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
In arts and entertainment
- Catspaw (novel), science fiction book by Joan D. Vinge
- Catspaw (TV series), 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, 1934 film with Harold Lloyd
- The Cat's Paw (painting), by Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, depicting the fable "The Monkey and the Cat"
- The Catspaw assassin and Catspaw Dagger in Game of Thrones.
In science
- Cat's Paw Mussel, one of a few species of Epioblasma mussels
- Catspaw, informal name of some species of the plant Anigozanthus (Haemodoraceae)
- Cat's Paw Nebula or Bear Claw Nebula, common names for NGC 6334
- Cat's paw (wave), in Earth sciences, a pattern of shallow ripples (capillary waves) on the surface of water
In technology
- Cat's paw (knot)
- Cat's paw (nail puller), a hand tool
- Cat's Paw or Spanish tickler, an instrument of torture
