Cats play fetch more often than previously believed, though still less than dogs

We found that there were very few studies of fetching behavior in dogs. Personally, as a life-long cat person, I assumed all dogs fetched, so it was interesting to get a better sense of how common this behavior is in cats and dogs.

Fetching behavior has been observed across multiple cat breeds all over the world. One owner reported their cat was so obsessed with fetch it would drop its toy on their face at night.

Cats, often portrayed as independent and aloof, can actually be very social—fetching is a nice example of how they interact with humans.

More-trainable dog breeds exhibit fetching behavior more often, while active, playful male animals in both species also tend to enjoy this form of play.

Read at Ars Technica