Cats are graceful creatures, with strong muscular legs and a love of climbing. They can often be found seemingly defying the laws of gravity by balancing on fence tops or tree branches. But with climbing comes falling, and we’ve all heard that saying that cats always land on their feet, but is this the truth? And if so, how is it possible?

Do Cats Land on Their Feet?

Cats are generally great climbers and agile on their feet, but they're not immune to the occasional fall. Cats do have an innate ability to right themselves when falling, so they land on their feet.

However, while cats are great climbers and have a natural righting reflex, falling should be prevented as much as possible. Either keep your home windows shut or install window guards to prevent your cat from accidentally falling out.

Do All Cats Always Land on Their Feet?

A successful landing isn't guaranteed. It depends on factors such as the height from which they fall, their weight, and their health. Poorly cats, senior cats with arthritis and overweight cats are less agile so are less likely to land on their feet.

Although cats will usually land on their feet, it’s not guaranteed, and even if they do, it can still result in common injuries. Jumps and falls can cause fractures, sprains, broken bones and other serious internal injuries. 

How Do Falling Cats Land on Their Feet?

It was once thought that cats only landed on their feet because they would push off a surface, giving them momentum to turn. According to the conservation of angular momentum, it's impossible for an object that's not already spinning to suddenly rotate without momentum.

Falling Cats Captured on Camera

However, in 1894, the French scientist Étienne-Jules Marey used a chronophotographic camera to test this theory. He captured 60 frames per second of a cat's fall, in which the cat was held upside down by its legs and then dropped. The cat was therefore not able to push off a surface to gain momentum.

Marey was then able to watch this in slow motion and see how a cat turns its body so it lands on its feet. But how they were able to do this was yet to be discovered, so the falling cat problem continued.

Cats Movement Through the Air

In 1969, James Clark Maxwell, a physicist known for his work on electromagnetism, conducted experiments in which he dropped cats from varying heights and monitored how they landed.

He discovered that the cat's lower and upper body can rotate in opposite directions, preserving angular movement. When the body rotates in two different directions, there's no change in the angular momentum.

The Righting Reflex in Cats

Cats have a vestibular apparatus in their ears that helps with balance and orientation. When falling, they can quickly work out the right way up and rotate their head, which their body then follows. To spin themselves round, they use their legs to control their angular momentum.

First, they bring their feet under their bodies and their front paws close to their faces to gain control. Then they stretch out their legs in turn to rotate the upper or lower body until they're correctly aligned. This is all possible because cats have an extremely flexible backbone, with 30 vertebrae and no collarbone. This innate ability to spin round has been called the 'righting reflex'.

The righting reflex starts to develop from as early as 3 weeks old and is fully developed by 7 weeks.

How Does Height Affect a Falling Cat?

The height of the fall affects whether a cat will land on its feet. A study conducted in 1987 by the New York City Animal Medical Centre analysed records of cats falling from high-rise buildings.

The study found that 90% survived the fall and only 37% needed emergency care. The height of the fall affected the outcome, with the most injuries occurring at heights of 2-6 stories.

Surprisingly, those between 7-32 stories suffered fewer injuries. One cat who fell from 32 stories landed on concrete and only suffered a chipped tooth and a minor lung puncture. The cat was released home from veterinary care after just 48 hours.

Cats or Flying Squirrels?

Scientists concluded that the higher the fall, the more time the cat has to right itself. Plus, it's believed that falling felines reach a maximum velocity of 60 mph (about 120 mph in humans).

At this point, they relax, and their front and rear legs extend, increasing their body size and creating air resistance. Much like a flying squirrel! Their parachute-like structure slows them down through drag, so the impact when they land isn't at top speed.

What if Your Cat Doesn't Land on Their Feet?

Your feline friend's ability to land on its feet is thanks to its anatomical structure. Despite their great climbing and balancing abilities, all cats experience a fall with a bad landing at some point.

If your cat does fall, they may sustain serious internal injuries, so even if they land on their feet, take them to see the vet straight away for a check-up. 

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Content provided from Vetstream's Vetlexicon Felis

Vetlexicon is the world’s largest peer-reviewed online clinical reference source. All our content is written and peer-reviewed by over 1,000 of the world’s leading veterinarians, ensuring relevance, accuracy and quality.