Fetch!

Does your cat like to play fetch? Though fetching a ball or other object, for a human partner to throw again, and again, is generally associated with dogs, about 41% of cats choose to play fetch with their owner, according to the first study on the prevalence of fetching behaviour, published recently in PLOS One. Mikel M. Delgado at Purdue University, US, and colleagues also identified which breeds of cat, as well as dog, are most likely to play fetch — and suggest some possible reasons why this is.

For their study, the researchers analysed survey responses from 8,224 cat owners and 73,724 dog owners from 88 different countries. One question asked specifically about whether or not participants' pets played fetch — defined as retrieving thrown objects and toys. The final results showed that 40% of the pet cats and 77.8% of pet dogs played fetch at least sometimes.

The researchers then explored whether there were any links between a willingness to play fetch and other characteristics of the pet, including its breed and age. They found that for both cats and dogs, being female, older, having health problems, and living alongside a dog were linked to a lower likelihood of fetching. Living environment also mattered, with house cats more likely to play fetch than cats that had access to the outdoors.

When it came to breed, among the well over 100 dog breeds reported by the participants, almost all had some animals that fetched. However, retrievers, poodles, pointers, spaniels and sheepdogs were most likely to do this. For the cats, three specific breeds, all from East and Southeast Asia, were more likely than average to play fetch: Burmese, Siamese, and Tonkinese (a cross between the two).

All of the actions involved in fetch likely relate to predatory behaviour, the team writes. Cats stalk and then rush at their prey, and often carry their kill to another location. Wolves and wild dogs pursue their prey over sometimes long distances, before making a kill.

However, the team's analysis revealed that cats that played fetch were also given higher scores by their owners on measures of general activity levels and playfulness. For the dogs, there was a similar link between playing fetch and having higher general energy levels. "In both species, these findings suggest that fetching is more closely related to playful behaviour than it is to predation," the team concludes.

The finding that older cats and dogs — which generally have less energy — are less likely to fetch supports this idea. As for why house cats are more likely to fetch, the team put forward that this may be because it functions as a form of play, and enriches their relatively restricted environment.

Still, the dog data analysis did also find that those bred for use in hunting — poodles, retrievers, pointers, and spaniels — were more likely to fetch. Their enhanced instincts to hunt and retrieve may explain why they are more likely to want to drop a ball at their owner's feet.

Why cat breeds from East and Southeast Asia should be relatively fond of fetch is less clear, though. It's thought that domestic cats were brought to this region relatively early in the process of cat domestication, and were then genetically isolated for a long period. As the researchers write, it's possible that initial genetic factors, or some kind of local selection pressure for the tendency to engage in fetching behaviour, could explain their predilection for fetch today.

The team hope that this work will now lead to further explorations of fetch among pet cats and dogs — and deeper insights into how it relates to hunting behaviours, play, and general social interactions with owners.

Read the paper in full:
Delgado, M. M., Stella, J. L., Croney, C. C., & Serpell, J. A. (2024). Making fetch happen: Prevalence and characteristics of fetching behavior in owned domestic cats (Felis catus) and dogs (Canis familiaris). PLoS ONE, 19(9), e0309068–e0309068. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0309068

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