Every now and then - most often on rest days - I enjoy observing my pets from a distance and hypothesizing about their various behaviors and tendencies. Most recently, I have collected data about whether or not animals, cats in particular, are ambidextrous.
Why is this worth knowing? Consider this: Say you go out of town for a few days. You keep the cat's food in a mudroom and the door to that room opens outwards. If you left that door just barely ajar and, say, your cat, who we will call, Peturr, is right-pawed, it would be quite likely that Peturr would struggle to open the door with his left paw to gain access to his salmon-flavored crunchy bits. Being that cats are lazy and Peturr is like most cats, he would likely regard opening that door as futile. Therefore, he'd retire to a warm spot to nap. In his slumber, he'd dream of frolicking with field mice and playing air hockey with delectable spiders, which would make his stomach growl, or rawr. Again, Peturr would go back to the mudroom to realize that he is still unable to open the door, because his left paw might as well be a stranger to him as he is a right-pawed feline. Once again, he'd return to a cozy nook to nap, but now his energy levels are getting dangerously low, as he's lacking the vitamins and nutrients his salmon-flavored crunchy bits provide. Soon, he would grow so weary, that he would be unable to rise from his cozy nook and would waste away in his food deprived state. Then, you'd return home from your weekend away to realize you starved Peturr to death. No longer do you have your lap companion, your weekend alarm clock, your beloved carpet shredder...
Makes you think, huh?
Fortunately, through my analysis, my data leads me to believe that cats are in fact ambidextrous. To validate this hypothesis, I arranged several scenarios where my cat would have to open doors or cupboards with either his left- or right paw. Oddly enough, my cat was more efficient opening doors and cupboards with his left paw, suggesting that he may have a preference. On average, he was 4.63-seconds slower to open doors or cupboards with his right paw.
To increase the validity of my study, I knew I needed to increase the sample size. So, I drove around one afternoon kidnapping neighbors cats. I also temporarily adopted cats from animal shelters, but returned them after claiming that my sister is allergic to them.
With an increase sample population of 20, 17 of the felines tested showed adept abilities with both their right- and left paws. The other 3 were super sketchy and didn't cooperate whatsoever. Therefore, they are outliers, which I will disregard.
In conclusion, cats are ambidextrous. Go ahead and leave your cat alone for the weekend! S/he will figure out how to get to their food. That is, unless you actually shut the door.
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