How to know if my cat is right-handed or left-handed?

Probably, you already observed that most human beings are right-handed and use their right hand to perform their main activities. But did you know that felines also tend to have a dominant front leg?

And if now you’re wondering How to know if your cat is right-handed or left-handed, we invite you to continue reading this article to discover the answer.

Home experiment to know if your cat is right-handed or left-handed

You can discover the dominant leg of your cat without leaving your home, and using elements of our daily life, you will need a treat that your cat loves, a glass or jar whose mouth allows him to put his paw inside, and some time to observe the results.

How to prepare your home experiment? Put your favorite treat or snack inside the jar and leave it within reach of your cat in a home environment where he feels comfortable and safe. The curiosity inherent in its nature and its hurried sense of smell will make your cat come closer to verify the exquisiteness that you offer. Then, you’ll just have to wait and see what leg your cat uses to get his treat. It is recommended that you repeat the experiment 2 or 3 times to certify the preference of your cat. If you use your right leg in the tests, you can confirm that your cat is right-handed. And if you prefer the use of your left leg, your pussycat is left-handed. And if in the repetitions realized you see that the pussycat manages to reach his sandwich with both legs, it is an ambidextrous feline.

Make sure that your cat can put the paw inside the jar without getting hurt, and also that it reaches the candy, so that the experiment does not generate the feeling of frustration.

The scientific experiments that base your home test .

Science has discovered that owning a dominant hand is not exclusive to human beings. And among the animals that show a certain predilection for one of their front legs are our beloved domestic felines.

In this opportunity, we will mention 2 tests carried out by researchers from various universities, such as the Center for Veterinary Neurology at the University of California:

1. In the first one, the observed cats were proposed the challenge of catch the toys that hung above their heads or that they were dragged in a straight line on the ground just ahead of them.
2. In the second experiment, the proposal was somewhat more complex: the cats had to geta sandwich inside a container very narrow, which forced them to use the legs and not the mouth.

The main observation of each test was to find out which leg was used first (or preferably, subject to repetition) by each cat, because having a dominant leg does not mean using only one of the legs, but having preference (or greater probability) of use it “automatically” to perform the most complex day-to-day tasks.

And what did the results reveal?

The results of the first test revealed that the felines did not leave behind any preference for one of their front legs. However, when they were exposed to the most complex challenge, the cats they showed certain symmetry regarding the use of its front legs, with a slight preference for the right paw.

If we summarize the results of all the tests, we find that between the 45% and 50% of the kittens revealed right-handed, and between 42% and 46% proved to have the dominant left leg. The percentage of ambidextrous cats was between 3% and 10%, depending on the study.

When the male and female populations were studied separately, as did researchers and psychologists at the University of Belfast, it was observed that females are mostly right-handedWhile males are predominantly left-handed.

Although they have not yet developed a concrete explanation for the relationship between the sex of the animal and the dominant paw, it was diagnosed that the preference is felt in more complex tasks. That is, like us, cats can perform simple tasks with both legs, but when it comes to a more complex challenge, they use their dominant leg.

Go ahead and do the home experiment, and tell us the result in the comments of this article. We would love to know if your cat is right-handed, left-handed or ambidextrous!

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