Actually, short falls are more dangerous than long falls.
Because cats can rotate mid-air to land on their feet, and (most) cats can survive terminal velocity falls with little issue, falls too short for a cat to turn over can be much more dangerous.
Do note that cats right themselves in just a few feet, it’s the supposed survivability at terminal velocity that’s interesting. 90% cats that fall more than 2 stories and survive long enough to be brought in for treatment survive, but the vast majority have bodily trauma, and most sustain fractures of some kind.
Just so you know, there is a conflicting study mentioned at the end of the main section that refutes the original claim:
In a 2004 study, it was reported that cats falling from higher places suffered more severe injuries than those experiencing shorter drops.[5]
In the main section they call out that there may be a survivorship bias. Basically, you only bring in the cats that survived a high drop because otherwise the cat is clearly dead.
As evidenced by my furry wazzock, who despite being old, senile, deaf, possible cataracts, has arthritic legs, and recently expensive thyroid treatment, still managed to fall out of an upstairs window with no ill effects…
True, I misspoke. Cats right themselves very quickly. I think I mixed it up with something about humans. Pretty sure they need more like 4 feet to turn over completely, but I suppose most cats don’t start a fall completly upsidedown.
And, no, that isn’t true. Falls that are short enough for them to not be able to turn are far from anything that would hurt them. I don’t know where you got this idea but you should know better than spreading dumb misinformation.
Firstly, saying “nu uh” and shouting “misinformation” is no way to interact with people. Focusing on typos in particular shows that you have no better arguments.
Secondly, there have been a few studies about cat injuries after falls, with conclusions in both directions.
1987, the study where this idea originated, noticing fewer injuries after 7 stories.
2004, a study finding roughly consistent injuries below 7 stories, but a sharp increase above.
After reading through them, I can think of several confounding factors. Since both studies are of cats brought in to clinics, there are many uncontrolled factors such as the surface the cats tended to land on in the area the studies were conducted, as well as the likelihood of falling on street furniture or shrubs, survivorship bias of different populations not bothering to bring in heavily or lightly injured cats, or the unrecorded cats that died on impact.
Thirdly, I think I insinuated that long falls are not particularly dangerous for house cats, which is somewhat wrong. In both of the linked studies, about 90% of treated cats survived, but nearly all of them sustained at least bodily trauma, if not fractured limbs, vertebrae, teeth, and mandibles.
Lastly, housecats reach terminal velocity after 5 stories, which is the interesting detail I was refering to. My reasoning for why was incorrect, as cats rights themselves in only a few feet of distance. I think there may have been a study about humans falling less than 4 feet being more dangerous that 12 feet due to head injuries or something, but I don’t recall. Either way, it resulted in a mangled reference that did not deserve ridicule.
Actually, short falls are more dangerous than long falls.
Because cats can rotate mid-air to land on their feet, and (most) cats can survive terminal velocity falls with little issue, falls too short for a cat to turn over can be much more dangerous.
Not sure if I’d say that most have little issue on the terminal velocity thing. But it was an interesting study https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-rise_syndrome
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_righting_reflex#Terminal_velocity
Cats are funny, cute, and cool!
That’s the idea I was referring to, yeah.
Do note that cats right themselves in just a few feet, it’s the supposed survivability at terminal velocity that’s interesting. 90% cats that fall more than 2 stories and survive long enough to be brought in for treatment survive, but the vast majority have bodily trauma, and most sustain fractures of some kind.
Just so you know, there is a conflicting study mentioned at the end of the main section that refutes the original claim:
In the main section they call out that there may be a survivorship bias. Basically, you only bring in the cats that survived a high drop because otherwise the cat is clearly dead.
Cats only need about 1-2 feet to right themselves. A fall from about 1 story is not likely to hurt a cat
As evidenced by my furry wazzock, who despite being old, senile, deaf, possible cataracts, has arthritic legs, and recently expensive thyroid treatment, still managed to fall out of an upstairs window with no ill effects…
True, I misspoke. Cats right themselves very quickly. I think I mixed it up with something about humans. Pretty sure they need more like 4 feet to turn over completely, but I suppose most cats don’t start a fall completly upsidedown.
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Are wide falks dangerous too?
And, no, that isn’t true. Falls that are short enough for them to not be able to turn are far from anything that would hurt them. I don’t know where you got this idea but you should know better than spreading dumb misinformation.
Firstly, saying “nu uh” and shouting “misinformation” is no way to interact with people. Focusing on typos in particular shows that you have no better arguments.
Secondly, there have been a few studies about cat injuries after falls, with conclusions in both directions. 1987, the study where this idea originated, noticing fewer injuries after 7 stories. 2004, a study finding roughly consistent injuries below 7 stories, but a sharp increase above.
After reading through them, I can think of several confounding factors. Since both studies are of cats brought in to clinics, there are many uncontrolled factors such as the surface the cats tended to land on in the area the studies were conducted, as well as the likelihood of falling on street furniture or shrubs, survivorship bias of different populations not bothering to bring in heavily or lightly injured cats, or the unrecorded cats that died on impact.
Thirdly, I think I insinuated that long falls are not particularly dangerous for house cats, which is somewhat wrong. In both of the linked studies, about 90% of treated cats survived, but nearly all of them sustained at least bodily trauma, if not fractured limbs, vertebrae, teeth, and mandibles.
Lastly, housecats reach terminal velocity after 5 stories, which is the interesting detail I was refering to. My reasoning for why was incorrect, as cats rights themselves in only a few feet of distance. I think there may have been a study about humans falling less than 4 feet being more dangerous that 12 feet due to head injuries or something, but I don’t recall. Either way, it resulted in a mangled reference that did not deserve ridicule.
There was a whole study about it.