• Question: why do cats always land on their feet?

    Asked by dylanbt to Callum, Gina, Katie, Michelle, Sam on 15 Nov 2012.
    • Photo: Katie Howe

      Katie Howe answered on 15 Nov 2012:

      hi,

      Cats have a special ability to turn around when they are falling so they always land on their feet. I have two cats and I am always amazed that they can jump from so high and not lose their balance! I think cats can do this because they have a very flexible backbone so can twist around as they are falling.

      The funny thing is that people always say that buttered toast always lands buttered side down. So I wonder what would happen if you strapped a slice a buttered toast (butter side facing up) onto the back of a cat and then watched what happened when the cat fell!? What do you think would happen?

    • Photo: Callum Johnston

      Callum Johnston answered on 16 Nov 2012:

      Michelle is right, cats have an amazing ability to twist themselves very quickly into the right way up to land on their feet, even from a height as low as 30cm.

      Another amazing thing about cats is that if they fall off the balcony of a building they are less likely to get hurt if it is above the 7th floor! It’s because they have time to spread themselves out like a parachute and land more softly than if they fall from the 2nd or 3rd floor. Apparently cats have even survived after falling out of aeroplanes!

    • Photo: Sam Godfrey

      Sam Godfrey answered on 16 Nov 2012:

      I saw on QI that cats are good at falling on there feet, but the longer they fall, the more chance they have of turning. A cat is much more likely to hurt itself falling out of a second floor window than a 5th floor window.

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