Do cats always land on their feet?

Question

do cats always land on thier feet? i am having a debate with my grandma!!! please answer pronto!!!

Answer 1

yes they always do!
even if u drop them two feet above the fround they will usually turn over and land at least very close to their feet...hope u winnn!

Answer 2

Hi there...Contrary to popular belief, falling cats do not always land on their feet. In fact, every day cats sustain serious injuries from falling out of open windows, off balconies, and from rooftops. Cats do not fear heights and will often leap after a bird or a butterfly only to find themselves falling through the air. The trauma sustained from a fall of over two stories (24 to 30 feet) is known as high-rise syndrome.

If a cat falls a short distance, they can usually right themself and land on their feet. If they falls more than one or two floors, however, they may sustain injury. Although they can right themself, their legs and feet cannot absorb the shock.

Cats have exceptional coordination and balance and a flexible musculoskeletal system. They are normally able to orient their bodies in space in such a way as to land on all four limbs.

After determining up from down visually or using their vestibular apparatus (in the inner ear), they rotate their upper body to face downwards and their lower body follows. In addition to the righting reflex cats have a number of other features that will reduce damage from a fall. Their small size, light bone structure, and thick fur decrease their terminal velocity. Furthermore, once righted they may also spread out their body to increase drag and slow the fall to some extent. Due to their smaller mass, a falling cat's terminal velocity is 60mph (100 km/h) whereas that of a falling man in a free-fall position is 130mph (210 km/h). At terminal velocity they also relax as they fall which protects them to some extent on impact. Padded paws will also soften impact. [wikipedia]

Please see the following website to learn more about this and to share with your grandmother: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=1&cat=1313&articleid=1106

Answer 3

Cats have a natural ability to right themselves and position themselves feet down, even if dropped in some other positon. That having been said it takes a second or two for them to manipulate their bodies. So if a cat is dropped in a poor position very close to the ground he may not have time to adjust and could get hurt.

Answer 4

Cat's always land on their feet, but buttered toast always lands butter side down...

Strap a buttered slice of toast (butter side up) to the back of a cat.

Drop the cat

The cat won't fall - the two forces (buttered toast vs. cat) have cancelled each other.

Answer 5

NO THEY DO NOT ALWAYS LAND ON THEIR FEET. So stop dropping them. They are very agile and with enough time they can adjust their weight and position them selves to land upright. But it is not a God Given Talent. They can be hurt from a drop just like any other animal.

Answer 6

Most of the time the cat fall on its feet.

Answer 7

No. I have seen my cats fall and land on their sides/backs LOADS of times, although granted MOST of the time they do land on their feet.

Answer 8

I'm pretty sure it takes like... seven stories or something for a cat to figure out it's falling and correct itself. So a cat has a better chance of surviving a 10 story fall than a 5 story fall.

Answer 9

no
but this one time me and my brother where throwing a giant ball up and down the stairs and my cat was on the banister and the ball hit the cat and he flew off the the banister(which meant that he was goint to fall about 18/20 feet) but he bounced of our chandelier(luckily)
and landed on the stairs on his feet!