One of the most appealing qualities that cats have is their boundless curiosity and joy of playing. Granted, what we humans perceive as playing is, in reality, actually the cat using and perfecting their awesome inherent, instinctual hunting skills. But, it looks like so much fun when the cats do this that I still like to think of it as play! I can disticntly remember my sister's very geriatric feline - at least 15 years old, almost totally deaf, and unfortunately suffering from terminal, incurable cancer. But this cat would come alive and act like a frisky young kitten again if you were to drag a piece of string on the ground within her eyesight. She would stalk the string and suddenly pounce, then roll over onto her back and proceed to disembowel her thin adversary with her fearsome back claws! This cat enjoyed playtime (albeit in a limited time frame) until the day she passed away. Cats know the importance of playing, sleeping, and expressing their feelings - some things that we humans could stand to learn from our feline friends!

So, like any good cat's mother, over the years I have spent loads of money buying lots of different types of cat toys to keep my furry children happy. I have discovered, however, that the best cat toys - the things that my cats would play with the longest - where the toys that cost very little money or were actually free! And, so I present to you the following list of the best cat toys that money can't buy:

String or Ribbon You can tie a few knots in the material if you want to, then simply drag it or dangle it in the air around you cat. Just make sure that you keep you hands far enough away from the flying claws! I have yet to meet a cat that can resist the dangling string!!!

Paper Bags and Cardboard Boxes Not all cats like to crawl into bags or boxes, but most do. One of the favorite pastimes of my now deceased cat Cleo was to crawl into a paper grocery bag that I'd left laying on its side on the floor. She would hid there for a very long time if needed, just waiting for someone (my husband or I or especially my other cat Claire)to come strolling unsuspectingly by... then WHAM!!! Cleo would jump out of the bag, grab your ankle, then run as fast as she could into another room...TAG, you're it!!! I would often be searching for a long time for Cleo, only to find that she had fallen asleep inside of a paper grocery bag, bored from waiting so long for her next "prey" to come sauntering by! When using boxes please be sure that any metal fasteners of tape pieces are removed before letting your cat play in there. And be sure that you only use paper grocery bags, please!

Crumpled Balls Of Aluminum Foil These are great - fun to throw and let you cat chase. Many cats will actually fetch like dogs... but only when THEY feel like doing so! Any crumpled paper can be substituted for the aluminum foil, but the foil has the advantage of being light weight and it maintains its shape much longer than any paper product.

Old Hand Puppets Or Even Old Socks and Gloves Anything that you can use to cover your hands and engage in some hand-to-paw "wrestling" with your cat without losing a pound of flesh in the process. My husband would also use oven mitts for this purpose.

Again, always remember to be gentle when playing with your cat so that no one gets hurt!

So, you can see that cats really don't care how much money you spend on cat toys... as long as they have something to play with!!!