- Left- and right-handed <unk> Cats use paws differently than female cats
This scene I've probably seen hundreds of times: The cat wants to get into the house and taps on the door with a paw. At some point, we started paying attention to whether it was with the left or right paw on the glass pane. Clearly - it was always with the left one.
Apparently, our family is not the only one wondering if our pet is a lefty or a righty. A few months ago, the debate about whether cats have a dominant paw sparked in the online media here. Several articles called on cat owners to conduct small experiments with their pets: Which paw do they use to catch a treat and which one do they use to get into the litter box?
The topic also received attention from an article on the pet portal "Petbook". In it, the author provides an overview of the research on the phenomenon of paw preference in house cats and tests her knowledge on the editorial cat "Remo". He is also a left-pawed cat.
In fact, this topic has been occupying research for several years. In general, it is known in the animal kingdom that there are differences in whether the left or right feet, hooves, paws, or even fins dominate. Like humans, many animal species are more skilled with one of the two limbs.
Cats use their dominant paw for more complex tasks
So, do cats also have a dominant paw? The most well-known research contributions on this question come from a research group around the British scientists Deborah L. Wells and Sarah Millsopp, who have been dealing with this since 2009. At that time, they examined a total of 42 cats and presented them with three different tasks: The animals had to fish a treat out of a glass, grab a toy that was hanging above them, and catch one that was being pulled across the floor in front of them. "Males tended to use the left paw", the two scientists wrote at the time in a summary on "Sciencedirect.com". Females preferred the right paw.
In the years that followed, there were more studies, including one published at the Queen’s University in Belfast. This one also included observations from pet owners who observed the behavior of their cats in their usual, stress-free environment. The result was the same: As soon as a task becomes more challenging, male cats usually use the left paw, and female cats the right one. The paw preference is likely hormonally controlled, the scientists wrote. However, exactly how and at what point in a cat's life this preference for one paw develops is still not fully researched.
Our cat died a few years ago. Now, the neighbor's cat from the parallel street sometimes visits us, which we take care of occasionally during the vacation time. This female cat also taps on the door when she wants to get into our apartment - but with a completely different technique than our cat used to: She uses both front paws at the same time.
Apparently, she thinks there are much more complex things in life than tapping on a glass pane with her paws to get a door opened.
The article on "Petbook" revealed that their editorial cat, "Remo," is also a left-pawed cat, contributing to the ongoing debate about paw dominance in house cats. Despite the prevalence of paw preference research in various animal species, the exact development of this preference in a cat's life remains unclear.
