Lazer pointer...your opinion

I am just wondering if any of you use lazer pointers and what your thoughts on them are. I got one for Marley last night and he loved it!! When I put it up he let out an awful meow (which he does a lot when he is expressing his disatisfaction) he only cried for a minute and then went on about his business. I have seen dogs become totally obsessed with these things and didn't know if the same can happen with cats, or is it a good form of exercise?
So....what are your thoughts on these lazers????

It is a great toy..
my Sadie goes nuts chasing the light dot.
Just be sure to keep out our of your sweeties eyes.

You are in for endless fun.

I have one, and only one of my cats shows much intrest in it. My little girl Maggie loves it. She runs around like crazy, but then again she will chase any light, the light from a flash light, reflections off the other cats collars, lights from a car driving by. (I always say it's a good thing God made her cute because he sure didn't give her the biggest brain) She is good about just laying down when I put it away. One thing that I have seen suggested is to hover the point of light over a toy before you turn it off so the cat will redirect it's attention to the toy.

We use them on the dog and cats with no problems. Yes they will obsess for a short time, but within a min or two its back to normal things. Just do NOT point them directly in their faces, especially the eyes.

My cats love the laser pointer, and it's really easy to exhaust/bore them with it. I do sometimes stop before they want me to, but it shouldn't be hard to keep going until they are done.

Of my three cats, one will chase it all day, one is only mildly interested and the third isn't interested at all.

My Bellah used to love the pointer until ... she came right up to my hand and figured out where the dot came from.... too smart for her own good lol

My two cats love it! I got one at Target in the cat aisle for about $6 and it came with extra batteries. My apartment is long so I have them chase it from one end to the other and back. It wears them out before bedtime

Mine just ignore the laser pointers so I'm jealous that your cat liked it so much.

Jakey goes crazy over that thing and he never gets tired. The funny thing is he gets all excited when I pick it up so he knows where the dot is coming from.

I always switch to a toy they can catch, like a feather wand, so they are not wandering around crying for the red dot.

Ours love it! Even Sunny, who tries to look dignified so much of the time, will chase it around the room (but only if we point it so the dot's on the ceiling...she's a birdy type of kitty). Hobbes definitely knows where the dot comes from, but still chases it like mad, hehe! And Simon...what 3mo kitten WOULDN'T go nuts for it?!

I need to get one of these!

I used to have one when my kitties were kittens. They LOVED it of course! I remember when a friend of mine would come over and play with it with me. And he would always have the kitties chase it and then would suddenly point the laser in my lap so the kitties would punce on me!! I think he liked me or something

But yeah they are fun and safe for kitties, just don't point them in the kitty's eyes.

I have a laser level that I use to play with the cats. One of my cat's Salt I can ask him "play" and he get's this frantic look on his face and meows like "Ok, where's the light!!!" It's the cutest thing!!

The laser pointer is in our arsenal of interactive toys. All three of the cats LOVE it. Steve will come running downstairs when he hears me getting it out and they will all go crazy. It is a great way to get them some exercise, IMO, and it is easy for me to use while we are watching tv or something. The only issue I had is one night, I was watching tv while playing and not really paying attention and I accidentally ended up getting Conor dizzy! Poor girl. She tried to walk around but couldn't so she just pressed herself to the ground all scared. I have made sure not to do that again.

The other great thing - for us - about the laser pointer is that all three cats can get involved. With our other interactive toys (Da Bird, mouse on elastic string, homemade fishing pole) Paddington dominates. He is the biggest and he essentially just pushed the other cats out of the way. With Da Bird, he actually growls and hisses if the other two try and come close. He is less territorial about the laser pointer - they seem to just treat it like they do the little bugs that they occasionally find in the house (something for all of them to 'kill').

Originally Posted by SportBikeMike

Jakey goes crazy over that thing and he never gets tired. The funny thing is he gets all excited when I pick it up so he knows where the dot is coming from.

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You know Maggie does the same thing. If I even tough it she comes running (maybe she just plays dumb because Mom will spoil her mome )

Cindy loves it, but she's addicted to it. She knows the "laser bug" only comes out in a certain place at a certain time - that is, at night when we get into bed to watch tv for an hour or two. Then she's right there, looking all over for it. She knows it has something to do with DH, when he picks it up she gets excited. She even poked him the other night because he wasn't getting the red bug out for her.

Swanie, on the other hand, totally ignores it. He's like, that thing isn't real, I'm not chasing it.

Both my two just LOVE the laser pointer. They will play for a long time. Before I start playtime I will put a couple of cat treats under a napkin on the floor. At the end of the laser play I just pretend that the spot has "crawled" under the napkins and turn the laser off. The cats claw and push the napkin aside looking for the spot and eat the treats.

After all these years I think they know that the treats are in there all the time but they like to play and then eat the treats.

Maia is very intelligent when it comes to the laser pointer, she knows exactly where it is coming from and who is behind it! She loves it when she is in the mood, otherwise she gives me this look of "Yeah whatever. Not falling for it right now..."!

I just picked one of those up yesterday for Mackerel. She loves it! I think she's starting to figure out where the dot's coming from- she looks at me pretty intently sometimes in the middle of us playing with it.

I feel bad, though.. kind of like I'm tricking her. XD My SO thinks she's going to get frustrated with never catching the thing sooner or later.