Factors influencing contact placing reaction times in cats

Contact placing reaction times to stimulation of all extremities and of various surfaces of each paw were measured in cats either restrained in a hammock or held by the experimenter in a conventional way. Reaction times of contact placing elicited in a conventional way were shorter than those obtained in cats positioned in a hammock. Contact placing reaction times for the forelimbs were shorter than for the hindlimbs. In the forelimbs contact placing reaction times differed depending on the stimulated surface of the paw: they were significantly shorter to stimulation of the lateral side than of the dorsal and medial surfaces. Moreover, in a hammock, contact placing reaction times of the right fore- and left hindlimbs were significantly longer than of the opposite diagonal pair of extremities. These latter differences seem to be related to the posture developed by the animals in the experimental situation.