h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It's simply not neccessary. Our cats have in the past found hours of amusement with the following - brown paper grocery bags, cardboard boxes of all sizes, empty six-pack cartons (the ones that look like a basket with six partitions in it), ping pong balls, little bits of foam packaging, newspapers, and a large sheet of white paper which was wrapped around a poster frame. Meanwhile, most of the toys we bought for them lay around the flat, ignored. Bless them

Oops - of course, I meant "Never pay for a cat toy"

The only cat toy we've ever had any success with buying was these little fake mice. We'd throw em across the room and the cats would go chasing after them and bring them back, kinda like playing fetch.

Oh, and I see nothing wrong with the sentence "Never pay for a cat to toy"

my cat, left at home when i went off to school, often liked playing with things i bought for myself. example: shiny, pretty polished stones. We've never bought her a thing besides food and insulin (she's diabetic.) and she doesn't mind, or else she's pretending not to mind and just bides her time until the moment is right to exact revenge, as those who distrust cats might argue.
she also likes playing with the dog. they chase and wrestle, out of love and affection, not animosity. it's the most adorable thing imaginable.
--jane bane

My cat's favourite toy (apart, of course from a ping pong ball on the polished wooden floorboards of the dining room in the middle of the night) is an empty crisp packet - tied into a knot (and if he's really lucky, attached to a piece of string)

Not only does it fulfil all the basic cat toy requirements - but it also smells of (prawn cocktail) crisps...