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The World’s First Remote Control Cat Toy
For The 21st Century Cat!

NEW YORK, NY – February, 2004 – Balls of yarn or tin foil? Catnip-stuffed socks?? In the world of cat toys, those are so 20th-century! Fast-forwarding into the new millennium, cat lovers now have a new and different way to keep their pets wildly entertained with Cat Attack, the world’s first remote control cat toy. Created by Takara, the company known for introducing technologically innovative products like the groundbreaking Bow-Lingual dog translator, Cat Attack is an innovative remote control cat exerciser that actually simulates the movement of a real mouse through the application of a unique proprietary cutting edge technology. Exciting, unpredictable and entertaining, Cat Attack will challenge both active and “couch potato” cats to play.

The first of its kind, Cat Attack uses the latest research in chaos theory and complex systems to simulate the movements and personality of a cat’s favorite prey. This “virtual mouse” technology utilizes algorithms modeled upon the neural network of a real mouse, providing random and unpredictable movement that captivates, intrigues and incites cats. Cat Attack consists of a main unit that resembles a cute cat, with wheels on its underside and a long, slender cat-dancer wand with a brightly colored pom-pom at its tip. The separate wireless remote control features easy-to-use navigation buttons that allow the owner to pilot the main unit, while the dancer with its pom-pom tip dips, sways and bobs chaotically. Cat Attack is irresistible, inciting cats to swipe the wand with their paws, batting and chasing it as they seek to wrestle it to the ground!

Purrfect for sedentary cats with weight issues, Cat Attack is also ideal for the most active cats, keeping them busily engaged for hours of fun. And since you are at the controls, Cat Attack is a great way for owners to interact and bond with the pets they love.

Cat Attack uses 5 AA batteries for hours of engaging play. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price is $25 at fine pet and specialty retail stores.

The Science behind it all: The Cat Attack uses the latest research in chaos theory and complex systems to emulate the movements and personality of a cat's favorite prey. This "virtual mouse" technology utilizes algorithms based on a six-dimensional coupled nzmap system modeled on the neural network of a real mouse. What that all means is that the Cat Attack's "virtual mouse" will become your cat's new best friend! Dr. Nozawa has developed an amazing and practical use for "deterministic chaos". It was Norbert Wiener who pointed out the importance of random noise in the brain and in automatic control systems. However, Dr. Nozawa showed that is was possible to solve the difficult "Traveling Salesman Problem" of optimization faster by using nonlinear dynamics, rather than random noise. The "Cat Attack" toy developed by Dr. Nozawa's company operates using powerful nonlinear dynamics algorithms, and this leading edge of human knowledge is appreciated by, among others, the Nozawa family cats, Tal, Fu and Phi, who seem to think the "Cat Attack" is truly alive.

Reprinted from Takara USA website

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Remote Cat Exerciser?
You've got to pounce on this.
By Stephanie Schorow, Boston Herald

Snatches of yarn and balls of tin foil are sooooooo yesterday. For the modern feline, nothing less than high-technology toys based on algorithms and chaos theory will do. At least, that's what the folks at Takara, a Japanese company noted for its innovative pet products, tell us. They describe their latest accessory, called Cat Attack, as "so advanced it is virtually the iPod of cat exercisers." It is a remote control device that "uses the latest research in chaos theory and complex systems to simulate the movements and personality of a cat's favorite prey," namely, the rodent.

Humans can be so thoughtless: "Wow, your cat is fat," they remark when they meet Titan. "He's just got long, fluffy fur," I retort, bristling. "He's just got big bones. And, OK, he's on a diet. Like me."

Alas, neither cat nor cat owner is exercising and eating as one should. We'd both rather snuggle in an armchair, eat treats and watch Animal Planet. So I jumped at the chance to test a "remote-control cat exerciser." Takara's Cat Attack features the latest in cat motivation technology. I pictured myself relaxing in a comfy chair, clicking the TV remote in one hand and the Cat Attack remote in the other, as Titan pounced away the pounds. But would my 10-year-old feline treat Cat Attack as he did the various scratching posts that now sit, in pristine condition, in the closet?

Opening the box, I found a bowl-sized device in the shape of a rotund kitty. Into its "head" I inserted a "chaos wand," a flexible plastic stick with a tassel dangling at one end. This wand moves on its own when I activate the base, which runs on three batteries. A separate remote (requiring two batteries) lets me move the base forward or spin it.

I settled into my shredded armchair and called for Titan. He sauntered in and froze, gaze fixed on the moving tassel, which, I had to admit, was pretty mesmerizing; its jerky stops and swings had no mechanical regularity, making me shout, "It's alive!" The movement was too alluring. Titan reached out a paw. I decided to begin the workout and pressed the button to spin the base. Whoosh? Titan jumped about 25 feet as the machine growled to life.

But Titan landed on his feet, of course, and held his ground. In a few minutes he decided the noise was no worse than that of the coffee grinder (which startled him only the first time he heard it) and renewed his stalk and pounce. Though he definitely liked to get his teeth on the tassel - twice he pulled it so hard the machine tipped over like a drunk R2D2 - he preferred to stare at it with peculiar feline intensity until instinct gradually overcame inertia. Cat Attack became Kitty TV.

Curious about that "chaos wand," I spoke with Peter Harwood, Takara USA marketing director. He told me Japanese scientists have been able to map a mouse's neural patterns and translate them into an algorithm. That algorithm, encoded on a tiny chip, directs the wand to mimic the stop and scurry movements of a rodent. This proves irresistible to the hard-wiring of a cat brain.

Moreover, Harwood added, the cat accessory market is booming: "Pets are the new kids." After all, humans and cats aren't that different. Isn't TV itself programmed to trigger the human instinct for food, sex and maxing out your Visa card? When I click both remotes, two illusions are at work.

Titan thinks he's stalking a mouse; I think I'm actually in control of television. And neither of us seems to be losing weight.

Reprinted from The Boston Herald

With integrated radio control, the Cat Attack uses the revolutionary Chaos Wand!

Developed by chaos labs in Japan, and based on the neural network of a mouse, the Chaos Wand will stimulate your cat's natural hunting instinct. Sit back and relax with the radio control for the ultimate game of Cat-and-Mouse!

And if your cat ever does catch the Chaos Wand, just give it a little juice with the radio control, and send your cat off on another hunt!

Reprinted from TakaraUSA website

Unlike last year's promised Meowlingual,
Cat Attack is actually available in the US!

Click ^^^^^ to buy Cat Attack
through The Cat's Meow!