# One of my cats is broken (funny, not sad) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 26, 2011, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-cats-is-broken-funny-not-sad/607395 "2011-12-26T03:03:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-cats-is-broken-funny-not-sad/607395/21 "2011-12-27T02:45:00Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > … > The Siamese girl, though…is not interested in playing with the laser. She’ll play with a feather wand, or other toys. But she says that the laser pointer is just a dot of light, and she knows she can’t catch it, so what’s the point? She’s a smart kitty. But I’ve never heard of a cat who doesn’t love the laser pointer. I don’t think we tried a laser pointer specifically, but we tried flashlights with our Buster, and he couldn’t be bothered. On the other hand, SHADOWS??? Now there was some good fun. He’d pounce on them with both paws, “catch” them, drag the paws toward him, then look confused that the prey hadn’t stayed “caught”. We took to calling him our “remote control kitty” because we could play with him from several feet away. We actually used to have to keep the bathroom door closed at night even when we weren’t in there; it had a nightlight and he’d go in there at 2 AM and try to catch those pesky shadows. :::thump::: :::slide::: :::pause::: (during which the cat was clearly thinking DAMMIT) then repeat. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-cats-is-broken-funny-not-sad/607395/22 "2011-12-27T07:05:41Z")
Update: her Whipped Cream Detector works just fine. I made my daughter some hot chocolate earlier this evening, with whipped cream, and Sapphire managed to find it and stick her face in it. ---
**Author:** ![coffinjumper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@coffinjumper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffinjumper)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-cats-is-broken-funny-not-sad/607395/23 "2011-12-27T10:19:40Z")
The whole catching the laser pointer thing also works on small children. It is possible that knowing and using this information makes me a horrible person. ---
**Author:** ![Teufelblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@Teufelblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teufelblitz)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-cats-is-broken-funny-not-sad/607395/24 "2011-12-27T12:04:00Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > How do you get them to watch the dot of light instead of the waving hand? When one of our smarter cats starts staring at my hand, all I do is point the laser in such a way that the dot is in her line of sight, but the tip of the pointer itself isn’t. She will then follow the dot to the floor or wherever. We have a couple of really pudgy ones in the bunch. They are my favorites to see lumbering after the dot. Reminds me of me when I was the fat kid playing sports. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-cats-is-broken-funny-not-sad/607395/25 "2011-12-27T14:02:05Z")
> [@coffinjumper](#): > > The whole catching the laser pointer thing also works on small children. > > It is possible that knowing and using this information makes me a horrible person. It works on [Grandma](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD0WL-2BT7E) too. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-cats-is-broken-funny-not-sad/607395/26 "2011-12-27T15:15:24Z")
As I’ve mention3ed many times on this Board, our cat Midnight wouldn’t chase the laser pointer at all. If you shone the dot in front of her, she looked back up to your hand holding the laser, as if to say “That’s _you_ doing that.” And she wouldn’t move. All of our current cats love it, though. Hestia goes _insane_ over the pointer. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-cats-is-broken-funny-not-sad/607395/27 "2011-12-27T16:02:26Z")
Ours won’t chase the dot unless he’s forgotten the origin. He eventually figures it out again and loses interest. ---
**Author:** ![horsetech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dec6dc/32.png) [@horsetech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/horsetech)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-cats-is-broken-funny-not-sad/607395/28 "2011-12-27T16:53:48Z")
Sorry about that. That particular model year did not come with the Laserkitteh functionality pack factory-installed. You’ll have to find an after-market version and a mecatic to install it. Of course, this voids the warranty. Would you like to upgrade to the 2012 Catte 2.0? ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-cats-is-broken-funny-not-sad/607395/29 "2011-12-27T23:54:39Z")
Srsly, does anybody use the laser pointer for anything but pet toys? I’ve gone beyond pug bowling to actual cat bowling. My pug will knock over anything, even cats, in her pursuit of the DOT. ---
**Author:** ![missinformation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@missinformation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missinformation)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-cats-is-broken-funny-not-sad/607395/30 "2011-12-28T00:55:17Z")
My Tasha and Beth used to love to chase the dot around…then again, they were easily amused…their favorite toy was the plastic ring off of a milk jug…they had about $200 of toys, between my parents and us overindulging them…the thing that held their attention the longest? A moth being in the house!!! ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-cats-is-broken-funny-not-sad/607395/31 "2011-12-28T03:50:08Z")
> [@horsetech](#): > > Sorry about that. That particular model year did not come with the Laserkitteh functionality pack factory-installed. You’ll have to find an after-market version and a mecatic to install it. Of course, this voids the warranty. Would you like to upgrade to the 2012 Catte 2.0? Dammit, I KNEW I should have gone for the extended warranty. She was sold to me as a refurbished model, someone had had her as a kitten and then returned her when she turned into an adult. Now I know why. Meezercat 2000 is still functional in all other areas, though. We might need to look into getting her joints lubricated. And she doesn’t perform well at all in cold weather. Still, I’ve gotten attached to the old girl, and don’t want to trade her in for a newer model. ---
**Author:** ![AndyLee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@AndyLee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyLee)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-cats-is-broken-funny-not-sad/607395/32 "2011-12-28T18:18:28Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > She’s a smart kitty. But I’ve never heard of a cat who doesn’t love the laser pointer. It’s not that, she probably loves it, but you don’t have to look far to find a cat who will do something just for the pleasure of being disagreeable to you 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-cats-is-broken-funny-not-sad/607395/33 "2011-12-29T23:02:31Z")
Update: my daughter was using the LP to play with the other three cats. She got the younger male to run around in tight circles, and managed to make him dizzy. His head was bobbling and he was staggering. Then she did it to the younger female, who bobbled and wobbled to a lesser extent. The older male enjoyed chasing the dot, but didn’t go after it so enthusiastically that he got dizzy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-cats-is-broken-funny-not-sad/607395.md?page=1)