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Why do cats not land on their backs when they fall2007-11-25 12:31:45

Cats do not land on their backs from a height, why is this so?

Answers:

I saw a documentary about cats called "Are you afraid of cats" on PBS. They have something in their inner-ear that helps them maintain balance.

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They have a good sense of balance and an uncanny agility. However this is not always true and they can land badly on occasion.

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Mine does.

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Survival mode - have to stay on their feet. Instinct tells them to do this in this situation. Sometimes they are too weak or sick to save themselves, though and get badly hurt or die from a fall. I have heard of cats falling from 20 feet and surviving without a scratch.

Their strong, flexible spine is built to absorb these kinds of stresses, which is why they are usually OK after such a bad fall. Remember, they curl into little balls of fur! Their tail is jutted out to help them right themself in the descent.

""This fondness for high spaces, however, can dangerously test the popular axiom that a cat "always lands on its feet." The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals warns owners to safeguard the more dangerous perches in their homes, to avoid "high-rise syndrome," where an overconfident cat falls from an extreme height.[14]

During a fall, a cat can reflexively twist its body and right itself using its acute sense of balance and flexibility. [15] This is known as the cat's "righting reflex." It always rights itself in the same way, provided it has the time to do so during a fall. Thus, high (multi-story) falls can be less dangerous to them than those of only a few meters. Many cases are known of cats falling from substantial heights (5 to 10 stories) and surviving almost unscathed. Contrary to popular belief cats without a tail also have this ability, since a cat mostly moves its hindlegs and relies on conservation of angular momentum to set up for landing, and the tail is in fact little used for this feat.""

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Because they go by instinct, they protect themselves, even position themselves to do so, the smart ones do (lol)

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Cats are made that way, it is not instinct or anything like that. It is their internal balance system that gives them the ability to right themselves if they fall. However, strangely enough this often works mostly with very high heights as shorter heights they do not have time for their body to turn itself properly and land feet down.

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Cats have an internal balancing system that helps them right themselves in the air. However, if there is not enough height for the cat to make the adjustments, it won't land on its feet.

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I saw a news station video from a lady who's cat climbed up a telephone pole about 80 feet high. The poor thing got close to an electric wire and was shocked.