It's about as noisy as a printer, it's hands free, and all of the cats play with it. My sister got one and both of her cats also play with it. Cats aged 3, 6, 7, 8, and 17. The oldest cat hasn't shown much interest in toys with his arthritis, but likes to rub on a ball tower. Since getting this he has lunged and attacked the feather that pops out. Haven't seen him this interested or active towards a toy in years. The 7 yr old is my chonker boy and he tends to bite and pull out the feathers so I like the fuzzy tail attachment that he can't destroy so easily. He's able to lift and move the toy because it's not very heavy. But it's pretty strudy and has stood up to his rough housing. For this reason I use it with batteries instead of the cord wall attachment. If you have a cord chewer the battery option is nice. My 8 yr old is partially blind and she likes waiting by a hole for the tail to pop out. She tends to lose toys while she's playing and having this be stationary is good. She's also a big fan of pushing the ball around when the toy isn't active.The 10 min timer is nice, we have it set to turn on during the day but the cats will also request it be turned on at various times so it's convenient to just hit a button with my toe and they're entertained. I keep it on the medium mode for the disabled and elderly cats. But there's also a fast mode and random mode if you have younger or more rambunctious kitties. ?Overall I call this a 100% win and will be getting another one for the basement so they don't have to fight over it. Haha.