There is a reason the battery-powered cat toy in the cupboard stopped being used: it needed charging, and the moment for playing had passed by the time it was ready. A wind-up needs nothing but a few turns of the key. You wind it, put it down, and the cat is already watching, which removes the small friction that quietly kills most automatic toys within a fortnight of buying them.

A plush animal, a mouse or a rabbit depending on the variant, sits sealed inside a clear ball, and the mechanism drives the ball across hard floors in a skittering, tumbling line rather than a predictable roll. That erratic movement is what triggers a chase, because it resembles something trying to escape rather than something being pushed. Sealing the plush inside is a practical choice too: the cat gets the visual target without a soft toy that ends up shredded and wet under the sofa.

• Wind-up mechanism with no batteries and nothing to charge
• Plush animal sealed inside a clear ball
• Skitters and spins unpredictably across the floor
• Choice of mouse or rabbit plush in blue or pink
• Hands-free play once it is wound

Two things worth knowing. A wind-up runs for a burst, not an afternoon, so this is a five-minute toy you rewind a few times rather than something that entertains a cat for an hour on its own. It also needs a hard floor, and does very little on thick carpet. Wind-up gears are the part that fails on toys like this, so keep it away from a cat who chews plastic rather than chases it.

Who it's for: Cat owners who want a cheap, battery-free way to start a chase on demand, in a home with hard floors.