09/06/2025
Felines who fetch are an evolutionary mystery, Katherine J. Wu wrote in 2023. https://theatln.tc/8zSVUsBF
When her cat Calvin retrieved a yarn puff that Wu’s husband had offhandedly tossed across the apartment, Wu was “gobsmacked.” But Calvin, it turns out, isn’t that much of an exception. Cats that fetch are a minority, but not an extreme minority. Though data on the topic are limited, one 1986 study found that nearly 16 percent of cats reportedly fetch. Newer data suggest that the percentage might be higher.
Repeatedly retrieving a single object isn’t a regular occurrence in the wild; domestic dogs fetch because we bred them to do so, Wu writes. But if fetching seems to come naturally to a subset of felines, that would make sense from an evolutionary perspective. “Fetching is just a sequence of four behaviors: looking, chasing, grab-biting, and returning,” an evolutionary biologist explained to Wu. “Versions of the first three are already built into predators’ classic hunting repertoire.” The returning part of fetching could be drawn from feline mothers’ habit of bringing live prey back to their kittens to teach them how to hunt, or moving food to a safer area to eat, a behavior seen in both feline sexes.
Most fetching seen in felines seems to be initiated by the felines themselves, not, as with dogs, by humans. Both cats and dogs love a good chase, “but the average canine probably gets much more of a thrill out of obeying and pleasing us,” Wu continues. “The weirdness of cat-fetching can make it all the more special to the people lucky enough to experience it for themselves … Calvin needs me for a lot of things—food, water, tooth-brushings, veterinary care. But when he explicitly invites me to play with him, I’m transported to a part of his universe that feels especially intimate. He is choosing to have fun but also expressing that he’d prefer to do it with me.“
📸: Getty
