Cats enjoy playing fetch.
Cats have fun playing fetch with their owners
A survey of 8,000 cat owners shows that over 40 per cent of felines choose to retrieve toys and objects thrown by their owners, a figure that is significantly bigger than previous estimates on the topic.
Fetching is behaviour that is widely common in dogs and is thought to be rooted in the natural hunting instincts of cats and dogs.
Moggies were more likely to play fetch if they were more active and playful and if they lived indoors while the researchers also found that younger male felines were more prone to demonstrating the behaviour.
Scientists at Purdue University in Indiana wrote in the study: "Although cats and dogs are very different in many aspects of their behaviour and in how they ended up being companion animals, we find it fascinating that so many of them share this very interesting behaviour - fetching!"