Question
I've a 16-year-old cat who loved to play fetch when he was a kitten, and a kitten who presently loves to play fetch with his spring toys--how unusual it for a cat to play fetch? I'd never heard of it before these two--thought it was limited to dogs--and whenever I've told people about it, they've never heard of it too, and even sometimes appear to doubt the verisimilitude of my story. Either I got really lucky or it's more common than most people realize.
Answer
Uncommon, but not rare. Chase-and-pounce is, of course, a widespread cat game; "retrieving" is the more complicated behavior.
Some cats figure out on their own that humans can be trained to throw a toy repeatedly if it's brought to them. One of mine does this. (Though it only works around a corner, since if she can see me she seems to get distracted and forget why she's carrying the toy.)
Cats can be actively trained to retrieve, but as with all cat training it takes a bit more patience and bribery to convince the cat that it wants to learn what you're trying to explain than it would a dog. That varies by breed and by cat, though; meezers, for example, tend to care more about human approval than most cats, which makes them better students.
Answered By - keshlam