Why Do Cats Chase Laser Pointers?

Something about the bright dot of a laser pointer is irresistible to many cats -- but why? And does this kind of play provide good entertainment for cats? Learn about lasers and the benefits of play for cats in this episode of BrainStuff.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey
brain Stuff, Lauren Voge obamb here It's hard to say
whether a human wielding a laser pointer or a cat
chasing the light is having more fun. While you sit
chuckling on the couch twitching that six dollar device around
in your hand, your cat is experiencing real moments of

(00:22):
heroic desperation as she leaps over the ottoman and scrambles
up the wall after that tiny speck of light she's
never able to catch. It's great exercise for indoor cats,
But why do cats find this activity compelling? First starters,
cats are attracted to anything that allows them to stalk prey,
even just for play. We spoke with Dr Stephanie Bourne's

(00:43):
wheel and animal behavior specialist at the Cummings Veterinary Medical
Center at Tufts University. She said the laser simulates the
movement of prey, so it attracts the cat's tension and
gets the cat to chase and pounce on it. It
is certainly a play behavior in young cats and maybe
in older indoor cats as well. However, it may also
be an abrant expression of the predatory behavior. That is,

(01:06):
if you will hijacked by the laser movement. Wild Cats,
feral cats, and even your sweet spoiled indoor outdoor kittens
who sleeps under the covers with you are all single minded,
solitary predators. They're wired to spend a significant portion of
their waking outdoor hours stalking their food, and since indoor

(01:26):
cats are often woefully understimulated in this regard, playing with
a laser satisfies that predatory urge. But it's just a
moving point of light, insubstantial and obviously not a mouse.
Cats know that right. For many cats, the laser pointer
is compelling in a way that makes you wonder if
you too are at the same party. Well, in some

(01:49):
ways you're probably not. We also spoke with Dr John
Bradshaw at the University of Bristol School of Veterinary Science
and author of the Trainable Cat and Cats Sense. He
said it's unlikely that cats perceived the light from a
laser pointer in the same way we do, because in
several ways their eyes work differently to ours. We both

(02:09):
have eyes that point forwards, giving us similar abilities and
perceiving how far away something is, but the similarities pretty
much end there. According to Bradshaw, although cats react strongly
to the red dot produced by a laser pointer. It
almost certainly doesn't have anything to do with the color.
That's because cat eyes are not sensitive to the color red,

(02:29):
so they most likely see the dot of light as
white or yellow. But cats are more sensitive to movement
than we are because their eyes connect to their brains
differently than ours. Bradshaw said, I suspect this is the
main attraction of the pointer for the cat. The movement
is really exciting, and even when we think we're holding
the pointer steady, the slight tremble in our hands probably

(02:51):
generates enough movement to keep the cat interested. So a
laser pointer interests kitties obviously because it gives them something
to pelling to hunt and play with. But some that
are in arians think laser playtime might be psychologically taxing
for a cat, as it has them constantly chasing after
something they'll never be able to catch. Some vets say

(03:12):
this can lead to neurosis, which can lead to symptoms
like over grooming, but Bradshaw thinks not. He said, I
don't agree that using a laser pointer to amuse your
cat will make it neurotic. Cats hunt their toys all
the time, and the fact that they never actually succeed
in killing any of them doesn't seem to do the
cat any harm. There may be a few cats that
become obsessed with laser pointers, and for those it would

(03:34):
probably be best to ration their exposure. But for the
average Maggie, a few minutes of chasing a red dot
around the apartment should simply provide some of the mental
and physical stimulation the indoor cats especially need. Boyne's Wile
agrees that the main concern should not be what you're
using to exercise your indoor cat so much as whether
you're doing it at all. She said, insufficient stimulation is

(03:57):
a serious problem for indoor cats. Cats are highly territorial,
solitary hunters that spend much of their day's foraging for
small prey animals. I'm not advocating letting them outside to
be killed by predators are hit by cars, but I
do advocate managing their environment as one does any captive
wild animal, so that they have the opportunity to do
what they've evolved to do. What does that entail A

(04:20):
Boyin's while explained regular opportunities for predatory play and exercise,
feeding with foraging toys, safe opportunities to monitor wildlife from
window seats, plenty of vertical space, and hiding spots should
all be part of a cat's environment. Cats are not,
or rather should not, be, low maintenance pets. To keep
a cat requires effort and understanding to be able to

(04:43):
provide a satisfactory life in an indoor context. I think
that laser play can be included in an overall plan
of enrichment. Today's episode was written by Jesselyn Shields and
produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is a production of
I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. From one, there's lots
of other stimulating topics. Visit our home planet, how stuff

(05:05):
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