Hours of fun (Catch The Light Laser Pointer)

Member Name: Tracy_1127

Product:	Catch The Light Laser Pointer
Date:	16/10/08 (66 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great for giving cats exercise, easy to use, cheap,

Disadvantages: keep the laser away from all eyes, cannot be used by children

As the weather gets cooler and my lads are spending more time indoors I recently decided to buy them some new toys. They have practically every toy known to cats but they get a bit bored of the same things so I like to buy them new bits regularly to keep them entertained.

Whilst browsing through the shops on quidco I came across zooplus.co.uk and had a look at some of their toys. I immediately put one of these laser pointers in my basket as one of my boys likes to chase torch beams.

Firstly a warning, this is a laser so do not ever point it at the cats eyes, your own eyes or someone elses eyes or it can damage them. This makes the toy sound dangerous and I wouldn't recommend giving this to children to play with. It's quite easy to avoid the cats eyes if you're sensible about it, I hold it at an angle that isn't anywhere near their eyes, the laser pointing down towards the floor where they aren't sitting usually, but the red dot is still easy to manipulate. As the cats chase it and move around you need to pay attention to where they are in relation to the laser but as long as you do pay attention it's easy to avoid pointing it directly at them.

The toy cost me £4.59 and is a small plastic mouse about 5cm long with a rounded top so easy to conceal in your hand. It has painted on eyes and ears to give the appearance of being a mouse and some fake whiskers too. There is a little chain at the back to hang it up if you want to and a little button on top that turns the light on and off. Mine is red but they come in a variety of colours, you just get whatever colour they happen to have.

The laser takes 3 little batteries, that come with the toy so you just slide the cover off the back, pop them in and you're ready to play!

I opened this immediately, inserted the batteries and had a practice run without the boys to get used to not pointing the laser directly at anything but found the red dot it produces is easy to steer without having to point it directly at the boys. I'd advise everyone to have a trial run with this without your cats present first. Once I'd established I could use it safely we were ready for a session!

I make the dot do all kinds of things, put it on the walls, the floor, along their tails, on my partner's head, make it go fast and slow and add some shaky movements and well it's so versatile! One of mine immediately sussed me out and looked at my hand moving but he still chased the light a bit but the other was absolutely fascinated and chased it relentlessly. When mine "catch" it I release the button so the light goes out so they think they have it under their paw then turn it back on and make it move away when they lift their paws to check!

Basically we've already had hours of fun with this and it keeps my boys entertained when it's too cold to go out and chase leaves. It gives them some exercise before they curl up and go to sleep and I can do it from sitting on the sofa so they know I'm something to do with it but it's not as obvious as other toys. They love it!

The beam will produce a red dot up to about a metre and a half away and it's bright enough to capture their interest.

Again do not ever shine the laser in their eyes or anyones eyes and the toy is fine to use. Do not give it to children either, not that many people would be silly enough to but I have to say it.

I imagine some dogs would also chase this but it is really aimed at cats and does interest them greatly.

Excellent toy for some play sessions with your little ones as long as you follow the safety precautions rigidly.

Summary: Great toy but KEEP AWAY FROM EYES!! Is that enough warnings?!