The Best $4.00 Cat Toy Ever (well, what's left of it...)

A few years ago, I was at Wally-world picking up kitty litter, and I also picked up an inexpensive kitty toy.

A pop-up play cube. Purple.
Made of that paper-plastic fabric.
For 4 bucks.
I bought it and brought it home for the fur-balls to inspect.

They loved it.

• The purple cube has often been used as the starting point for the evening "Happy Feet" cat dash around the house. 
• And as the "I'm invisible" place. 
• The purple cube mysteriously travels from the dining room to be found parked the kitchen or partway down the hallway (a near-heart-stopping surprise for me when I'm crossing the house in the middle of the night). 
• It is not bad for storing kitty-toys, but the toys do tend to escape from the multiple cube entrances. 
• It's not great in the traditional "King of the Hill" skirmish but the intention and victory is unmistakable.
• The Pilobolus-esque kitty toy can be clawed to wrap around the feline hiding inside to create something resembling modern art. 
• Best of all, it is an excellent place from which to launch a variety of paw-reaching ambushes on passing fur-brothers or Mom's bare toes.
• The ultimate ambush involves the passer-by being literally attacked by the flying, cat-infested cube.

However, in the past few months, the cube began to show some wear and tear. 

 

In the last year, CooPurr had especially adopted it as his favorite play-toy and loitering spot. 

His tail doesn't usually make it inside the cube.

"I see you, Mom".

Can you see his eyes? {grin}

 Sometimes Gryphon or Mikale would take a turn...although rarely Nikoli. Hmm.

It had been played with, sat in and upon, dashed into/out of, worn during the dash, clawed, (cleaned a few times), punctured, and shed upon and it was looking a bit, uh, ventilated. 

So the other week, we visited Wally-world and found...they still carried the pop-up cubes. 

We picked out another purple one, brought it home, popped it up, and watched. 

Yep, CooPurr was first in. 

We put the old and the new side by side.

CooPurr checked out the feel of the new cube...

Hmmmm...but the old haunt looks pretty cozy...

Yep, he crossed back into the old cube. 

And Mikale hopped into the new cube. 

 The next morning, they revisited their evening cube-positions.

The old cube stayed a few more weeks.
It continued to be a favorite play toy...until it was so "well-loved" that it had to be permanently retired.

I think this wins, paws down, as the best $4.00 Cat Toy Ever.