Research - Left- and right-handedness in the animal kingdom - female cats use their paws differently than males
I've probably seen this scene hundreds of times: The cat wants to get into the house and bangs on the door with one paw. At some point, we paid attention to whether he was banging on the glass with his left or right paw. Clearly - it was always with the left.
Apparently our family is not the only one wondering whether their pet is left or right-handed. Shortly before the turn of the year, the debate about whether cats have a dominant paw flared up in the online media in this country. Several articles called on cat owners to conduct small experiments with their pets: Which paw do they use to fish for a treat and which one do they use to go in the litter box first?
An article on the pet portal "Petbook" is currently drawing attention to the topic. In it, the author gives a brief overview of the current state of research into the phenomenon of paw preference in domestic cats. She also immediately tested her knowledge on the editorial cat "Remo". He is also a left-paw pawter.
In fact, the topic has been the subject of research for several years. It is generally known in the animal kingdom that there are differences in whether left or right feet, hooves, paws or even fins dominate. Like humans, many animal species are more dexterous with one of the two limbs.
Cats use their dominant paw for more complex tasks
So do cats also have a dominant paw? Probably the best-known research contributions to this question come from a group of scientists led by the British researchers Deborah L. Wells and Sarah Millsopp, who have been studying this issue since 2009. At that time, they examined a total of 42 cats and gave them three different tasks: The animals had to fish a treat out of a jar, reach for a toy that was dangling above them and catch one that was dragged across the floor in front of them. "Males tended to use their left paw," the two researchers wrote in a short summary on "Sciencedirect.com" at the time. Females preferred the right paw.
Further studies followed in the years that followed, including one published at Queen's University in Belfast. This also included observations by pet owners who observed the behavior of their cats in familiar and therefore stress-free environments. The result was the same: as soon as a task becomes more demanding, male cats usually use their left paw and female cats their right. The scientists wrote that the paw preference is probably hormonally controlled. However, how exactly and at what point in a cat's life this preference for one paw develops has not yet been researched in detail.
Our cat died a few years ago. Now we are sometimes visited by the neighbor's cat from the parallel street, which we look after from time to time during the vacation season. This female cat also bangs on the door when she wants to enter our apartment - but with a completely different technique to our cat: she uses both front paws at the same time.
Apparently she believes that there are much more complex things in life than banging her paws against a pane of glass to get a door opened.
Sources:"Petbook","ScienceDirect", Queen's University Belfast,"Welt.de","MMN.de"
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The top news about pet behavior has included discussions on paw preferences in cats. According to a study published on ScienceDirect, male cats tend to use their left paw for more complex tasks, while females prefer the right. This phenomenon is not unique to our feline friends, as research suggests that left or right dominance is common in various animal species.
After observing the neighbor's visiting cat, it's clear that some cats may adopt unconventional methods for complex tasks. In contrast to traditional left- or right-pawed cats, this female neighbor's pet uses both front paws simultaneously when trying to enter the apartment.
In the realm of Science & Technology, researchers are constantly probing and examining intriguing animal behaviors. The enigma of handedness in cats remains one of the numerous curiosities that scientists are eager to explore in the future.
Source: www.stern.de
