A litter tray needs scooping at least once a day, and the tool matters rather more than its price suggests. Slots too narrow and it clogs on the first clump; slots too wide and half the mess drops back through into the tray. Either way you end up doing the job twice, which is twice as often as anybody wants to be doing it.

Plastic is the sensible material for something used daily and rinsed just as often. It does not rust at the joint the way a cheap metal scoop does after a few months, and it goes under a hot tap without complaint or warping. Colours are assorted and picked at random from whatever is in stock, so it may arrive green, grey or something else entirely, which makes no difference at all to the job it does.

• Plastic construction, durable and easy to rinse clean
• Slotted to sift clumps from clean litter
• Assorted colours, selected at random
• Suits daily litter tray maintenance
• Cheap enough to keep one per tray

Two things worth knowing. You do not get to choose the colour, so if it has to match something, this is not the scoop for you. The rule worth repeating while you are here is one tray per cat plus one, and a scoop for each.

Who it's for: Every cat household, and particularly anyone still carrying one scoop between two trays.