Catnip Plush Toy with Feather Tail

Indoor cats do all their hunting on the carpet, and a toy only earns its place if it can start the game without you holding the other end. This small plush has a feather tail that shifts and flutters at the slightest knock, which is usually enough to turn a passing sniff into a proper stalk. Catnip sealed inside does the rest, giving cats who have grown bored of the toy box a reason to look at it twice.

The body is stuffed plush rather than hard moulded plastic, light enough to be batted across a floor and carried about in the mouth, with bite-resistant stitching that stands up to a kitten working through a teething phase. Feathers are the part that wears first on any toy of this kind, and that is rather the point: they are meant to be caught and shredded, and a cat who catches something stays interested far longer than one who never does.

• Plush body filled with catnip
• Feather tail that moves at the lightest contact
• Bite-resistant stitching for teething kittens
• Light enough to bat, chase and carry
• Made for solo play as well as games with you
• Six shapes to choose from

Two things worth knowing. Despite the name, what arrives depends on the option you choose: mouse, frog, turtle, small fish, cat face and heart are all listed, and only one of those is a mouse. And catnip does not work on every cat, because the response to it is inherited. A fair number of adults show no reaction whatsoever, and kittens tend not to respond until they are a few months old.

Who it's for: indoor cats who need something to chase between naps, and owners who want a toy that keeps working once they put it down.