how can i teach my cat to play fetch?

We had a couple of cats that would fetch.  But we did not teach them they just started it one day.  They would only do it with these little soft plastic suction cup darts.  I do not remember if we shot one and he brought it back or just found one and brought it to us. 

Fetching is what dogs do; cats expect their servants to do the fetching. 

The cats we have are self taught fetchers...have done it ever since they were kittens. Cats are hard to really teach anything to. 

Repetition and patience.  Don’t expect a cat to fetch like a dog.  Cats have to do things their way and in their own sweet time.  A curious cat is more likely to learn to fetch that one who isn’t. 

I taught my cat to play fetch when he was over a year old.  I wadded up a small piece of paper and tossed it at him.  Then I reached out and pulled it back.  I repeated this numerous times.  Eventually, he batted it back to me.  So I tossed out further, making sure he was watching (cats get bored easily), and waited.  My cat is extremely curious.  He couldn’t let that paper be that far out without checking it out.  I told him to bring it back and I’d throw it again.  After several days of doing this, he finally picked up the paper and brought it a few inches back.  We continued this game for over a month, and each time he’d bring the paper closer and close to me until finally he got it within a few inches.  It got so I could throw the paper into another room or around a corner and he’d go and bring it back… in his own sweet time, of course.