Did you ever wonder what height you could drop a cat from without it using up its nine lives! I know I have, so now I’m going to save you all the trouble and cruelty, “So put the cat down and I’ll tell you”.
Studies done by two New York vets in 1987 found that cats who had fallen from heights of 2 to 33 stories had a 90% chance of survival, whereas moggys that had fallen greater than seven stories, had less serious injuries. The reason for this were the cats who had fallen from 7 stories stiffened up before impact causing their legs to be to absorb shock less effectively on impact. This resulted in greater damage, whereas cats falling from greater heights tend to loosen their muscles as they fell and absorbed the shock more effectively.
If a human fell from a plane they would reach twice the speed of a moggy at around 200kmph and land on two legs, then splat! Whereas a cat flung from a plane would travel at a velocity of around 100kph thanks to its lower mass and spreading the impact over the four legs, thus having a higher chance of survival.
We will be following up soon with, what would happen if you put a puppy in a blender!
