Play is hunting with the ending taken out, and a cat who never gets to complete the sequence ends up frustrated rather than satisfied. A wand puts the prey at the end of a line where you can make it behave like something alive, darting away, hiding behind a chair leg, then going completely still, and it is that behaviour rather than the toy itself that switches a cat on.

The attachment on the end decides what sort of prey you are imitating, and there are five to choose between: feathers, pom-poms, small tassels, chains and flowers. Feathers move like a bird and suit cats who spend their afternoons watching the window, while a pom-pom dragged along the floor reads as a mouse for cats who hunt low. A bell adds sound to the movement, and the feathers are made to be bite-resistant so they survive more than a couple of catches.

• Wand with an attachment on a line
• Five attachment styles: feathers, pom-poms, tassels, chains and flowers
• Bite-resistant feathers
• Jingling bell for added sound
• Encourages chasing, leaping and pouncing

Put it away between sessions. A string toy left lying out is a swallowing risk, and string in a cat's gut is one of the more serious emergencies a vet deals with, so store the wand in a drawer whenever you are not holding it. Check the attachment before each session and retire it once it starts shedding. One more thing: let your cat actually catch the toy every so often, because a game they never win stops being fun.

Who it's for: Indoor cats who need a proper ten minutes of chasing twice a day, and owners happy to play rather than leave a toy on the floor.