Cats that play fetch may be playing with us as much as we are playing with them

“When I play with my cat, who knows if I am not a pastime to her more than she is to me?” the 16th-century French philosopher Michel de Montaigne wrote. If he’s right, then a new survey which found four in ten cats like to play fetch with their owners may be evidence that they’ve learned humans can be easily persuaded to repeatedly throw things to chase after.

Some may find this surprising, believing cats to be too aloof to engage in such dog-like frivolity. And there will be many cats who would only ever look on impassively as a human threw their ball away. “Oh look, you should probably go and get that back if you want to keep it,” one can imagine them thinking.

Some cats prefer to high-five rather than 'giving a paw' but are prepared to play fetch, just like their canine rivals (Picture: Sean Gallup) | Getty Images

Then again, clever cats may have realised that by pinching a fun game from their canine rivals, they can greater secure their place in human affections, which is not a bad survival strategy. But are cats actually that cold and calculating? Maybe they just like playing with us as much as we like playing with them.