Are laser pointers bad?

The one toy my cat loves, has to be the laser. when I can't find him, I jiggle the laser and he comes running out of nowhere to hopefully catch the red spot, it never fails. Most cats respond to laser pointers as most of you know. It makes me wonder if it gives them a false hope of catching the red. Sometimes he'll keep looking for it long after its gone. Just curious if anyone has any thoughts on this.
thanks
a

just make sure you keep it of there eyes.

come to think of it, i have put it away, cause sometimes her tail will start to get puffed up,,

Originally Posted by theimp98

just make sure you keep it of there eyes.

come to think of it, i have put it away, cause sometimes her tail will start to get puffed up,,

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I guess that's what i'm talking about, Things like puffing tails. I don't know of anything else that makes my cat act that way.

Laser pointers will keep your cat occupied for hours! Or mine at least. They are great!

once she gets soo worked up that her hair is standing on end, its time to get another toy for her to play with..

My kids love 'em.

The only time I've ever had trouble was the one time I got my little girl a little too excited and while she was running to the dot a few feet away, she stopped halfway there and peed on my floor

So, I suppose the moral of the story is: good fun, but not on a full bladder

Lasers are fine. The only thing you have to watch for is NOT to point it directly in their eyes. My females go after the light way more then the males do - its weird.

My cat LOVES the laser

My Ginger loves it SO much, she's even developed a special meow that means, "Can we play chase the red dot, Mom, puh-lease???"

I'm too paranoid to try the laser - how easy it would be to accidently shine that in their eyes!

I have shined a small flashlight beam or my watch when it catches the sun and they get interested.

I think anything done too long without letting them actually catch it is a little bit cruel.

i personally would not use them because when they "catch " it, there is nothing to grab with their paws or mouth., and yes i know that some people end a session by pointing it at food. but abi likes to wrestle and roll with her prey and a little light ball just won't be satisfying and I dont want her to get neurotic ( like me ) hahahahhaa

I've never seen a cat that doesn't love the laser pointer. As everyone else says, watch the eyes and there's no problems. I used to go through batteries like there was no tomorrow until I realized I could keep my cats busy for about 10 minutes by running the laser into something that they couldn't get into. The ports in the bottom of my speakers or under the TV stand. They would go nuts trying to figure out where it went and how it got out without them seeing it. I also enjoyed putting it on the roof where they have no hope of getting it. All my cats make their "bird noise" when I do that. A little gurgled chirping sound. Tigger used to stare at the last spot he saw it for hours before giving up but he got over that after a while. But he would always come running at the slightest jingle of the keychain. He also knew exactly where the dot came from so if he couldn't find it, he'd look at my hands to see where I was pointing it at.

hehe yea, yesterday morning i got home the laser was dead.
heyu kept meowing looking around. finally she went and got it from my desk, and carreid it into the other room and dropped it. so oh yea, they know where the light comes from.

had to go get some battries just so i could play with the kitty before bed or i would nto have gotten any sleep

Originally Posted by Mr. Jiggle Pant

The one toy my cat loves, has to be the laser. when I can't find him, I jiggle the laser and he comes running out of nowhere to hopefully catch the red spot, it never fails. Most cats respond to laser pointers as most of you know. It makes me wonder if it gives them a false hope of catching the red. Sometimes he'll keep looking for it long after its gone. Just curious if anyone has any thoughts on this.
thanks
a

Click to expand...

i read something a long time ago when laser pointers first became a pet toy... aparently some of the more hunt orientated dogs would spend hours and hours searching for it long after you put it down .... and the recommended solution was to always start and finish the laser pointer at the same place and stick to that spot.

so you need to pick a spot, maybe the foot of the stairs, or the foot of a cat tree or something and start play from that spot and then end ot there.

The posts about the cats figuring out where the light comes from reminds me of a time when I was catsitting for a friend. She'd left a laser pointer to entertain her two cats with. They were dashing around after the red light when the boy, Orangie Cat, stops and looks at my hand intently for a minute. He resumes playing. Then he stops and looks at me while his little sister dashes around after the Evil Red Thing. Suddenly a little orange paw swipes my hand. I look down to see poor Orangie running away to the bedroom, crushed.

It was like he'd just caught Mommy putting the "Santa" gifts under the tree. I couldn't get him to play laser tag for the rest of the week. He would just sit by and sulk while little sister dashed around.

Rocket knows where the light comes from. He ignores the red spot and looks directly at the laser pen in my hand. So I can't use it with him. And the little bugger figured it out after only a couple sessions.

Sebastian loves his laser pointer! It keeps him going for a good half hour before he gets tired. And I can play with him from the comfort of my couch when I am feeling lazy

If you point it at a wall and keep your cat well between you and the wall, and they don't figure it out, they're great and there's little chance of pointing it in their eye.

Zissou is currently staring at the wall, where about an hour ago there was a little red dot moving around. She also does this with bugs. She'll chase them a bit, and then if it's a dangerous or creepy one, I kill it and get rid of it--her watching the whole time-- and she keeps looking for it for an hour or more.

It's sad sometimes. She'll even look for it tommorow .

i had a laser pointer in the shape of a mouse, Nigel chased it for a bit got tired and walked away

I have one cat that goes nuts and another who completely ignores it. I think she's smart enough to have figured out that she'll never get ahold of it, so why waste time trying.
Keeping it away from her eyes is easy if you're careful. I also don't point it at anything that will cause it to reflect.
If kitty is'nt in the room, I point it at the fish tank....they like it too. But that never lasts long, she hears the chain jingle and she comes running.