FINAL UPDATE: I had to do one more update to report on the similar toy I found & purchased (read UPDATE directly below). As stated below, I bought 5 of them for $10.00. First of all, the butterflies are made of a different material and are MUCH MORE DURABLE! A heavier material, but still light enough to fly and flutter. Buster is still on the first toy after 3 weeks of every day, rough play compared to a few minutes of play with this version before the butterfly was destroyed. Actually, there's no damage to the butterfly at all, yet, although the wire is a little bent (more on that coming) I still take the toy up and put it away every time he's done playing. Of the five new toys I got, all had different versions/colors of the butterfly, and one of the toy's butterfly was quite a bit bigger and heavier than the other four, to the point that he weighed down the thin, light wire and flew just barely off the ground. I trimmed him with a scissors all the way around, exactly following the shape of the butterfly, until he was the same size as the others. That fixed the problem, he still flutters when he flies (the fluttering is very important as far as Buster is concerned), and you wouldn't even know it had been cut down. The wire that the butterfly is attached to is shorter on these five toys than on the toy sold here, and might be a lighter weight. It still works, the butterflies still fly round and round and Buster still chases them, but the wire is noticeably shorter and seems a little easier to bend, although I'm not so sure about that. Because Buster got such a short amount of play time with the first toy compared to the new ones, it may just be that the longer rough play time these toys get is the reason for the wire eventually bending. (Buster is a 12+ lb cat, and he MAULS these butterflies and takes flying leaps off the desk, landing right on top of them. We're talking very rough play, here!) We just bend it back as best we can and all is well. The butterfly looks a little tipsy sometimes, like he's been nipping, but not a problem for the cat. As with the toy in this ad, the 5 new toys also use a single AAA battery, and as with this one, the battery life on the 5 new toys is surprisingly long. The base is pretty much the same in size and weight but the on/off switch is on the BOTTOM of the five new toys rather than on the top of the base like this one. Just like the first toy, these five need to be modified or they will be tipped over constantly. Because the on/off is on the bottom, it's not as easy to find a bigger base that will work and not be a pain, one that you won't have to take the toy off in order to turn it on and off. We managed to use the same plastic clock piece with the new toy (see ORIGINAL REVIEW), positioning the on/off switch over a hole that was already in the clock frame so it can be accessed without taking the toy off its modified base. That's really the only "negative" difference I've found between the two versions. The shorter wire is a definite difference, too, but Buster doesn't seem to mind so neither do I. Considering the superior durability of the five butterflies and how much longer they last, PLUS the fact that I got FIVE toys for the price of ONE makes any slight differences a nonissue. They're a big hit with me and with Buster, and five of them should last a good long while!ANOTHER UPDATE... In desperation, I spent one whole evening searching for a toy similar to this one, hoping to find one with a more durable butterfly. Well, I don't think I found one that will last any longer, BUT I did find one that sells for LESS THAN $2 PER TOY, FREE SHIPPING! I order FIVE of them for less than $10.00 total. As one might guess from that price, they're shipping directly from China and the ETA is estimated at over a month from date of order, so it will be awhile before they get here. From the picture that was shown, it appears to be almost identical to this one, so I'm not expecting it to last any longer. However I got five of them for the price of one of these, so even if they're short-lived, Buster will have his butterfly a little longer (IF I severely limit the play time and allow some time to pass between the demise of each butterfly, which I plan to do). Most importantly (as any pet owner knows) our beloved kitty will have his ALL TIME, PAWS DOWN, FAVORITE TOY.....The irresistible, flying, fluttering, little butterfly he so loves to chase and catch! (I don't think I can mention the website here, but do a search, you should find it. And, by the way, I have NO financial interest or gain of ANY kind in ANY cat toy, butterfly or otherwise, being sold ANYWHERE. I'm just a pet lover, like you, wanting make our kitties happy.)UPDATE: Like the first toy, and as expected, the 2nd toy was toast almost immediately, the butterfly torn off and in 2 pieces. We've tried different kinds of tape and glue to put the 2 halves of the butterfly back on the body, but nothing sticks. We've put a feather on the end of the wire, and our cat has absolutely no interest in it. Without the flutter of the twirling butterfly, the toy is just another one in the pile of toys that get no attention. It's very unfortunate that a toy that sparks so much excitement in our cat is so hopeless and won't stand up to more than a few minutes of play time! I'm again lowering my rating, from 3 stars to 2, and have given it the 2nd star only because the company sent me a replacement toy when I contacted them. It didn't do any good, but they did try. Now, if they'd just put that energy and money into manufacturing a reasonably-priced replacement butterfly or figure out how to make one that will last, they'd have a real winnter on their hands, one that I'd be willing to pay more than $10 for. The way it is, no more flying, fluttering butterfly for Buster.UPDATE: I emailed the seller, complaining about the fact that the butterfly lasted 6 days before it was completely broken and gone....DEAD, PLEADING with them to start offering replacement butterflies for sale. (I searched EXTENSIVELY online....NOTHING.) I got a very nice reply back, which I wasn't expecting, saying that if I'd send them the receipt, they'd send me a new toy. I did so, but again stressed that they should sell replacement butterflies since simply replacing the toy (which wasn't broken...only the butterfly) isn't going to address the problem. They did not acknowledge the butterfly problem at all, never even mentioned the word butterfly, but I did get a new toy. Buster has only gotten to play with it once, for a short time, because I know the butterfly won't last and I doubt I'm going to get another new toy when this one dies. Very unfortunate that the company doesn't acknowledge the problem and start selling replacement butterflies! If they would, they'd have the perfect cat toy as far as our Buster is concerned. (MAYBE, if they'd get a lot more customer complaints, have to send out a lot more replacements toys, they'd decide that selling replacement butterflies would be the more economical choice.)ORIGINAL REVIEW: We've spent many dollars on cat toys, most of them wind up being flops as far as holding cat's attention, many are flops right out of the box, but this guy is a HUGE hit! Our cat absolutely LOVES his butterfly and hasn't tired of it yet. I always take it away and put it up before he gets tired of it and walks away , trying to keep it "fresh". The non-annoying fluttering sound it makes seems to add to the enjoyment. It does sound rather like a big bug flying about. I don't know how we'll ever find another toy to compete! However, I am deducting two stars for the fragility of the butterfly, which maybe can't be helped. In order for it to fly around in circles on an extremely light wire and one small battery for any length of time, it has to be made of super light material, but the poor little guy was maimed after the first day, dead after a week. I've tried taping some of the pcs on, they don't stay. I've attached light-weight feathers, they don't interest our cat like the butterfly did. I wish they sold replacement butterflies but they don't. So, even with a relatively reasonable $10 price tag for the unit, the fragility of the butterfly and no replacement available means buying the whole thing over and over if your cat really loves it, making this toy more expensive than it seems at first, and that's not counting the batteries. Also, as others have mentioned, the base is so small and light weight, it's useless, and you're going to have to come up with some kind of modification to keep it upright. We had a 10" plastic wall clock that quit working a few days ago and was still laying around, took the unit off the back of the clock, the clear cover and numbered face off the front and taped the base of the toy to the round plastic frame of the clock, which works perfectly. The battery life is better than I thought it would be with only one AAA battery powering it, but you better stock up. If your kitty loves its butterfly as much as Buster loves his, you'll need a bunch.....unless, of course, your cat really goes after the little butterfly, in which case it'll be dead in a week, and you won't have to worry about batteries.I bought this toy for my cat 3 years ago. I adopted another cat 2 years ago and they fought over it so I bought another one. They played with them so much that they wore the butterflies down. So I ordered the replacements. "YES PEOPLE THEY HAVE REPLACEMENT BUTTERFLIES." For those of you looking for the replacement butterfly it literally is in the same link as the product. it's the little picture of the butterfly under the description. If you click the pic it will tell you that its the replacement and it's only $3.92. I ordered 2 of them for my furr babies. So we're back up and running and having fun. Admittedly they could make improvements to the base to more sturdy. They need to realize cats do get carried away. I mounted ours onto 4x4 cermaic tiles with gorilla hot glue. They stay secure and it lets my kitties play for hours if they want.This toy is super good for helping to get some of the energy out of my cat! The bottom is not very sturdy though so I just hold it in the air and he chases it around. More of an interactive activity for both human and cat rather than something you can leave and let your cat play with. I’d still recommend it if you want to try something diff than just the typical cat toys.I bought this toy, despite the negative reviews, because I had accidentally bought two replacement butterflies for it (I thought they were butterflies with suction cups that I could hang on the window for my kittens to bat at).Actually, it isn't bad. It took a few minutes to figure out how to insert a battery because the instructions call for a twisting motion that is not evident. Once I got the battery in, I liked the way the butterfly really flutters. Contrary to another negative reviewer, I found it does not hang on the ground, though it does stay pretty low (edited after three weeks to add that I did eventually have to replace the first butterfly, as the second started to hang on the ground).Even so, once my kittens warmed up to it, they have both played with it whenever I have put it out. Actually, it is one of only a couple toys that they both like, rather than just one or the other. It can keep their interest for 5-15 minute periods, including time running around the room because it makes them excited. (Edited after three weeks to add that they have now mostly lost interest in it and don't play with it much when it is offered.)When not in use, the "feet" get folded in, and it can store away pretty easily. It is small. The main problem with it is that it is not the most stable. It would be much better if it was weighted at the base or something. The way it is, it tips over often enough that I do have to pop up and fix it with some grumble-level frequency.Secondarily, it feels pretty cheaply made, and I do half wonder if it will last long enough for me to go through the two replacement butterflies I accidentally bought. Also, it would be nice if it shut off automatically after 15 or 20 minutes. Sometimes I forget to shut it off once they lose interest, so I am just wasting the battery. (Edited after three weeks to add that it does seem to have slowed down over time. Not sure if that is the result of not having a full-strength battery anymore or a quality issue.)Bought as a replacement. Very well made. Original is holding up nicely. One kitty loves the spinning toy. The other was bored from the time itcame out of the box ? but loves playing with the replacement feathers with humans on the other end ???????My cat adores this toy but sadly this broke within an hour. I've bought this twice before from other sellers and usually lasted months.Cat absolutely loves the toy. It is by far his favourite of any toy he has ever received. Unfortunately, the butterfly ripped far too easy (one week of use). They should design some kind of system so that the butterfly can easily be replaced, and should sell replacements. On top of that, it is very very lightweight and has no sturdiness. I would have to hold the toy for the cat to play with it or it would fall over right away. I would pay 3 times as much for a toy like this that had a wider and heavier base and changeable butterflies.Other than that the concept for the toy itself is amazing. Flies and looks like a real butterfly when it moves, so it really stimulates the cat. Really realistic. 2 stars because I can only get about a week of light/medium use out of it. Cat would be playing with it all day if he didn't need me to hold it.We bought this as the one we wanted was no longer available. The cats could tell immediately this box was for them. Once we opened it all 4 cats were in love. The toy rotates in 1 direction, but easily moves in the opposite direction of pushed that way, for a moment. The butterfly at the end flutters and has a fluttering sound to it that captures the attention of even our elderly cats that like to do nothing more than sleep all day. They get up and will run across the room to bat and try to pounce and capture the butterfly. The only negative is that the base has no weight, so it easily topples over so supervision is requires to correct to an upright position. Other negative, if it is one, is that when we put the toy away the cats are sad and will try to climb the book shelf, or open the door to the closet to get this one back out.I should have read the title, since this was a replacement for a spinner. But I was so glad that I was able to fit it on top of my cats cat tree, and my cat was able to play all day with it. The thing was very durable since even with intense playing it took at least a month for it to be in disrepair and 2 month for it to be unsalvagable. Would totaly get it again, even though i still dont have the spinner, since my cat loved it too much.