Up to 95 percent of people are right-handed, while 20 percent of cats are right-handed.
- 38% of cats favour their left forepaw and
- 42% of cats are ambidextrous – they don’t favour either paw.
In short, most cats are left-pawed while most humans are right-handed. Why? We don’t know.
I think this is an interesting difference. I clearly remember my late Binnie being left-pawed. Charlie only has a right-paw so I can’t tell.
As no one knows why cats are generally left-pawed and humans are right-handed, It is fun trying to figure out why.
Before I have a go at that, apparently, male dogs tend to be left-pawed while female dogs favour their right paws. OK, dogs are evenly split between left and right while cats tend to favour their left.
Because both cats and humans have two forearms it probably makes sense for nature to decide that one arm is used more than the other so that it becomes more coordinated through practice than if both arms were used equally. It could be argued that If one arm is more adept then in general the creature is more likely to survive.
That might explain favouring one side over the other, but why should cats be left-pawed and humans right-handed?
It is generally agreed that humans evolved in Africa. African is described as “the cradle of humankind”.
If the most dangerous animals to early African humans were the lion and leopard, both of which were generally left-pawed, might it be the case that humans were better able to fend off an attack by a left-pawed large wild cats using their right right. In doing so, it would be the strongest side meeting the strongest side. Over time humans evolved to be right-handed because it aided raw survival at a physical level.
If that huge guess is correct it still leaves the question, why are cats generally left-pawed? The probable answer is that for the top predator in Africa, the lion, either paw would have been equally effective. Nature simply chose one side at random. The difference in favouring one side was not huge as a high percentage of cats are ambidextrous.
So, nature chose at random that cats should be left-pawed or ambidextrous and humans evolved to deal with that by favoring the right side.
The source for the percentages comes from the book “Play it Again, Tom” by Augustus Brown and the theories come from me while writing this. They are wild theories. Do you have a better one?
Incidentally, the Japanese Beckoning Cat is left-pawed.
Gotta work on that question. There may be a link between left-handedness and ailurophilic people. Did I spell that damn word correctly?
That is a big question, Caroline. I’ll have to research that to answer it. My personal experience of people who are left-handed is that they do have a certain appearance. Attractiveness goes with left-handedness 😉 Pleased?
As for sensitivity. I have not noticed that left-handed people are more sensitive than right-handed people. If anything they seem to be more businesslike and ambitious.
VG, I’m in the United States in the VA system as a veteran. The majority of us in treatment for abuse/addiction are left-handed. I have always pointed this out to staff, but being right-handed, for the most part, they do not listen.
[Thanks for listening. mrowrrrr…]
Circumvent me here; don’t post the last three.
Shrimpster sneezes 2x as much when the air-conditioning is running. We’ve had really strange weather here in E. Nebraska these past two months, air on/off, heat on/off, windows open usually. Shrimpie does not like the air conditioning on. I’m thinking that it must be a mildew problem in the duct work. ideas?
I’m not sure if this is worth anything to you, but I was learning to use my right hand here in the states at the age of five (I used my left, when four and prior). My point is that we lefties/ambidextrous humans have most likely had too much feline prenatal testosterone exposure.
And possibly, have spent some time working with lead paint? (I do remember ingesting paint chips from the baseboards in our 1890’s house, as a child.
New article, Michael: Does your cat sneeze more often than he should?
“prenatal testosterone exposure?” Oh my god, you are too much! rofl… ‘D