More Than 40% Of Cats Like To Play Fetch, But Scientists Are Still Stumped As To Why This Is
The game of fetch and dogs go together like peanut butter and jelly. But when it comes to cats, I’m sure you don’t think about them getting into fetch at all.
According to new research, cats also play fetch, just like canines do, and felines engage in fetch much more than you probably thought.
40.9% of cats like to play fetch, says this research, but scientists are still stumped as to why this is.
The authors of the study surmise that dogs were chosen for their retrieving behavior during the domestication process, which makes sense since humans were hunting with projectile-style weapons back then.
They went on to point out that many different dog breeds are able to engage in a game of fetch, but specific breeds have a higher tendency to do so, namely breeds that shine for their retrieving skills, like gun dogs.
It’s harder to argue that fetching cats comes down to specifically selecting them for their retrieving skills.
“In cats, fetching was correlated with play and activity,” the authors wrote. “In dogs, fetching was correlated with overall trainability.”
“In both cats and dogs, being female, older, living with (other) dogs, and having health problems decreased the likelihood of fetching.”
“Breed effects were observed in both species, with fetching more prominent in cat breeds originating in the Far East (e.g., Burmese, Siamese, and Tonkinese) and in dog breeds from the Retriever, UK Rural, Poodle, Pointer and Spaniel clades.”
dvulikaia – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual cat
Over 8,000 cats were surveyed for this study, with 40.9% of them engaging in fetch “always,” “sometimes,” or “usually.”
Interestingly enough, the cats that aren’t into fetch still enjoy things like carrying toys around (close to 58% of cats) and giving toys to their owners (39%).
Researchers also took a look at more than 73,000 dogs and identified 78% of them play fetch, with spaniels, pointers, poodles, and retrievers enjoying it the most. I mean, retrievers were bred, after all, to literally fetch a hunter’s catch.
“Fetching behavior can certainly be reinforced and shaped by human responses,” they added. “For example, if a cat or dog presents a toy to a human, and the human responds by tossing the toy and engaging in play with their pet, this is likely to be rewarding to the animal.”
“If the owner does not recognize that the animal is soliciting play, fetching behavior may be ‘extinguished’ due to lack of reinforcement.”
While this is certainly fascinating and eye-opening, researchers still don’t understand how fetching came to be in the first place, though they think fetching seems like it’s just a fun thing for canines and felines to engage in.
Hopefully, this paves the way for more research on why cats and dogs enjoy making fetch happen despite their very different domestication backgrounds.
Does your cat enjoy playing fetch?
The study was published in PLOS One.
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