Is Playing With a Laser Pointer Safe for Cats?

“Are laser pointers cruel?” a user named Rundo5 asked on the CatAdvice subreddit. Their cat was “behaving quite oddly around it, she does that 'chirrup' thing a lot, as in she seems to be constantly talking to it?! … is my cat ok with it? Is that just a normal reaction that cats have?”

Many cats become so entranced by laser pointers that just seeing one can illicit this Pavlovian response. The device is believed to unlock a cat’s primal instinct: to observe, stalk, chase, and kill prey. For cat owners, the devices may seem like a cheap and easy way to provide stimulation and exercise. But are they really safe?

Laser toys remain somewhat controversial in cat-owner circles. The main concern is that the pointers do not complete the hunting cycle: The feline chases the dot but never feels the reward of going in for the kill, which some cat owners theorize could leave the animal frustrated or confused. And there is some concern the laser could damage a cat’s eyes.

One (and possibly the only) study that tackled the animal psychology end of the dilemma, published in the journal Animals in 2021, did not definitively answer the question, but it did raise some concern about distress in cats that often interacted with laser pointers. 

Tallying online survey responses from 618 cat owners, the authors found that the frequency of laser play was correlated to more abnormal repetitive behaviors, including spinning and tail chasing, pursuing lights and shadows, and staring obsessively at lights or electronics. 

The authors concluded, “These results, although correlational, suggest that laser light toys may be associated with the development of compulsive behaviors in cats.” They also couldn’t mark a threshold for the amount of laser time that might be unwise.

The bigger names in the YouTube cat-o-sphere, including Jackson Galaxy and wildlife biologist Marci Koski, largely endorse laser pointers but recommend switching to a tangible toy, like a feather at the end of the string, at the end of the play session, to allow the cat to live out the thrill of capturing prey. Commentors in these spaces have chimed in with the recommendation of giving a treat so they feel the expected reward of some protein. 

Veterinarian Luqman Javed, of the Catster YouTube channel, is more skeptical, suggesting that “[T]hey never, ever get to catch the elusive laser pointer and they become stressed.” 

As for the potential damage to a cat’s eyes, the consensus is that laser toys can cause damage, but cats should be fine if you have common sense not to point it in their eyes and, Javed said, “if you inadvertently do shine it somewhere [near the eye], the odds of damage to your cat's eye would then be minimal.”

In the places where people go for authoritative guidelines about pet care—like PetMD and the websites of the Humane Society and ASPCA (sorry, Reddit)—there are no strong warnings about laser pointers. It seems like with good sense and consideration for the cat’s naturally encoded hunt cycle, they are generally OK.

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