Why do my cats like this toy?

Skitters across the floor easily, is light enough to carry in their mouths, and throw around. Makes a funny noise on certain floors. It doesn’t have to look like something they would naturally hunt. Oddly, my cats don’t really like things that look like their prey. Their favorite toys are some plastic springs, ice cubes, and these feather teasers, but only once they have chewed all the feathers off and all that’s really left is the plastic body and a nub of feathers (they fly well, are easy to carry, and skitter across the floor well)

Short answer? Cats are weird little critters.

yup there really isn't much rhyme or reason to it. I have one cat that loves to steal rolls of electrical tape and anything velcro.
- I’ve heard glues and the “anti stick” stuff on like plastic bags is really enticing for them. Not sure why.
  
  Mine also LOVE my silicone hair ties. But they are both chewers, so they are only allowed to play with them supervised (not trying to have multiple thousands of dollars of emergency surgery to pay for). I think it’s the wiggly factor they like, or maybe it smells like me. Idk.
Best toy in the world? A fresh crunchy paper bag.
- Mile
  
  Edit: I have no idea what my reply is. I didn’t make it intentionally, and I can’t delete it. 🤷🏻‍♀️

While play does draw from their hunting instincts, in my experience, sometimes they really are just trying to have fun. In this case, my cats have liked similar things because of how light and easy they are to bat/toss around (vs other toys, like stuffed animals, where they don't throw them into the air nearly as much).

They do like bottlecaps. My cat also likes pencils, chopsticks, and straws.
- Yeah, mine LOVES stick-like things more than anything else. But they have to be just right.
  
  Chopsticks and skewers. Those fishing line/feather toys, but only the handle part, not really the toy part. I gather and replenish a whole collection of sticks when I go walking, but they have to be skinny little twig branches. Too thick to withstand her attack, and she isn't even interested.
  
  She also loves pens/pencils, but only when I'm using them and only the one I'm using. So I suspect that one's a bonding thing.
- Our cats like to toss around hazelnuts, small rolls of tape and less surprisingly bouncing balls
- Bottlecaps are big for mine too. They like to bat them down the hall and chase them, like it's hockey.
  
  But they are Canadian so I give them a pass.

Having worked in a vet office where these were fished out of intestines regularly, DON'T let your cats play with small pieces of plastic like this. Nor hair ties, yarn, string, small paper bits like labels or receipts, or coins.

Are products specifically marketed for cats ok? So-called "cat springs", for example?
- I can't tell you about every single toy. Just avoid anything with plastic, paper, or wads of string that can be chewed off.
  
  You're okay with cardboard boxes and the like as long as you watch them closely and take it away at the first sign of chewing. Really, that should be your practice with any toy, especially new ones.

My roommate’s cat absolutely LOVES zipties. Guess they somewhat resemble a mouse tail?

i was just about to post about that - my tuxedo also loves zipties and I have no idea why.
Perhaps.

If I had to guess there might actually be no real tangible reason other than your cats might like the "mouth feel" of the piece of plastic. They might simply enjoy chewing on it. My poor old girl Ashleigh would sleep on top of my PC's tower even in the blazing heat of summer. She was kind of floofy too so I could never understand how she could tolerate the heat coming from the tower. Cats are cats and very individualistic at that.

My hypothesis would be that it's colorful, so easy to see, it's easy to grab, and it bounces well on the floor and with unexpected trajectories. That makes for a fun catching game.

Because it's fun.

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Mine likes em because she can pick em up in her mouth and we play catch on the back of the couch with em. Usually hair ties, but occasionally these. They bounce off the wall pretty well.

My cat goes crazy for stickers/labels that I've folded over. I flick them across the room and he goes nuts chasing after them. Can't think of anything they would hunt in the wild that looks similar.

I think it's less about prey and more about play, so to speak. Keeping in mind that my cat is a total dumbass orange cat with naught a single brain cell, once he loses track of it, he loses interest.

A football isn't shaped like food or breasts, so why do human males enjoy them so much?

Because they're made of MEAT.

Anything looking like a hair tie or string is instantly absorbed by my cats paws

No idea about your cars, but my cats? Because they can eat them when I don't feel them fast enough in the morning and then I have to the vet because they can't yak them up or pass them.

I love the little gremlins, but they are both bonded rescue cats that have pica or something.

My cat loves playing with the pull tabs off of milk cartons. Some cats are just weird.

Worm? 😉