That’s what Michael, a student who lives near Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, tried to determine for his science fair project. Using a series of three tests, Michael and his mom gathered data from some of the cats at Best Friends. First, they dangled a toy in front of each feline participant and noted how many left- and right-paw swipes were taken. Next, they placed some treats inside a skinny glass jar to see which paw the cats used to reach for the treats. And finally, a spoonful of food was held just out of reach, causing the cats again to grab for the goodies.
What were the results? With a sample size of around 30 cats, 59% demonstrated left-pawedness, 26% right-paw, and 15% ambidextrous. Now that’s my kind of science project! Great job, Michael!
Read the whole story here. Photos by Gary Kalpakoff.
May 1st, 2009 at 7:06 am
What a cool kid! And I bet the cats really enjoyed the visit, too. Way to go, Michael!
May 1st, 2009 at 7:19 am
That is a really cool idea!
May 1st, 2009 at 7:40 am
What a cool project! I’ll have to try these test on my cats to see if they’re left or right-pawed
May 1st, 2009 at 7:57 am
I love this idea. It’s so much more fun for a science experiment than most of the stuff you see. Way to go!
May 1st, 2009 at 10:38 am
meow! I’m a lefty! I like to paw at my mice toys with my left paw! meow!
May 1st, 2009 at 11:02 pm
What a great idea! Love it!
May 4th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
So cute!! Time to conduct my own home experiment with the 3 kitties
!
May 4th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
All my five cats were/are leftpawed.