Weight is what decides whether a cat plays with a soft toy or walks past it. At eight grams this one skitters across a wooden floor when it is batted, flips when it is kicked with the back legs, and can be picked up and carried off to a hiding place under the sofa — all the things a cat does with prey, and none of the things they do with a toy too heavy to move.

It is a plush gingerbread man wearing a small Christmas hat, filled with catnip and PP cotton. The catnip is the draw: cats respond to it through smell rather than taste, which is why it works just as well on a toy that gets sniffed and rubbed against as on one that gets chewed. The plush outer is soft enough for a cat to bunny-kick against without hurting their back feet.

• Plush gingerbread man with a Christmas hat detail
• Filled with catnip and PP cotton
• Weighs 8g — light enough to bat, carry and kick
• Soft plush outer, made for chewing and bunny-kicking
• Christmas design
• Sold as a single toy

Two things worth knowing. Roughly one cat in three has no reaction to catnip at all — it is an inherited trait — and kittens under about six months usually do not respond either, so in some houses this simply lands as a plain plush toy. And a soft toy with a hat and trim is for supervised play: check the seams and the hat regularly, and bin it once anything works loose.

Who it's for: Cats who respond to catnip, kittens old enough to have grown into it, and anyone after a small stocking filler that will genuinely get played with.