The ultimate low-cost, zero-maintenance cat toy–a shadow. Any shadow will do, even a cat’s own shadow if there’s nothing else.
Note the cat chasing the shadow of his tail. Round and round and round–why don’t they get dizzy, doing that? My old cat, Buster, used to get dizzy if I picked him up and spun around a bit with him in my arms–but he always pretended he wasn’t dizzy at all. But I’m afraid his act never fooled anyone.
Cats strike me as being truly imaginative creatures. They can take a germ of an idea and turn it into recreation.
You’re right about not needing expensive cat toys. My cats have always loved playing with the thick rubber bands that hold bunches of broccoli together. (They’re safe because they’re too thick and unfloppy to swallow accidentally.) And I’ve never had much luck with toys-on-a-wand that flick feathers or fabric “whips” around for the cats to chase. The two cats I’ve tried those with quickly figured out that my hand was manipulating the wand, and they went for the source — pounced on my hand, not to bite but to help me wave the wand around. Maybe I’ve just had smart cats. Or is that a redundancy? 🙂