Scientists who studied 42 companion cats for several weeks have concluded that cats have a paw preference. Like their human counterparts, most cats tend to be either right- or left-handed. There is also a strong correlation between paw preference and gender.

Researchers believe there are two distinct populations of cats as defined by paw preference. This conclusion was based on observing cats undertake three tasks, including the retrieval of a piece of food from a small jar, batting at a suspended toy in the air, and pawing a toy dragged along the ground by a string.

In the two toy tests, the cats seemed to use either paw interchangeably, with no clear preference for right or left. However, cats demonstrated a clear paw preference in the jar test, with interesting results based on the cats’ genders. All 21 male cats favored their left paws, while 20 out of 21 females favored the right.