[Lateralization in cats in a pointing task of the anterior limb towards a moving target]

In a group of 44 cats overtrained on a task where they had to reach for a moving target, paw performance and paw preference were investigated. More than half of the cats (n = 23) were strongly lateralized in that they used one of their paws to perform more than 90% of the reaching attempts. Among these lateralized cats, left-pawed ones (n = 17) significantly exceeded right pawed-animals (n = 6). Investigating both the accuracy and speed scores, the comparison between lateralized and non-lateralized cats (using a criterion of 90% lateralization) showed that although the accuracy scores did not differ, lateralized cats were significantly quicker to trigger their movement. No difference was found concerning the movement time. For the whole group of 44 cats the comparison between the performance levels obtained with their two forepaws showed that the more frequently used paw was significantly more accurate and faster to trigger and to execute the movement than the less used paw. This study shows that, in pointing towards a moving target, cats display an asymmetry in paw preference that is associated with a performance asymmetry.