Cats love to play. They'll happily play with anything, from their tails, a bit of string, your fingers, a paper bag, cardboard box, car keys to a patch of sunlight to name but a few. You don't have to spend a fortune on clockwork mice, play towers or drones - the only expensive thing that cats really want to play with is the highly breakable and valuable heirloom that once belonged to your great-grandmother. So simply follow these instructions to get a toy that can provide hours of fun for any playful kitten.

1. Buy a roll-on deodorant.

2. Wash at least daily and apply deodorant regularly.

3. When the deodorant is finished, ask yourself 'Am I certain that this deodorant is completely empty?' Be sure the answer is 'yes'.

4. Remove the plastic lid from the deodorant.

5. Ascertain whether the deodorant is in a plastic or glass container.

6. If it is in a plastic container put on at least one shoe and jump on the deodorant – the plastic ball used for the roll-on will shoot across the room (and if the deodorant isn't completely empty, so will any remaining fluid it contained). Alternatively you could give the deodorant a heavy squeeze, stand on it gently, use a vice etc, but jumping on it is more fun.

7. If you bought a roll-on deodorant in a glass container, unscrew the plastic lip that contains the ball from the glass bottle and push the ball out.

8. Wash the deodorant ball, and wash and recycle the plastic bottle and lid.

9. The ball is exactly the right weight to zoom across the room when given a light tap by a cat, and will provide it with hours of entertainment.

10. Wonder where the ball vanished to mere seconds later when the cat was playing with it in an otherwise empty room…

11. Receive that 'I'm Bored Now' look from your pet.