2006-06-30 11:09:51 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Cats
When cats fall a short distance, they can ALMOST always right themselves and land on their feet. The uniqueness of the cat's skeleton is one of the reasons they can right themselves so quickly. Cats do not have a collarbone, and the bones in their backbone have more mobility than in many other animals. For these reasons, cats have free movement of their front legs and they can easily bend and rotate their bodies. This allows them to land feet first. Their feet and legs can cushion the impact. This righting reflex begins to appear at 3-4 weeks of age, and is perfected at 7 weeks.
2006-06-30 11:17:26 · answer #1 · answered by Dahdah 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Some cats don't, at least not at first. My cat is 2 years old now and it was a long time for him to learn to land on his feet. He started out landing on his head. He got tired of that and learned to land on his side and then finally he learned to land on his feet. He still doesn't land on his feet all of the time. I think that it is a balance thing. Maybe it is something that the mother cat teaches them?
2006-06-30 18:17:23 · answer #2 · answered by CATHY C 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because they do 99.5% of the time. Like on average. If you test 100 cats and drop them 100 times, maybe one will land on it's side one time. I know my cat rarely lands on anything BUT his feet and he'll be 15 tomorrow. He got very good and jumping from high places without the slightest slide. Although he has had his moments where he jumped onto the table and landed on a newspaper and slid off the table into the wall. But yea, a large majority of the time, they really do land on their feet no matter how they jump/fall/or are dropped.
2006-06-30 18:13:14 · answer #3 · answered by chica_zarca 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have never seen a cat not land on it's feet.
2006-06-30 18:14:01 · answer #4 · answered by starting over 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
my cat always lands on her feet but maybe the cat you saw has some problems
2006-06-30 18:30:34 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Whatever cat you've seen must be broken because every cat i have seen have landed on their feet
2006-06-30 18:15:38 · answer #6 · answered by scientist crazed geek 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If it falls from 1 story, it might not bc it won't have enough time to react. Anything higher, 2 or 3 stories, it will. And yes, it will live. DONT TRY THIS AT HOME, CAT KILLERS!
2006-06-30 18:14:04 · answer #7 · answered by the nothing 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it's a saying that yopu have to get back at life and live everymoment of it like cats do, well wild cats and straights
2006-06-30 18:13:41 · answer #8 · answered by electricbluerocker 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's because they're very flexible and usually end up on their feet.
2006-06-30 18:13:38 · answer #9 · answered by Paige 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
most of the time they do land on their feet its skill and natuire
2006-06-30 18:39:53 · answer #10 · answered by curious 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋