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halfjapmarine t1_j8xpong wrote

Reply to comment by digitelle in The Falling Cat by PaleSubstance2

Found that super interesting and looked up cats and their terminal velocity. There is a documented case of a cat surviving a 32 story fall. They hit their terminal velocity at around 7 stories. Seems that injuries are more likely to be sustained at lower heights to a point because they have less time to correct and distribute their impact.

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Django117 t1_j8xxf6x wrote

Falls from 5-9 stories are pretty dangerous for cats and will likely require a visit to the vet due to broken limbs or serious injuries. Cats reach terminal velocity at 21m after which they continue to spread out like a flying squirrel and relax. A cat's terminal velocity is only 60mph compared to a human's nearly 120mph. A 1987 study from The Journal of the American Vetrinary Medical Association did some research into this. 132 cats falling an average of 5.5 stories led to a 90% survival rate, but many required medical attention. That same study says that of the 13 cats that fell from 9 stories or higher, only 1 broke a bone. Same study references the 32 story fall.

Now, part of this is that they have what is called a "righting reflex" which allows them to pivot their bodies so that they always land on their legs. They have no connection between their collarbone and forelimbs which means they have amazing shock absorption.

Their low terminal velocity, the reflex to right themselves, and skeletal anatomy makes them incredibly resilient to high falls. Shorter falls are actually more dangerous as they might land incorrectly or not have time to right themselves before impact.

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gone_internal t1_j91egm6 wrote

Wish I could have been there when they dropped those 132 cats.

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SCSimmons t1_j93udgc wrote

I've seen it suggested that the study in question suffered from literal survivorship bias. That is, the 13 cats that were brought in after 9 story falls were just the ones where the onlooker reactions were more like, "Quick, we have to get it to a veterinarian!", rather than, "Ewww. Um, does anyone have a shovel? There's a nice grassy bit right over there."

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