About 4 in 10 domestic cats enjoy playing fetch — a game most people associate with dogs. A team of American animal psychologists found more cats like the game than researchers expected. A Purdue University study in Indiana reported that over 40 percent of cats occasionally return toys their owners throw. That number surprised the authors. “We understand the reasons why dogs play fetch, but it’s unclear why cats do it,” the study’s authors wrote. Lead author Mikel Delgado, an animal behavior specialist, said humans bred dogs for retrieving during domestication, which likely explains why dogs are more likely to bring things back. He said he was surprised that so many cats bring back toys, since cats were not specifically bred to help humans with tasks like hunting or herding.
What did the researchers find? The 2023 study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, found that cats who play fetch typically do so on their own terms. Surprisingly, nearly 95 percent of cats initiate the game without any prior training. In the study, animal psychologists surveyed over 8,000 cat owners and found that 40.9 percent of cats play fetch “sometimes,” “usually,” or “always.” Many cats also take part in other toy-carrying activities even if they don’t play fetch. Specifically, about 58 percent of cats carry toys with them, while 39 percent bring toys to their owners to start a game. The university team also found that Siamese, Burmese, and Tonkinese cats were the most likely to play fetch. Researchers identified factors that made a cat more likely to enjoy the game, including being male, living exclusively indoors, and having no health issues. Living in the same household as dogs made cats less inclined to play fetch, which the researchers suggested could be due to dogs showing predatory behavior toward cats or toward their toys.
At the same time, the team studied dogs’ fetch behavior, which Live Science reported. As expected, dogs showed a stronger tendency to play fetch. A survey of over 73,000 dog owners revealed that nearly 78 percent of dogs played fetch at least occasionally, with retrievers, pointers, poodles, and spaniels among the most enthusiastic. Retrievers, for example, were specifically bred to retrieve game during hunts. The study suggested that, like dogs, cats may play fetch simply for fun. “In both species, fetching is associated with activity and energy levels, so it’s likely a form of play,” Delgado said. His team also suggested that fetching helps cats practice hunting behaviors such as stalking and biting. However, it remains unclear to what extent domestication has influenced this behavior. “We hope this research draws more attention to cat behavior, which is often portrayed as independent or aloof. In reality, they can be very social, and this is a great example of their interaction with humans,” the scientist emphasized. The results of the study were published in the journal PLOS ONE.
