FurReal Friends Bootsie (Too noisy for parents?)

The FurReal friends Bootsie is easy enough to remove form her packaging. She is secured in the package with several paper “rope” ties that are easy unwound to allow to easily be removed from her box. Her Tuna treat is secured behind clear plastic but is easily cut from the package with minimal hassle. FurReal friends Bootsie is packaged in demo mode however and I think this was a huge mistake by Hasbro as the manufacturer. I had her in my home for a couple of days before I sat down to play with her. While still in the package Bootsie would cry, mover her head, meow and hiss at just about anything. Walk past her box? Meow. Turn on the lights? Hiss. Turn off the lights in the adjacent hallway? Whine.

I found her very annoying during her stay with me and I was very glad to pull her out of the package and turn her off.

Playing with our FurReal friend Bootsie was a double edged sword for me. I think for children she is great, she meows, hisses, turns her head, responds to touch and interacts with her tuna treat accessory. She provides life-like play that I can see being entertaining for hours. FurReal Friends Bootsie is very soft to pet and responds when you wave at her, snuggle her and pet her. When you put her tuna treat in her mouth she will respond with eating noises. Press on her tongue twice very quickly to make her made and she will hiss in response. While playing with her I notice that even if you press on her tongue twice quickly to elicit an angry response, half the time she mistakes that motion for eating and responds with eating noises instead. As a parent playing with the FurReal friend Bootsie, she is very loud and there is no way to control her volume. Also, her noises are very repetitive and after a few minutes I found them to be somewhat frustrating to listen to.

FurReal Friends Bootsie has very soft fur and the ability to be turned on and off to save battery power. I like that she has multiple interactive points so children can pet, snuggle and feed her to interact with Bootsie in multiple ways.

I am not a huge fan of the FurReal Friend Bootsie cat doll for a few reasons. Most of them because I am a parent. I can’t give any real dislikes that I would have had as a child other than she is a bit repetitive and I think that even wears on our kids after a while. However, as a parent she is a frustrating toy that I tend to lean towards disliking. My biggest dislike is that although she is supposed to go into an inactive mode one minute after you stop playing with her, I feel like this feature is very unreliable. Having a light sensor and motion sensor in her head means that any change in lighting or movement in the room tends to set her off which could be very dangerous for me after bedtime.

Bootsie our FurReal Friend is marked for children over four years of age. I don’t necessarily think that a child younger than that would have any difficulty playing with this toy however. There are no small parts that present any type of choking hazard and I think children as young as two would be able to enjoy interacting with FurReal friend Bootsie and having her interact back with them.

Bootsie offers value to children younger than the specified age and can offer entertainment for a long age range of children. She isn’t on the top of my list for a toy to go out and buy again. FurReal friends is in the right market for toys by creating toys that children can interact with and “take care” of like real pets but they are missing the mark with our FurReal friend Bootsie. Bootsie is loud, without volume control and hyper sensitive with her light and motion sensor. If she is on, this toy will not stop making noise. I would highly recommend turning her off whenever possible once your child is done playing with her so she doesn’t wake up your sleeping child during nap time or after bed time. All in all, FurReal Friends Bootsie is an entertaining toy for young children but I likely wouldn’t buy her again for my household.