In news that probably won’t surprise cat owners, cats that play fetch do it on their own terms.
“Ultimately, I think the cats are in control,” says Forman, of the University of Sussex in Brighton, England. The study adds a new facet to scientists’ understanding of cat behavior, which has been less studied than that of dogs.
Previous studies have reported that cats can fetch, but there’s not much research on why or how the animals do it, or whether the behavior requires training. The inspiration for the new study came in the form of a sleek Sphynx named Bear. “He surprised me one day by bringing a toy to me,” says Elizabeth Renner, a psychologist at Northumbria University in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England.
So she teamed up with Forman and University of Sussex psychologist David Leavens to create an online survey to learn more about fetching cats. The team recruited survey respondents via social media and targeted people who have (or had) cats that played fetch.
2023-12-14 11:00:00
Link from www.sciencenews.org