Cats are almost supernatural in their many powers. Among these is their ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound–yet also (seemingly) fall as fancifully as they bounded up. It is true that cats always land on their feet and this skill is something that has confounded scientists for millenia. Let’s take a deeper look into the feline superpower that is the cat-righting reflex.
The Cat Righting Reflex – What Is It And How Does It Work?
This nearly alien ability has confounded researchers since the beginning of researching. Basically, the cat-righting reflex is how cats’ bodies naturally right themselves during a fall, giving the cat the best chance to land at the ready. The folks at Science Focus point out that “Research into the physics of the cat’s ability – often referred to as the cat-righting reflex – is almost as old as physics itself.” The first study of the cat-righting reflex came in 1700 courtesy of the daring French scientist Antoine Parent. Parent was looking to define the physics of buoyancy and equilibrium and came to the conclusion that a weighted object in water might right itself the same way a falling cat would.
Being that this writer has no business attempting to translate the language of physics into the language of RPT (Regular Person Talk) we’ll just say from here that Parent had a good idea, but his physics were off.
More theories concerning the cat-righting reflex and momentum, equilibrium, mass, density, and rotation floated within the European physics camp for some time until all of these were blown out of the water in 1894 by French physiologist Etienne-Jules Marey. Marey presented to the French Academy of Sciences his now famous series of high-speed photographs documenting the cat-righting reflex in action. The revelations within the photographs threw the meeting into disarray. Science Focus notes that one member of the Academy declared that Marey “had presented them with a scientific paradox in direct contradiction with the most elementary mechanical principles.”
Basically, it turned out scientists had been approaching their theories by considering the subject solid. Anyone who has a cat knows while they have bones, they are most definitely squishy, squirmy, fit-through-most-anything solid. Scientists had neglected at that time to account for cats’ lack of bodily rigidity.
Cats continued (and continue) to flummox researchers and this uncanny ability continued to be studied not just by physicists and physiologists but also brain researchers and NASA scientists and robotics people. The long answer to that question is while there are many theories on how cats right themselves, there is yet to be an actual scientific explanation that works for all of science.
Courtesy Takashi Hososhima, Wikimedia Commons.
So, Do Cats Always Land On Their Feet?
Mostly! While some cats are a little more graceful about it than others, in general cats will land on their feet. The overall success of a four-point landing is influenced by the height of a fall, the age of the cat, the size of a cat, and more. We don’t need physicists to tell us that a young, active cat may have a faster reflex than an older cat with a bit of chonk. Or, that an indoor cat slipping from a forbidden countertop might land a bit more solidly than a feral kitty who loses their footing in a highwire contest of territory.
All four feet will likely touch the ground but that doesn’t mean it’s always a pretty landing.
How Far Can A Cat Fall And Land On Its Feet?
Well this is a question that really can’t be studied because obviously, safety. Also, the question itself is a bit flawed because, really, any of us can fall from any height and land on our feet. That doesn’t mean we will land on our feet and live.
With that in mind, an oft-cited 1987 study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association reviewed cases of cats that had fallen from various heights to get an idea of the “how far is too far scenario” when it came to cats. It looked at 132 cases of cats who survived falls from an average height of 5.5 stories (about 55 feet) and determined that ⅓ of the cats would not have survived without emergency medical treatment.
Confused by the fact that many cats survived higher falls, while others succumbed to lower falls, researchers came to the conclusion that terminal velocity for a kitty was reached after falling about seven stories. At the point of terminal velocity the object stops accelerating so researchers guess that it gave a cat time to relax their body and also have time to spread out their legs in a sort of “parachute” form, allowing for slow down and, perhaps, better distribution of weight upon impact.
Just a reminder that these studies weren’t looking at how far a cat could fall and land on its feet. They were looking at how far a cat could fall and survive.
Courtesy Dwight Sipler, Wikimedia Commons
Can A Cat Without A Tail Land On Its Feet?
Yes. Known as a cat’s “fifth limb” the tail acts mostly as a counterbalance which aids in balance, jumping, and running. The righting reflex is innate so all cats have it, as well as superior vestibular systems–no matter their physical makeup. Even a blind cat will right itself upon experiencing a fall.
If Cats Are So Good At Landing, Why Do They Get Stuck Up Trees/Roofs/Telephone Poles?
Just because cats can climb things doesn’t mean they prefer to throw themselves off of them. As noted earlier, cats may land on their feet after a fall but being able to land on one’s feet has little to do with one surviving a fall. With that in mind, any cat stuck at height will attempt to climb down safely. Falls, as with most of us, are accidental and not the preferred method of disengaging.
