How To Teach Your Cat To Play Fetch-In Six Easy Steps

Believe it or not, you can teach your cat to play fetch. It's not a game reserved just for dogs. Cats are actually pretty intelligent animals, and as you may know cats have their own distinctive personalities. They can be as demanding as any dog can be, Probably even more so. I never thought much about teaching my cats tricks until I actually started doing it, and they started responding. Teaching your cat to fetch is a lot easier than you might think.

You will find the more you do it, the better, because animals love repetition. My cats were a little older when I started throwing out crumpled up paper balls and little cloth mice for them to fetch. Strangely enough, they would bring them back to me eventually.

This is how it all began...

1) First thing, you will want to determine what your cats favorite toy is. It should be something light and soft, so that your cat can fetch it and bring it back to you easily. As I mentioned previously, I use a small felt mouse, and crumpled up paper balls, but you can use a small plastic ball, or some other small cat toy. There are many to choose from.

My two older cats prefer the crumpled up paper balls. They love it when I crumple up the paper into little balls. They know its time to play. The balls are super light, so they can carry them back without difficulty.

2) It is super fun for them if I rub catnip into the toy. Your cat will love it.  Let your cat get a good whiff of the toy. My cats get extremely demented, rolling around, and pouncing all over the place after they get a good sniff of the catnip. Fling the toy a few feet in front of you, not too far, just enough to tease your cat. Hopefully this will get your cats excited enough to notice the toy dipped in catnip.

3) Go over to your cat as it plays around with the toy and give it praise and attention. Take the toy and call your cat to you by name. Tell your cat what a “ Good kitty.” Or whatever pet name you use for your cat. Pet your cat, letting it know what an excellent job it did by fetching its toy.

You may also give your cat a treaty each time it brings the toy back to you. I found this to be extremely effective with my cats. They get so excited when they realize they are going to get a treaty just for fetching a paper ball.

4) Get your cats attention on the cat toy again and throw it a little bit farther this time. Go to your cat and fetch the ball and return to your original place. Throw it again and repeat the exact same behavior several times. Letting your cat know it is doing a good job. Praise praise praise. Pets love praise for a job well done.

5) Every day you should follow the same routine around the same time of day if possible. Your cat will begin to expect this routine with regularity. Before you know it, your cat will be picking the toy up on it’s own, letting you know it wants to play fetch.

6) Within a few weeks, your cat should picking up the toy and carrying it back to you. Take the toy and throw it again. Everyday your cat will bring the toy closer and closer until it realizes it is playing a game of fetch. My cats love this game of fetch. And with practice so will yours.

It was fun and easy to teach them. The catnip and treaties are very helpful. Crumpling of the paper really seems to work the best for me. Each time I crumpled the paper they became excited and wanted to play. Follow these few easy steps and you too will have your cat playing fetch in no time.