Research overview: paw preference and behavioural laterality in cats

Individual cats often favour one paw when reaching for food or stepping, and laterality research has linked this to underlying brain organisation and even temperament. This overview surveys studies measuring paw preference in tasks such as retrieving food from a jar, reporting sex differences with males more often left-pawed and females right-pawed, and associations between lateral bias and emotional reactivity or coping style. It discusses how consistent motor asymmetries reflect hemispheric specialisation. The topic connects a simple, easily measured behaviour to broader questions about brain lateralisation, individual differences, and how handedness-like biases relate to stress and personality in cats.