9:35 AM on August 11, 2017

When I had the same problem, I was finally able to find the right mouse on page 51 of Amazon search for catnip mouse cat toy.

Not a direct answer, but maybe enough hope to get you through the first 50 pages of search results...
posted by politikitty at 10:25 AM on August 11, 2017 [2 favorites]

How about these?
posted by essexjan at 10:26 AM on August 11, 2017

The pics aren't working for me (dropbox 500 error) - can you describe the mouse more or get other pics?
posted by cgg at 10:29 AM on August 11, 2017

Here's the photo with the mice pictured. The mouse must have the rattle.
posted by Four-Eyed Girl at 10:36 AM on August 11, 2017

I don't know how helpful this is, but if there's a tag on it (I can't see one), you might either try tracking down the manufacturer (sometimes Googling the SKU or UPC will work) or taking it to an indy-style pet supplies store to see if they can help. We spoil our cats rotten, and have used both techniques to track down replacements for favorite toys. In the pet supply store case, we found a local shop who was willing to special order the item for us.
posted by primethyme at 10:38 AM on August 11, 2017

Have you tried doing a Google search by image? I have been successful in finding things in the past trying this as a last ditch effort.
posted by dancinglamb at 10:45 AM on August 11, 2017

Response by poster: The tag is long gone. We have looked on Amazon and pet stores from small local ones up to the big chains.
posted by ridogi at 10:45 AM on August 11, 2017

To be clear, I'm not suggesting just looking at stock at pet stores, but actually talking to the buyer at a small store and asking for their help. That's what we had to do to get an unusual item special ordered. In a small store (unlike the big ones), the person responsible for buying inventory is likely available, and my experience was that they knew about a lot of different products that are not currently on their shelves. Once we showed them what we were talking about, they knew where to get it and ordered some for us. But we would never have gotten there if we hadn't gone beyond walking the aisles and asking the floor sales staff.
posted by primethyme at 10:57 AM on August 11, 2017

This is very close. Pro: rattle, no mention of catnip, sold in bulk Con (maybe?): real fur.
posted by Room 641-A at 10:57 AM on August 11, 2017 [1 favorite]

What about these?

Also these.
posted by essexjan at 10:58 AM on August 11, 2017

Is patching or repairing grey mouse a possibility?

I ask because some cats get quite attached to one specific toy and once that toy is saturated with kitty's own special marinade of cat saliva and pheromones, no other toy will do. Even if the new toy is an exact replica of the older one, purchased from the same store at the same time and held in reserve for circumstances such as you've described in your question. Ask me how I know! (When our kitty went to the Great Litterbox in the Sky, we had him cremated with his toy. He was 18, and the toy was not much younger.)
posted by jesourie at 11:21 AM on August 11, 2017 [6 favorites]

Another vote for repairing grey mouse, however you can. My cat Molly had Pink Mousie, back before I tragically lost it in a cross-country move. Pink Mousie went though several reincarnations, but as long as enough pieces of the fabric and guts were there to retain the smelly essence, it still did the trick. Now Molly has "funky piece of old belt" that she likes to cart around with her. It's not quite Pink Mousie, but she makes do.
posted by backwards compatible at 11:36 AM on August 11, 2017 [5 favorites]

Best answer: Just wanted to recommend checking the pet aisle of department stores (Target, Walmart, etc) and grocery stores when you're there in addition to pet stores. They often buy different brands than the pet stores. That's where I found the amazing bird-noise-making technicolor dinosaur toy my cat refuses to play with, demonstrating her poor aesthetic tastes.

Also: I don't think it looks quite right, but it isn't this Ikea mouse, is it?
posted by maryr at 12:00 PM on August 11, 2017 [2 favorites]

Also also: This is totally not what you're looking for, but I found it whilst searching and it had to be shared.
posted by maryr at 12:09 PM on August 11, 2017 [11 favorites]

Response by poster: Repairing may be the best bet, although outside my skill set to make fake mouse ears. Asking if the employees can special order is a good idea also.

We have tried Target, Walmart, and various grocery stores. We do have some second tier mice that get a bit of attention from Target.
posted by ridogi at 12:19 PM on August 11, 2017

Is the "fur" on the mouse like stuffed animal "fur" and it's matted from being carried around in a cat mouth or is it more like a sheepskin texture?
posted by dogmom at 12:49 PM on August 11, 2017

Response by poster: It is like a stuffed animal. The mouse is very light weight.
posted by ridogi at 1:09 PM on August 11, 2017

My hunter, Navi, has blue mouse, which is similarly beloved and cannot be replaced even by the very similar mice I have found--I've tried almost a dozen. She'll make do with one of the others during the frequent occasions that blue mouse disappears under the stove or couch or under the door of the furnace room or whatever space/time shifting place it goes--or when it has to go into the "shop". I repair as best I can--I didn't even try to replace the little felt tongue when it came off. When each ear was ripped off I didn't replace those, just stitched up the holes. I'm waiting for the little satin tail to go next.

I guess I'm in the "just keep stitching it up as best you can" school.
posted by agatha_magatha at 1:10 PM on August 11, 2017 [1 favorite]

This looks really close, but catnip and no rattle.

If you find something that is close enough, you could always remove the stuffing and re-stuff it with the stuffing (and rattle) from the old toy. Bonus- the stuffing will have his scent on it.
posted by dogmom at 1:17 PM on August 11, 2017 [1 favorite]

Just a thought, based on some suggestions above; get the closest match you can find. Carefully open it, pull out enough stuffing to make room for the old mouse to be stuffed inside. Suture, and squish it around to get it feeling just so. Frankenmouse LIVES!
posted by LaBellaStella at 2:03 PM on August 11, 2017 [3 favorites]

Sigh. Or what dogmom said.
posted by LaBellaStella at 2:07 PM on August 11, 2017 [1 favorite]

If you resort to frankenmousing, your mouse really does look in every important way like the little IKEA mice which are really easy to take apart and put together again, just don't ask how I know that. I think adding the rattle would be pretty easy.
posted by theweasel at 4:24 PM on August 11, 2017

We found (what appear to be) very similar toys at the local Dollar Tree shop. Would these serve?
posted by sourcequench at 6:01 PM on August 11, 2017

Hah - just came back after stepping on my cat's much loved ikea mouse to suggest putting a rattle in that, but it turns out i'm not the first one with that idea!
posted by cgg at 6:22 PM on August 11, 2017

Ok - that link above is not the right ikea mouse link. The one above by the weasel is. That'll teach me to google ikea mouse and not pay attention to the fact that it's pictured being the size of a child's head!
posted by cgg at 6:41 PM on August 11, 2017 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Great news, he loves Brown mouse from Ikea. Even better this mouse doesn't fit under the couch so I don't have to retrieve him every 10 minutes.
posted by ridogi at 12:48 PM on August 15, 2017 [6 favorites]