Female Cats Are Right-Pawed, Males Are Lefties

July 23, 2009 -- Female domestic cats tend to preferentially use their right front paw while male cats more often rely upon their left front paw, according to a new study that suggests the sex of a cat determines how its brain will be wired.

The findings also add to a growing body of evidence that male animals tend to be left-handed, or in this case left-pawed, more often than females. While 90 percent of all humans are right-handed, of the remaining southpaws, more tend to be men.

The differences are even clearer among cats.

"Our results suggest that there are two distinct populations of paw preference in the cat that cluster very strongly around the animals' sex," Deborah Wells, who led the study, told Discovery News.

Wells, a senior lecturer at Queen's University Belfast School of Psychology, and co-author Sarah Millsopp examined the paw use of 42 domestic cats. Each cat repeatedly completed three play-like tasks while at home with their owners.

For the first task, the researchers placed a bit of tuna at the bottom of an otherwise empty, narrow-mouthed jar. They then observed how the cats attempted to extract the food treat.

Task two involved a fabric mouse on a string that was suspended above each cat's head. The paw that was first used to reach for the toy was recorded.

WATCH VIDEO: The Ragdoll cat is appropriately named given its propensity for going limp when you pick it up.

Related Content:

• Cats Use Special Purr to Manipulate Humans
• After Transplant, Brain Rewires Left Hand First
• HowStuffWorks.com: Are left-handers quicker thinkers than righties?
• More Discovery News

Finally, the scientists took the same toy for task two and slowly dragged it on the ground in front of the cats. Again, the first paw used by the cats to try to grab the toy was recorded. In total, the researchers documented 100 paw responses per feline per task.

While the cats did not favor a certain paw for tasks two and three, the paw preferences were very obvious for the tuna-in-a-jar puzzle. The study findings have been accepted for publication in the journal Animal Behavior.

"I think much depends on the task and challenge on offer," Wells explained. "On some challenges, cats may well use either paw, but on others -- perhaps those that are more complex in nature -- some individuals may well have a preference for one paw over another."

In humans, the steroid hormone testosterone has been linked to left-handedness. This hormonal link also appears to carry over to animals. For example, studies on dogs that haven't been spayed or neutered show the same sex-based split, with female dogs favoring their front right paw and males favoring their left. No sex difference, however, was observed during tests involving neutered dogs.

It is unclear how such preferences benefit males and females, but Wells said cats "differ in their behavioral patterns, for example in hunting styles and parental care, and it is possible that these place different demands on motor functioning."

When gesturing to a dog or child under three, it's therefore best not to fidget or otherwise move in confusing ways.