ever taught a cat to play fetch?

[hatchytt]

I've seen this before. My dad had a kitten that would fetch a puffball so he could throw it again. I bought Hecate a twelve pack of balls and such (six plastic jingle balls, three sparkly puff balls, a mini baseball with shiny spots, a catnip fish, and her favorite, a gold tinsel foil ball). She loves to chase them if I toss them across the room, but that would be so much easier if she would bring them back. Any ideas on how I can teach her this?

 

[fyllis]

Ironic that you should bring this up!

I have no idea how to teach a cat how to play fetch and I never really thought about it, honestly. But a few weeks ago I was sitting on the couch watching a movie when Keeker (my DSH that isn't the most lovey cat - only when he wants to be) jumped on the couch next to me and dropped one of the many little spongy puff-balls on the cushion. When I didn't react to it, he actually swatted it with his paw and pushed the ball against my leg and sat there looking at me. 

I picked the little ball up and he kept an eye on my hand, so I did the 'one, two, three' count , tossed the ball across the room and said, "Go get it!". He flew off the couch and pounced the ball, so I patted the cushion next to me and said, "Bring it!". He knocked it around a few times, and then - to my utter surprise - grabbed it in his mouth, jumped on the couch and dropped it in my lap! 

I picked the ball up again and he immediately tensed up, kept his eye on my hand and started doing the wiggle-butt thing. Again, I did the 'one, two, three' count, tossed the ball and said, "Go get it!" and off he flew after the ball. I patted the cushion and said, "Bring it!" and he jumped up and dropped it next to me. Each time he brought it, he got verbally praised and he actually allowed me to pet him (this is my 'Don't touch me!" boy).

After about five times of chasing and retrieving, he decided to grab some kibble, a drink of water and go curl up at the other end of the couch. Since then, we have played fetch about 4 times, but it has always been his choice. I have tried to initiate it, but he just ignores the ball. Each time we have played it was because he brought it to me and dropped it on my lap while I sat on the couch. 

Kricket doesn't seem interested in fetch at all. He will lay on the window sill or somewhere nearby and watch Keeker and me play. 

 

[catpack]

I too am unsure how to teach this response, but do have a cat that plays fetch (her brother did too...) and we had a previous cat that did as well. I really think it is somewhat of a genetic trait, though I haven't been able to prove this yet.

All 3 of these kitties initiate the play and the 2 siblings use a different toy than the other cat did.

MaLani likes the Cat Crazies and these little spring cat toys. Widdle liked the Cat Crazies as well. They have a brother and sister in a different home that play fetch as well, and the momma does as well. There is a third brother that does not; but, in his defense, he's a little slow after having a severe vaccine reaction 2 yrs ago.

 

[DreamerRose]

Mingo likes to play fetch. I'm not sure how it got started exactly, but I think I went and got the crinkle ball when he stopped playing with it and then sat down and threw it again. Soon he was bringing it back and dropping it in front of me. As he tires, he drops it just out of reach, so I've used a yardstick to bring it to me. When he loses interest in the game after a long time, he bats it into another room and doesn't come back. Mingo also like the bird toy, but the crinkle balls and fetch are his favorite by far. If I squeeze it, making noise, he crouches and ***** his head waiting for me to throw it.

 

[stewball]

Blighty likes to play fetch when I'm in bed. He loves the little spongy balls and has plenty but plays with an old dirty red one and an old dirty blue one.
I get woken up at all times of the night to play with him. He's very alert. I pretend to throw the first one. He's all ready with his bottom. That's more or less the only time he interacts with me. I'll take what I can get.

 

[eck1kaylie]

When I was younger I taught our Persian mix to play fetch. I don't remember how, it had to have been ten years ago or so. He doesn't do it anymore, but it was pretty cute at the time.

 

[raina21]

hatchytt


I have no clue how to teach a cat how to do this. I have a Norwegian Forest cat kitten (Tesla) that LOVES to play fetch! I didn't have to teach him to do it. He just started doing it one day and now it's his preferred method of play


Here is a link to a video of us playing fetch Normally I don't have to encourage him to bring the toy back. He just does it on his own.



Now, as far as teaching goes. Maybe while she has the toy in their mouth, call her back to you. If calling alone doesn't work, try shaking a bag of treats to entice her to come to you, and rewarding her verbally and with a treat if she brings the toy back to you. After plenty of repetitions of this, she should get the idea.

 

[govtlawyer]

I don't know how to teach a cat to play fetch - I think it just happens.  Search on You Tube for me and my cat playing fetch.  "Sparky the Fetching Cat."

 

[hatchytt]

Both my feline kiddies are too busy playing chase and pounce and wrestling to learn fetch for the moment anyhow, even if they have the inclination.

 

[luna tuna]

My vet recommended I play fetch with my cat to help her exercise and lose weight... It's not happening for me. Sometimes she brings me a toy and wants me to play chase with her (with the toy on a string) but not fetch

 

[raina21]

luna tuna

I think some cats just start doing it on their own (I know my boy did, never had to train him, and he would fetch the toy ALL DAY if he could haha). You may be able to train her to do it somehow but any method of play should work for exercise. Why did he (or she) recommend playing fetch specifically?

 

[molly22]

My cats love wadded up pieces of paper to bat around and they're everywhere in my home. One day I was vacuuming and tossed a paper wad out of the way. Juniper, who was about 7 months at the time, took off after it. Sure enough, she brought it back so I threw it again to see if it was a fluke. Nope. That girl begs to play fetch many times a day and it's now over a year later! My other cat doesn't do it though.

 

[robert mauro]

My kitten Peanut is about 16 weeks old. It took me about 5 minutes (on his first day home) to teach him how to play fetch (and no time after that to teach him how to play catch). He's a very attentive and very friendly kitten though. My previous cat (was an adult at the time) learned on his own from sitting at the window watching us trying to teach our dog to play. The dog never learned. When I came back in, the cat picked up his toy, walked over to me and dropped it at my feet. And that was the beginning of playing fetch with him whenever I was playing with him, or whenever he sensed I was in a bad mood. 

I picked both Shadow (he had that name for a reason) and Peanut because of their intelligence, temperaments and personalities, so, it's not surprising that both of my kitties learned fetch so easily. 

Here's Peanut, my current kitten, playing catch and fetch. 


All I did with Peanut was throw the toy, crawl over on all fours, pick it up in my mouth, come back and drop it in front of him. I repeated that about 3 more times, then let him play with the toy for a bit as I did other things. About an hour later, he dropped the toy at my feet, and so I threw it. He bolted after it, picked it up, and I asked him to bring it back - and he did. Over and over again. 

Now, he insists on playing fetch or catch at least twice a day. 

This was the first day he played fetch:


I think I am trying leash training next...