Cats like to play fetch as much as dogs, a new study has found.

A team at the University of Sussex came up with the conclusion after research involving nearly 1,000 cat owners.

They found that cats like to lead the games and begin to play as kittens.

Jenna Forman, a doctoral researcher at the University of Sussex School of Psychology, said: “We’ve started to uncover a really interesting fetching behaviour that is not commonly associated with cats.

“Our findings show that cats dictate this behaviour to directly influence how their human owners respond.

“Cats who initiated their fetching sessions played more enthusiastically with more retrievals and more fetching sessions per month.

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“This perceived sense of control from the cat’s perspective may be beneficial for the cat’s welfare and the cat-owner relationship.

“I’d encourage owners to be receptive to the needs of their cat by responding to their preferences for play – not all cats will want to play fetch but if they do, it’s likely that they will have their own particular way of doing so.”

The study, which has now been published in the Scientific Reports journal, urges owners to play more fetch with their felines. The game is thought to be beneficial for pets and owners and can strengthen the bond between the two.

While fetching is not typically associated with cats, the researchers believe the behaviour is instinctive, often happening without any formal training.

Toys, crumpled paper, hair ties, cosmetics and bottle parts were found to be the most popular items in the game.

The cats also showed individual preferences for the objects and members of a household they liked to play with.

The Siamese was the most reported purebred to play fetch, followed by Bengal and Ragdoll cats.

Common locations for games of fetch were reported to be bedrooms and stairs.