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Asked by cerysklewzyc to Charlotte, Jo, Kevin, Louise, Valeria on 14 Jun 2012. This question was also asked by lauraholden.
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Kevin Mahon answered on 14 Jun 2012:
Cats landing on their feet, also known as the ‘cat righting reflex’ is an innate (meaning in-built) ability that all cats have.
They are able to do this due to their highly flexible back bones and the purpose of it is to minimise injury when falling!
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Comments
livgn1029 commented on :
cats dont land on their feet though, my cat landed on its back yesterday……
Kevin commented on :
Cats have to be falling from a minimum height before this response can work – cats falling from short distances will usually land on their back!
A study done in the 80s showed the best height for cats to fall from for this response to kick in is around 5 stories. So if your cat falls off your couch or the windowsill it will likely land on its back, but thats ok as the response is only there to protect cats from falling from heights that would cause them damage if they were to land on their back/side.
jake907 commented on :
Because they could feel that they r falling so they would get there claws out to stamb the floor when they land