I know cats are supposed to physically catch something after chasing a laser, so I never just end the game with the dot disappearing. I always try to make it feel like she actually got her prey. Usually I roll a small ball to her right at the end and time it so it matches the moment she catches the laser. But instead of looking satisfied, she stares at the ball, then at me, and hisses!

At first I thought maybe she just needed more playtime, but that does not seem to be it. We sometimes do this for around 40 minutes all over the apartment, and she still reacts the same way. During the chase she looks completely into it. She genuinely seems to love it, stalking the dot, moving into different positions, hiding, pouncing, then running off to set up another ambush. Honestly, it looks like she enjoys this game even more than a lot of her other toys.

But once it is over, she still seems unhappy.

So now I am wondering if the issue is that she expects to actually catch the glowing dot, and then gets something totally different instead. Maybe the substitute prey just does not work for her, cuz it is not what she was focused on the whole time. If that is the case, then the whole laser idea feels kind of cruel to the cat.