The variety of Petstore purchased toys run from the 25c mini-mice to some sort of robotic cat teaser. I must admit my human ruled out the latter since it does not qualify, yet, as being affordable on my Squidoo budget. On the affordable side there seem to be four distinct categories these toys fall into.

First of all, the use of a intoxicant is clearly cheating in the race to be the WORLD'S BEST KITTY TOY, but I suppose we'll allow for legal substances. These mice are fun, but there are some that are clearly superior. I enjoy the catnip variety (who am I to turn down some perfectly good intoxicants?) that come in bright colors and have faux-fur. The fur makes them fun in my mouth, the catnip is a turn-on and the bright colors make them easier for the humans to play hide and go seek with. One note though- my dog enjoyed this variety as well, I think because of the catnip, and devoured all of my ten-pack. I suggest either buying in bulk, or avoiding them if you've a dog of your own.

Starting at about $2.00 you can get a wide variety of things on strings attached to sticks. In this category the exact choice matters quite a bit. If your squidoo budget will allow it, go for the one I've highlighted below. It has feathers AND a bell attached to it's string. I've had a few of these, with various things attached to them, and none were worth my time unless they had both the bell and the feathers. Don't bother with the stuffed animal things on a stick- that will just get you hit on the head by your overly enthusiastic human. The feathers help with birding practice, and the bell never ceases to catch my attention. One of the ones I had had only the feathers- this was uniformly boring. Also it had 'real' style feathers, which didn't last very long. Make sure to get some nice fake feathers that will stand up to good wear and tear. These 'teasers' as humans call them will give you hours of lovely human interaction. Unfortunately they are rather boring without humans attached.

Definitely get the ones with something in them that makes noise. I prefer the ones with bells in them, as this makes a nice sound to annoy the dog. However, I have a kitty friend who is skittish and she prefers one with little seeds in the middle that makes a nice rustling noise. These are in general great fun, but when we moved into our apartment, my fun decreased because we no longer have hardwood floors. Read about my first apartment living experience here! Also, unless you have an overly energetic human, like mine (see video of my human chasing the ball) humans usually let you play by yourself with these.

This is a wonderful new human invention. They are circular tracks, just big enough to sit in the center of, which have balls that you can chase around in them. Originally only for hamsters, these are now available in kitty-size and are great fun. Although I wish mine was actually a hamster! Kind of pricey, and no human interaction or annoy-the-dog factor, but still fun for those long nights when all the diurnal animals in the house insist on sleeping.

Finally - if you've the money - don't be afraid to try the laser beam. Great fun for you and your human. But make sure to get one that is low-power especially for animal play or your eyes could get hurt%u2026.