In my family, I am right handed, but my niece is a leftie, and so we're always bumping elbows at the dinner table. And that got me thinking... are cats left or right handed, or should I say left or right pawed? Or, are cats ambidextrous?
Smithsonian magazine says yes, cats do have a paw preference! They cite a study done in Belfast at the Animal Behavior Centre at Queen’s University where 44 cats (20 female and 24 male), were observed at home to which paw they used on the first step down the stairs or stepping into the litter box. They also noticed which side the cats preferred to lie on when resting. Those were all spontaneous actions taken by the cats, but they also did a "forced" experiment, where they put treats inside a container to see which paw the cats used to try to retrieve the tasty snacks.
The results found that the individual cats did have a preference for one paw over the other, which is also known as lateral bias. NPR.org notes that for humans, this lateral bias means about 90% of us favor our right hand. Catworldtoday.com says that the cat paw preference isn't as slanted toward the right paw; they say around 60% of cats are right pawed, which leaves around 40% as left pawed, although they do mention that some cats are ambidextrous, meaning they switch from paw to paw without a clear preference.
Digging deeper, the researchers found that gender influenced paw preference. The Smithsonian article says female cats are more likely to use their right paw versus males, who tended to favor the left. Since all the animals had been neutered, they discounted hormonal factors as a cause for this difference. Co-author of the study, Deborah Wells, told NPR that this points to underlying neural differences between male and female animals.
She goes on to say that paw preference could be a good indicator of how your cat handles stress. Right handedness is associated with the left hemisphere of the brain which, according to SimplyPsychology.org is the more logical, calculating area of the brain. Left handedness then is linked with the right hemisphere, which is the more creative, artistic area. Left pawed cats tend to have a stronger fear response than their right pawed counterparts. Deborah also told NPR that ambidextrous animals show poorer processing between the 2 brain hemispheres which can also lead to a strong stress response. So, knowing which paw your cat prefers might also help you understand how they react to stress!
CatWorldToday.com offers some suggestions on how to tell which paw your own cat favors. The first is to watch which paw your cat starts with when they start to scratch something - is the left or the right? You can also pay attention to which paw your cat uses to bat at their favorite toy when playing. In addition, like the in the study, you can try to notice which paw your cat uses when reaching for a treat.
So, what did you find out? is your cat a rightie or a leftie - or maybe you have an ambidextrous cat?
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