Cat's paw

Cat's paw is a phrase derived from La Fontaine's fable, "The Monkey and the Cat", referring to a person used unwittingly or unwillingly by another to accomplish the other's own purpose.

Cat's paw or Catspaw may also refer to:

• The paw of a cat
• Cat's paw (knot)
• Cat's paw (nail puller), a hand tool
• Cat's Paw or Spanish Tickler, an instrument of torture
• Cat's Paw Mussel, one of a few species of Epioblasma mussels
• Catspaw (plant), informal name of some species of Anigozanthus (Haemodoraceae)
• Cat's Paw Nebula or Bear Claw Nebula, common names for NGC 6334
• Cat's paw (wave), a popular name for capillary waves in Earth sciences, a pattern of shallow ripples resembling paw prints on the surface of water, caused by a light wind (the wind may also take the name)

In art:

• Catspaw (novel), science fiction book by Joan D. Vinge
• Catspaw, TV series
• Catspaw (comics), April Dumaka, a superhero character published by DC Comics
• "Catspaw" (Star Trek: The Original Series), episode of Star Trek: The Original Series

The Cat's Paw may refer to:

• The Cat's-Paw, 1934 film with Harold Lloyd
• The Cat's Paw (painting), by Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, depicting the fable "The Monkey and the Cat"