ABSTRACT

Motor lateralization is commonly observed through preferential paw use in dogs and cats. Previous studies have uncovered sex-related differences in paw preference, hypothesizing that these differences may be related to sex hormones. The current study aimed to compare neutered and entire individuals to further investigate whether paw preference is influenced by sex hormones. Dog and cat owners were required to fill in a questionnaire with demographic information such as sex and neuter status of their pets. They then carried out two simple paw preference tasks within their homes: a “reaching for food” task and a “reaching for a toy” task. This study revealed an overall preference among the 272 dogs and 137 cats tested to use their right paw in both tasks. In cats, the degree of paw preference (i.e., regardless of the direction) was significantly influenced by an interaction between neuter status and life stage. Also in dogs, both life stage and an interaction between neuter status and life stage tended to influence the degree of paw preference. Post-hoc power analysis revealed a lack of statistical power, suggesting that future studies using a larger sample size are needed to further investigate potential effects of neuter status on paw preference.

摘要

通过优先使用狗和猫的爪子，通常可以观察到运动偏侧化。之前的研究发现了爪子偏好的性别差异，并假设这些差异可能与性激素有关。目前的研究旨在比较绝育个体和完整个体，以进一步调查爪子偏好是否受性激素影响。狗和猫的主人需要填写一份问卷，其中包含宠物的性别和中性状态等人口统计信息。然后，他们在家中进行了两项简单的爪子偏好任务：“伸手拿食物”任务和“伸手拿玩具”任务。这项研究表明，在接受测试的 272 只狗和 137 只猫中，他们总体上更喜欢在这两项任务中使用右爪。在猫中，爪子偏好的程度（即，无论方向如何）都受到中性状态和生命阶段之间相互作用的显着影响。同样在狗中，生命阶段以及中性状态和生命阶段之间的相互作用往往会影响爪子偏好的程度。事后功效分析显示缺乏统计功效，这表明未来需要使用更大样本量的研究来进一步研究中性状态对爪子偏好的潜在影响。