A cat will play with a track ball for as long as the ball keeps doing something unpredictable, and the third tier is what keeps this one interesting. Three levels of spinning balls, each one in its own channel, plus pompom teasers bouncing on springs at the top. There are enough different things to bat at that a cat does not exhaust the whole toy in a single sitting the way they do with a flat, single-track design.

Track toys earn their place because they work without you. The balls cannot be knocked under the sofa, which is where most solo cat toys end up within a day of arriving, and the spring-mounted pompoms give a cat something that fights back a little when struck. Between them they cover both halves of the hunting sequence, the chase along the track and the pounce on something that moves. The alien styling is for you, not the cat.

• Three-tier turntable design
• A spinning ball on each level
• Pompom teasers mounted on springs
• Alien-themed styling
• Available in green, yellow or pink

Two things worth knowing. Solo toys keep a cat busy but they do not replace you. Most cats lose interest in anything static within a few days unless you join in now and then, so put it away for a week and it becomes new again. And the pompoms are the part that wears first on toys of this type, so check the springs occasionally and retire it once one works loose.

Who it's for: Indoor cats who need something to do between play sessions, and kittens still working out how a track ball behaves.