Most cats like to initiate games when playful.

A study has discovered that many cats seem to instinctively know how to play fetch.

Researchers from University of Sussex and Northumbria University surveyed 924 cat owners, who reported on the fetching behaviours of 1,154 cats that they currently, or had previously, owned. The cat owners were asked about how fetching occurred, how often it occurred, what their cats liked to fetch and who started and finished the games.

Most notably, the survey results identified that most cats had an instinctive want to play fetch, with 94 per cent of cat owners saying that their cat played fetch without any explicit training.

The responses couldn’t identify where this behaviour came from, with 61 per cent of the cats starting to play fetch when they were less than one year old. Only 23 per cent of the cats mentioned in the study lived with a dog or a cat that played fetch.

Fifty-nine per cent of the cats which played fetch did so on up to 10 occasions each month, and 55 per cent fetched up to five times in their most recent game.

The findings also found that cats were initiating and ending the games more often than their owners did.

In sessions where the cat initiated the game, they tended to play fetch for a longer period of time. They also played for long periods of time, and more frequently, when their owner usually ended the game.

This seems to indicate that cats like to take control of games of fetch, and may continue to play until their owner ends the game.

The group included 160 cats which were identified as purebred, of which Siamese cats were the most reported fetching breed, with 36 Siamese cats reported to play fetch. These were followed by 16 Bengal cats and 12 Ragdoll cats.

Exploring how the cats played fetch, the study revealed preferences for people they played with, where they played, and the objects they played with. Most of the items used for fetch were ordinary household items, with cat toys consisting of less than 40 per cent of fetched objects.

Jemma Forman, lead author and a doctoral researcher at University of Sussex School of Psychology, said: “This perceived sense of control from the cat’s perspective may be beneficial for the cat’s welfare and the cat-owner relationship.

"I’d encourage owners to be receptive to the needs of their cat by responding to their preferences for play – not all cats will want to play fetch, but if they do, it’s likely that they will have their own particular way of doing so!”

The full study can be found in the journal Scientific Reports.

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