Cats do like to play fetch, but on their own terms: Study

When a cat wants food from you, it can be the most 'aww-worthy' animal you'd ever see in your life. At most other times though they'd be too busy to give attention and respect to the mere mortal whose home they reside in. The popular image of cat as pets does not allow them to be obedient. And hence it'll come as a surprise to many of us that even cats can play fetch, like dogs. But they do it on their own terms. Not a surprise perhaps.

The study which led to this conclusion was carried out by experts from the University of Essex and Northumbria University. The study has been published in Nature.

The researchers took an online survey. The cats owned by 94.4 per cent of pet-owners surveyed were not trained to play fetch.

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It was found that cats who initiated the game of fetch with their owners were more enthusiastic about it

It was also seen that cats' readiness to play fetch varied by breed Siamese cats were most likely to play fetch. This reinforces previous observations about Siamese cats that they are proficient fetchers.

Some cats liked to play fetch with specific toys that they liked while others made most of their surroundings by playing fetch with any immediate item they could find.

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And even when they did play fetch, there was difference in their behaviour. Some cats brought the object to the owner first while others fetched the object when it was thrown by the owners first. Some cats brought back the object only halfway and some wanted to play fetch only in specific areas, like the stairs.

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Even if ancient Egyptians didn'tworshipcats, the feline species would have found a way to consider itself superior to humans anyway perhaps.

(With inputs from agencies)