Is it true that cats always land on their feet? Well, this is true most of the time.
During ages, this credence led people to think the cats had nine lives, but is this really a magic feature? Sorry to disappoint some of you, but it isn’t. It is an innate reflex called the “vertical reflex”.
This awesome feature was studied a lot in the 1800s, and after lots of observations, scientists saw that the cats have the possibility of turning themselves in mid-air thanks to their vertebral column, which has the possibility to do movements that could be impossible for humans.
But this is not the only thing that permits cats to have this power; in fact, while they are falling, they do an amazing job of calculating distance with their vision and also with their ears.
Cats’ ears are formed exactly like humans’ ones. So the balance system is inside the ear, and with this, they can have incredible control over their movements.
People couldn’t understand why cats could always fall on their feet until 1800 because the movements were so fast that people had to wait for the creation of the first camera that showed the different parts of the falling. We can break down the “fall” into different moments.
First of all, they curve their backs until they are completely turned around; after that, they point their paws on the floor; and the last part is the “landing,” which most of the time leaves the cat unharmed.
This happens because the cat’s legs are much less rigid than most other animals legs. Another motivation is that this animal is super light, so during the fall (except if it’s not from very high places), the cat doesn’t get a lot of speed.
Naturally, like I said before, there are exceptions. There will always be the unlucky cat that will get a wound from a minimal fall, but don’t worry, it’s very difficult.
There are also stories of miraculous survivor cats that fell from very high places with only a few scratches.
But if we can prevent these situations, it will be better for everyone—for the cat, for the owner of the cat (who spares a fright), and for the possible unlucky pedestrian on the trajectory.
Sources
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-cats-land-on-their-feet-physics-explains