Playing with cats is fun!
Domestic cats, especially young kittens, are known for their love of play. This behavior mimics hunting and is important in helping kittens learn to stalk, capture, and kill prey.
Cats also engage in play fighting, with each other and with humans. This behavior may be a way for cats to practice the skills needed for real combat, and might also reduce any fear they associate with launching attacks on other animals.
Owing to the close similarity between play and hunting, cats prefer to play with objects that resemble prey, such as small furry toys that move rapidly, but rapidly lose interest (they become habituated) in a toy they have played with before. Cats also tend to play with toys more when they are hungry.
String is often used as a toy, but if it is eaten, it can become caught at the base of the cat's tongue and then move into the intestines, a medical emergency which can cause serious illness, even death.
Owing to the risks posed by cats eating string, it is sometimes replaced with a laser pointer's dot, which cats may chase.
There are several important issues related to using a laser with a cat; first most, lasers can cause blindness in cats, even lasers which are sold as "eye safe" can actually be of much higher power of that proclaimed and can cause damages to the eyes. In addition, the cat thinks of the laser point as prey, but gets frustrated as he is unable to catch it.
