News and Updates

NEWS AND UPDATES ON SHIPPING AND HANDLING

On May 23, 2011 we changed our shipping and handling procedures which have been a total success! USPS still damages some of our pet toys, but it is now 9/1/2015 and we are still shipping our pet toys in the same way with excellent results. However, there are some changes coming. We had some new boxes designed that will be using recycled cardboard!

In 2011 we began shipping our CatTamboo™ pet toys in Large 18″ square Poly Envelopes reinforced with 1″ foam sheets. The envelopes are water proof and easy to write on! The results where okay, but we had some issues with the pet toys coming loose in the packaging. The solution that we implemented was to securely tape the pet toys to the foam board. Ever since we began this practice, the results have been fantastic. As a company, we also decided to warranty the delivery by handling the post office claims…thus ensuring that our customers have a hassle free experience should merchandise be damaged in the mail. For larger orders, we ship in recycled cardboard mailing tubes. We have had some of the tubes crushed during shipping, but it is rare that the pet toys are actually damaged.

SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS AND UPDATES

In 2011, we were striving to send updates about our pet products over Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter. Probably the best way to remain updated on changes to the website and products is to follow our facebook and google plus pages. The website is continually under construction so please bookmark our website and when you return to purchase another toy, stay awhile and see how we have improved our website! Our Newsletter is also a great way keep up with new developments. The signup box is currently in two locations on the website sidebar.

NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

We are continually working on new prototypes and product development. We hope to have several more new item available soon. In addition, we have the ability to make tougher pet toys for medium sized dogs! Due to the growing success of these Tamboo Flyers in the dog market, we are in the process of launching a new website that is appealing and easier to find for dog owners. We are rolling out a new, custom built eCommerce site this fall 2015.

Sustainability

We continue making progress towards being sustainable by utilizing natural resources. Our primary focus now is to grow our network for collecting feathers that hunters and farmers would otherwise throw away. We have discovered that by doing this, we are able to offer a much nicer product because the premium feathers that we can collect from hunters are valued much higher in wholesale and retail circles. The newest development is that we are touring Hutterite Colonies to check out their white turkeys. If we find a way to do business with them, we will post more news and updates on the topic.

PRICING NEWS AND UPDATES

In 2014, turkey feather increased in price. At some point in the near future, it is highly likely that the Turkey feather toys will increase in price yet again. It is more difficult to collect turkey feathers.

In addition, we have discontinued the peacock feather toys and instead offer the option to add a peacock eye feather to your feather toy. Peacock feather toys once used actual peacock wing feathers and an eye from the tail feathers for decor in addition to marabou plumage for color. However, the wing feathers are expensive and difficult to come by, so we have discontinued them.

What we did was to create an option for customers to add a peacock eye feather to either the Pheasant, Goose, or Turkey for an additional charge. We have had a lot of customers choose this option!

BEST SELLERS

Hands down, our best selling toy is now the Goose feather toy. The most popular color is still Aqua. The most popular weight is Medium. We are selling a lot of Premium rods because customers enjoy the added value and performance.

CHANGES AND NEW OFFERS BEING DISCUSSED

The average length of a regular Tamboo Flyer is 5-6ft, however, we do have short, medium, and long toys available for purchase. The minimum length for good action, flight performance, and feel is about 4 feet. We are only months away from adding a newly created eCommerce website! This site will offer more options and more flexibility for future expansion.

That is the latest News. Thank You for Doing the CatTamboo!

March 22, 2011September 1, 2015

Ecostar Award

Ecostar Award, Montana USA

In February of 2010, CatTamboo™ Pet Toys received the EcoStar Award for our environmental efforts. We felt honored to be among the other 27 small businesses that won the award.

That February, we gathered in the capitol city of Helena, MT at the capitol building, in the rotunda. Our Montana governor (Brian Schweitzer) gave a wonderful speech about our heritage in relationship to nature. Montanan’s have always been good stewards of the land and those who where not didn’t make it out here.

It was impressive to see how much other companies have done to help our environment. In the future, we had hoped to see many others join this event, but once you’ve won the honors those who participated will bring other businesses along or encourage them to make some changes. In 2012, CatTamboo™ Pet products got more green with the introduction of a new program. The program involved collecting wild game birds from Montana, Wyoming, Washington, and South Dakota. Comparing the statistics of how many game birds are shot each year, the numbers of wasted natural resources are staggering. Our networking goal for 2013 was to process multiple hundreds of each species including ducks, geese, wild turkey and pheasant. Now it is 2015 and we are still striving to make use of these otherwise wasted natural resources. Click here to learn more about our Game bird conservation program and the statistics on how many game bird hunting licenses are pulled each year in Montana alone and what that equates to in terms of feather and feather toy numbers. The fact is that most game bird feathers are wasted because collecting and processing them is a challenge and expense. It is much easier to just hook up a supplier from China. But we have the same values as all Ecostar award winners in our commitment to make the planet greener, and we love supporting the US and Montana economies.

Another development from 2012 game bird conservation efforts is happening this fall of 2015 with the possible addition of yet another feather resource and feather type. We are researching the possibility of adding white domestic turkey to the mix. White turkey feathers are strikingly beautiful and make awesome cat toys.

In addition, we have large scale plans that will continue to take plastic waste out of the environment and employ Americans for production and distribution of our made in the USA pet toys.

February 9, 2011August 31, 2015

Wild Game Feathers – Wanted

Why Wild Game Feathers?

We use wild game feathers to make our interactive cat toys and feather toys for small dogs and other pets like ferrets. As part of our policy and effort to conserve our natural resources, we are asking all locals from Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, and surrounding areas to save your goose, peacock, and turkey feathers! Millions of wild game feathers are thrown in the trash each year in Montana alone. When you add up the waste nation wide, it is truly astounding how much of our natural resources are wasted.

We will purchase wild game feathers from you to make it worth your effort, and you can feel good about sharing in our mission of creating a Greener Planet! Naturally we ask for donations first, but please don’t let that stop you. Everybody knows that recycling isn’t a great way to make money, but it is a good thing to do and we make it simple.

Click here to Contact Us via email or call customer service at 406-534-9707.

Thank you!

November 16, 2010September 1, 2015

Worlds Longest Cat Toy at Billings Nursery on Poly

Worlds Longest Cat Toy in Billings, MT

Back in 2010, CatTamboo™ Pet Toys introduced the Worlds longest cat toy to the local Billings Montana market via trade shows. We had a booth at Billings Nursery for their Fall, 2010 Craft Show. We just want to extend a warm thank you for having us! Pet toy sales more than paid for the event and we had a great time visiting with everyone. Our business has expanded every year and now it is 2015. We no longer do local craft shows or fairs because our business is busy with online sales and we let the brick and mortar retail pet stores handle getting our pet toys into the hands of pet owners.

Billings Nursery is located on Poly Dr in Billings, Montana. It is 2015 and they are still rocking it! They have a wonderful store packed full of wonderful things for your home and garden including some amazing art work from seriously talented artists like Lance Johnson and Dawn Ness.

Back in the day, consumers got to experience the variety of pet toys we offer, compare and contrast, and hand pick the pet toy of their choosing. We would offer special pricing because the trade shows are really marketing efforts. In the past, we have sold pet toys for only $10 each, or $13 for really long toys. Today the same cat toys can retail for as much as $24.95. At trade shows, we would sell the world’s longest cat toys which are available over 8 feet long. This is longer than anything we have supplied to retail outlets and longer than those you can purchase through this website. Even our average 6 foot long cat toys are the longest cat toys by a couple feet when compared to our competitors. So how long is the world’s longest cat toy? One piece cat toys go up to nine feet in total length and two piece cat toys can go longer.

We missed doing this trade/craft show in the Spring but we couldn’t miss the Fall show. If you haven’t been before, it is worth a visit. Just go West on Poly Drive, past 17th street and on down…you will see it on the right. This is a fantastic, tightly nit little neighborhood. They even have their own cute little grocery only blocks away.

The the Billings Nursery craft show runs every Spring and Fall. It is well advertised, so keep your eyes open or ask them about their craft show the next time your shopping there.

August 22, 2010September 1, 2015

Billings MT Fair Success

A Big Thank You !!!

We had an incredible response at the Montana State Fair this last week. Sales volume was very good and literally thousands upon thousands of people got to see CatTamboo™ pet toys in action!

We had many responses that I thought were really fun and we learned a lot from our customers (many who have been with us since last year).

My two favorite comments that we got about a dozen times are:

(1) “Are these just plain feathers or do you put something special on them that makes my cat go that crazy?” (These were asked in all seriousness!) Indeed it is interesting what happens when you effectively combine all the primary senses of sight, sound, smell, and taste.

(2) “Oh good, we’ve been looking all over for you! We came to the Fair just to get your cat toy!”

In the evenings, it was fun to watch how some people were captivated by the mysterious bird-thing flying through the air. Some thought it was a bat. On occasion, someone wouldn’t notice (the bat!) until it was near their shoulder and then they would quickly duck and run! I always found that funny!

Especially after their friends got laughing at them 🙂

We got enough of the French tickler comments that I seriously considered putting up a red light for the midnight crowd! I could advertise it with a big question: Red light or Blue light Special?

Then we had the cat people phenomenon which was always funny and happened quite often.

Some wonderfully dynamic individual would pretend to be a cat and leap for the toy!

Soooo fun~! and always good for business! Good times at the Billings MT Fair!

Thank you again for all who stopped by our booth at the Billings MT Fair or took an interest in our pet products. We had a wonderful experience and will definitely be there again next year!

August 15, 2010September 1, 2015

Montana Fair Update

CatTamboo™ Pet Toys is off to a great start at the Montana Fair! Love and thanks to those dedicated supporters who always spoil their kitty cats!

One lady came by, her face lit up and excited that we where there. She said she came to the fair just to get our pet toys. Without the support of customers like her, I’m not sure we would have made it. Bringing new products to market is very challenging, so such dedication from consumers is a key ingredient to any successful product launch.

We have many people come by and purchase multiple pet toys at a time. Many are leaving their name and email to enter a drawing for free kitty care packages! We’ll select winners after the fair is over 🙂 Our commitment to promotional giving means lots of winners, so get down there and put your name on the list! Also pick up a flyer. People who participate on our social networks and leave comments on the website may also win free toys—in fact, those who do both are almost sure to win!

Other news: a local TV station from Billings, MT had a treasure hunt there at the Montana Fair and our CatTamboo booth was a place they had to find.

Well, that’s all the news for now. So come on down to the Montana Fair and Do the CatTamboo!

August 11, 2010September 1, 2015

Green cat toys in Montana State Fair

We enjoy participating in the Montana State Fair!

Montana State Fair in Billings

Title: Montana State Fair Location: Metra Park – Billings, MT
Link out: Click here (for Metra Park website/ad for the Montana state fair)
The Montana State Fair begins every year in August! The Fair is a great way to enjoy the end of summer and give the kids one last rally before school starts.

We are usually choosing to set up an outside booth but if you don’t see us there then look for us at an inside booth. In 2010, CatTamboo™ Pet Toys sponsored The Green Directory of Montana by displaying their information and flyers during the event. This was a great way to learn more about making Green decisions and how to make your business more Green. We will continue to support green efforts!

Just remember: A Green Decision is a decision for Everyone!