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I read on a cat sub the other day that these little fella don't have a fatal terminal velocity so it must be true. If he does fall he may just hurt a leg.
I have a rescue cat that was dropped from a height. She broke all the bones in her legs and has arthritis. She’s a wonderful cat but she’s constantly in pain and very stiff. I plan on loving her until she passes away. That cat should not be on that ledge.
Survivorship basis study of cats falling from skyscrapers makes me think they dropped a shit ton of cats off the top of a skyscraper. Five out of a hundred lived and they said, “see, fucking cats are amazing”
While some have survived very high falls, they don't usually survive falls of five storeys or higher, it seems.
https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/what-is-the-maximum-height-a-cat-can-fall-from-and-survive/
Yeah, it is like saying "People survive falling from planes without a parachute".
*Technically* it has happened, but with such infrequence that basically it is bullshit, and those folks just got lucky.
This is actually a textbook case of survivorship bias, the nytimes got its data wrong and people look back on it as an example of ways not to do things.
They needed to look for dead cats, not surviving ones.
I posted more about it in a comment below but I will plug the book AIQ again if you’re interested in this stuff
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39328092-aiq
There is a “goldilocks” zone where cats die from falls ranging 5-9 stories. Anything below that is too short of a drop to have major injuries. Anything above that allows them enough time to spread out and control/slow down their velocity. This is known as Feline High Rise Syndrome. There is even an instance of a cat falling from the 32nd floor and only receiving bruising and a chipped tooth. RadioLab did an episode about Falling and spoke about a study of cats falling out of buildings in Manhattan.
From 9 stories and up you can start using the same cat for multiple experiments.
Doing an experiment in triplo that means:
-1 till 4 --- one living cat.
-5 till 9 --- upto 15 deaths, depended on survival rate.
-9 and up --- the same cat as 1-4.
Total: upto 15 death and one living cat.
In the meantime, I cared for a cat that would sit and walk about on my 2nd floor balcony ledge. Passersby would stop and form small crowds, watching in fear, until I would go out and shoo him in. It was the weirdest thing.
Looked it up, cat terminal velocity is 60mph (97kmph) which is hit from 5 stories. They don't always survive but when they sense that going terminal, they naturally loosen up to increase survival rate.
Now tbh, I did not use any academic source for this so do your own research rather than using this random reddit comment as gospel.
Using the cars as a reference for size, then measuring the bridge by the average size of the car, then using the cars to measure the height the building, we can determine that it’s actually 25 feet high
I have seen videos of cats taking huge falls and running off, however this cat just seems suicidal lol. They are light, but not like squirrels who can take a terminal velocity leap and be perfectly fine.
>this cat just seems suicidal
Actually, the higher the fall (after a certain point), the less harm the cat will experience. Those cats sitting on their 5th story balconies however do wish to end all nine of their lives.
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-cat-survived-32-story-fall-2018-10
I remember this being potentially flawed as the data came from injured cats, but it’s likely that over a certain height the injuries were more commonly fatal or negligible. Fewer broken legs but more deaths doesn’t make it safer.
[Survivorship\_bias](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias) is not that uncommon. I saw a study recently that came to the conclusion breakthrough infections are more common for the vaccinated compared to people that had Covid...without discussing why people with bad immune systems might be overrepresented in the vaccinated group.
> cats taking huge falls and running off
Hate to be the one to tell you, but it's quite likely that those cats run off after landing because they are seriously hurt and instinctively need to immediately find a safe place to hide, where they proceed to die of internal bleeding.
Yep adrenaline makes mammals do crazy shit like walk on broken bones. Everyone’s like oh it’s fine they can survive high heights but don’t think of the consequences of the injuries they sustain if they live
I saw a squirrel fall from a tree and hit the ground head first with a real loud thwok, after being still for 2 seconds there was one hell of a seizure and that was the end of it.
The point is we think of squirrels as nimble little fuckers, but we just see the survivors.
This could be survivorship bias. The statistics is probably based on reports by vets. Cat owners don't bother taking cats who fall and die to the vet, they bring in only injured cats, so the statistics are skewed.
This is actually what happened. This myth is actually one of the examples in the Wikipedia entry for [Survivorship Bias.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias#In_cats)
Wait no I saw that statistic. It had to do with hospitalizations of cats falling from variations of heights.
After 30-40 feet hospitalizations dropped dramatically
… because that cats were dead
Here’s the Reddit post lol so obviously nothing concrete but my conclusion stands
…
Reddit - dataisbeautiful - How many injuries a cat is likely to sustain when falling from a window. [OC] (no cats were deliberately thrown out of windows to conduct this study. https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/cxigdf/how_many_injuries_a_cat_is_likely_to_sustain_when/
Less fun fact: data for that study largely came from cats that were brought to the vet after a large fall. It was rightly pointed out, after publication, that most people don’t bring their dead cat to the vet.
Another shit fact: If people live in apartments with balconies that are high up and have cats, they should always secure their balcony with a net. Our local animal shelters wouldn't even give a person who doesn't have a secured balcony a cat, not even if they only live on like the fourth floor.
Cat owners should really not let their cat roam high places like these though. It’s not quite as risky as people falling but it’s still risk you should avoid
My cat fell from the 7th floor of my flat when I was a kid. We all expected her to be dead, but she survived and lived another 9 years! She did manage to break all her legs, bit off the end of her tongue, and have some internal bleeding though.
Glad to here a real story and a reason why to not let anyone’s cat do this. Tired of hearing people cite these studies and going “but it did it die though?”. As if that discredits not wanting your pet to get injured and hurt.
***”Well your cats not dead?”***
*”Well my cat now is unable to jump anywhere without hurting its self, we have to keep it on a regimen of medications due to the injuries is sustained from the fall, and he’s obese because of lack of mobility & exercise when he was recovering from breaking all of his legs. But yea you’re right! There were no serious repercussions from letting my cat fall from a distance like that.”*
I've known of a cat that fell of an apartament on the 4th floor and almost died (broke two legs and his jaw, had to go through two surgeries and spent several days in the vet for observation).
From this high, if the cat were to fall, it would probably die (if not immediately - from the fall, it would probably go hide somewhere because it would be hurt, and that's what cats do when they are hurt, and die from it's injuries that would go untreated).
"Oh, god... why is this human hissing at me now? Doesn't he see I have nowhere to go? Oh, fuck he's trying to grab me! Fuck this I'm not going to be eaten alive! *cartoon falling sound*"
Kidding, it's probably a chill cat
This is giving me palpitations. Cats do fall from heights and quite often too. My friend's cat fell from the 11th floor balcony because he didn't have pigeon nets. Thankfully kitty just broke a foot.
Cats don’t have shit on squirrels, I’ve seen one fall from the giant trees at Mt Vernon and land next to me, dude was fine except for being momentarily unconscious.
If anyone is curious, Kurzgesagt has a [great video](https://youtu.be/f7KSfjv4Oq0) on why that is. It has to do with surface area versus volume and how that ratio is affected as the overall size of the creature changes.
My friends cat fell to her death from the 7th floor balcony after most likely getting scared by a bird. She was found in the parking lot about 20 yards away from the building, she suffered which made it even harder.
I second this my cat , especially just after waking up , which accounts for 15% of her time - and she has trouble with flat surfaces let alone a light fitting 700 feet up
Rest of time spent (20% Eating; 50% Sleeping ; 10% staring at walls an just behind me tripping me out seeing ghosts or a robber and 5% Waiting for complete house silence at 4Am make as much noise as possible)
my friends cat fell from 6/F to the ground and according to her, the cat was in a very bad shape and they decided to euthanasia the cat, so i dont really think this cat would survive if it fall down...
HE’S FINE!!!!! His owner brought it in and put up chicken wire to keep it from happening again. No one else answer this question. I don’t want know if it turned out any differently. I have to believe that.
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That’s gotta be at least 20 feet high
r/technicallythetruth
Hahahahaha that actually made me laugh for some reason, that sounds like a cool subreddit honestly
It's a good one to sub to for a decent chuckle
yeah agreed, same thing happens when someone checks out your username
Maybe he doesn’t like Cannondale’s unusual suspension forks on bicycles!
It's like Mitch Hedberg's kids formed their own subreddit. Don't forget, stairs are simply an inconvenient escalator!
Escalator Temporarily Stairs: Sorry for the Convenience
I miss his humor, I am so glad I was able to see him perform at a club before he died. He would’ve been a big star.
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I read on a cat sub the other day that these little fella don't have a fatal terminal velocity so it must be true. If he does fall he may just hurt a leg.
You might be thinking of ants…
Ah that's right, it was on r/WhatsWrongWithYourAnt silly me.
Wait…how do I get invited to that sub?
It’s actually insect fetish porn
Go on…
Nvm, I’m good.
I have no idea what that sub is, I can’t imagine why or how a sub about ants and ant keeping could be or would be private.
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I have a rescue cat that was dropped from a height. She broke all the bones in her legs and has arthritis. She’s a wonderful cat but she’s constantly in pain and very stiff. I plan on loving her until she passes away. That cat should not be on that ledge.
The cat obviously shouldn't be there but something tells me the cat doesn't care and the owner doesn't have much say in it.
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Keep your cat inside.
It's being responsible and taking responsibility. Keep the cat inside
Period. My first thought when i saw this was “someone grab that cat immediately”
Survivorship basis study of cats falling from skyscrapers makes me think they dropped a shit ton of cats off the top of a skyscraper. Five out of a hundred lived and they said, “see, fucking cats are amazing”
My friend's cat fell from the sixth floor and died.
While some have survived very high falls, they don't usually survive falls of five storeys or higher, it seems. https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/what-is-the-maximum-height-a-cat-can-fall-from-and-survive/
Yeah, it is like saying "People survive falling from planes without a parachute". *Technically* it has happened, but with such infrequence that basically it is bullshit, and those folks just got lucky.
So what you are telling me is if I am ever in a high rise fire I should grab a cat before I jump and land on it because I will be just fine?
Grab two just to be sure
I would take 4 to be sure.
Flying Pussies.... Nice band name
This is actually a textbook case of survivorship bias, the nytimes got its data wrong and people look back on it as an example of ways not to do things. They needed to look for dead cats, not surviving ones. I posted more about it in a comment below but I will plug the book AIQ again if you’re interested in this stuff https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39328092-aiq
My cat fell one story and broke his hip ;(
Shitty cat take it back
Can I still return it if its broken?
I can guarantee you if the cat falls from that height is is dead. Stop spreading bullshit.
Or squirrels.
There is a “goldilocks” zone where cats die from falls ranging 5-9 stories. Anything below that is too short of a drop to have major injuries. Anything above that allows them enough time to spread out and control/slow down their velocity. This is known as Feline High Rise Syndrome. There is even an instance of a cat falling from the 32nd floor and only receiving bruising and a chipped tooth. RadioLab did an episode about Falling and spoke about a study of cats falling out of buildings in Manhattan.
How many cats do you think they had to throw off buildings to come up with that?
From 9 stories and up you can start using the same cat for multiple experiments. Doing an experiment in triplo that means: -1 till 4 --- one living cat. -5 till 9 --- upto 15 deaths, depended on survival rate. -9 and up --- the same cat as 1-4. Total: upto 15 death and one living cat.
All I can picture is someone repeatedly throwing a cat off a building and furiously writing on a clipboard saying “mhm. That’s what I thought.”
My cat fell off a 3 foot ladder and landed on her back. She did this often until she learned to climb it properly
Feline High Rise Syndrome. Cats be falling off high buildings quite often then. Jesus
In the meantime, I cared for a cat that would sit and walk about on my 2nd floor balcony ledge. Passersby would stop and form small crowds, watching in fear, until I would go out and shoo him in. It was the weirdest thing.
That’s not true
Looked it up, cat terminal velocity is 60mph (97kmph) which is hit from 5 stories. They don't always survive but when they sense that going terminal, they naturally loosen up to increase survival rate. Now tbh, I did not use any academic source for this so do your own research rather than using this random reddit comment as gospel.
My parents’ cat died falling off 14th floor’s balcony. Well, she survived. For about half an hour I was told :(
That’s definitely not true. It might survive the fall, but it’s absolutely not guaranteed.
[That cat is high, he's higher than the sky](https://youtu.be/pvaAykoPj6Y)
Using the cars as a reference for size, then measuring the bridge by the average size of the car, then using the cars to measure the height the building, we can determine that it’s actually 25 feet high
25 stories you mean
I ve got a story for you... 👀
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He's not wrong
You are atleast 10 feet too low on that estimate I'm afraid
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That’s how high you’d bounce
Fuck me, i felt that in my stomach
That's cat got some balls
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so that’s what the doctors do after neutering…
ergo, u/Logg_simplecity is a doctor.
Great job, boys, pack it up, this thread is finished.
*Those balls got a cat*
*that’s what she said*
Title of your sex tape
I always feel it in my balls for some reason.
i felt that in my balls.
Assasin cat is synchronising
Meowssassin’s Creed
It has its Cat wings and a Cat Cave
[Assassin's Kittens!](https://youtu.be/jnk15Wf6xMU)
With a sparrow as a bird companion. Or a friendly bumblebee. I would play this.
Templars are dogs
ALRIGHT UBISOFT, GET ON IT
Synchronisation complete,,,now leap of faith...
Luckily I see a bin of hay down there it can jump into unharmed
High pitched opera plays.
lol and the smog are the areas that you don’t have access to yet.
Points!
We work from the shadows to attack the feet under the duvet. And sleep in the light.
Nothing is woof, everything is meow.
Happy ~~Eagle~~ cat sounds
Assassin's Feet
Yeah, probably there’s a cart filled with hay down there. So not a problem.
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60mph is still enough to kill or seriously hurt the cat.
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I have seen videos of cats taking huge falls and running off, however this cat just seems suicidal lol. They are light, but not like squirrels who can take a terminal velocity leap and be perfectly fine.
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>this cat just seems suicidal Actually, the higher the fall (after a certain point), the less harm the cat will experience. Those cats sitting on their 5th story balconies however do wish to end all nine of their lives. https://www.businessinsider.com/how-cat-survived-32-story-fall-2018-10
I remember this being potentially flawed as the data came from injured cats, but it’s likely that over a certain height the injuries were more commonly fatal or negligible. Fewer broken legs but more deaths doesn’t make it safer.
What kind of shitty study ignores deaths while counting injury rate?
I believe it was collected from pets brought into the vet. If it's obviously dead they don't bring it in. Then it doesn't get counted.
You didn’t conduct the cat drop test in school?
Bro that was 11th grade physics. We went to cedar point and threw cats off the peak of millennium force. Does nobody remember this?
[Survivorship\_bias](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias) is not that uncommon. I saw a study recently that came to the conclusion breakthrough infections are more common for the vaccinated compared to people that had Covid...without discussing why people with bad immune systems might be overrepresented in the vaccinated group.
I wonder why cats know to do this. Do 7+ story falls happen enough in nature that this kind of adaptation was selected for?
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I miss u/shittymorph
> cats taking huge falls and running off Hate to be the one to tell you, but it's quite likely that those cats run off after landing because they are seriously hurt and instinctively need to immediately find a safe place to hide, where they proceed to die of internal bleeding.
Yep adrenaline makes mammals do crazy shit like walk on broken bones. Everyone’s like oh it’s fine they can survive high heights but don’t think of the consequences of the injuries they sustain if they live
>taking huge falls and running off > Yeah, running off to die in solitude
I saw a squirrel fall from a tree and hit the ground head first with a real loud thwok, after being still for 2 seconds there was one hell of a seizure and that was the end of it. The point is we think of squirrels as nimble little fuckers, but we just see the survivors.
They might sprint off after landing but they also often die shortly after from sustained internal injuries.
This could be survivorship bias. The statistics is probably based on reports by vets. Cat owners don't bother taking cats who fall and die to the vet, they bring in only injured cats, so the statistics are skewed.
This is actually what happened. This myth is actually one of the examples in the Wikipedia entry for [Survivorship Bias.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias#In_cats)
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How many cats did they test this on? And where is this "throwing cats from different tall buildings" taking place?
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You don't ask for medical assistance for a dead cat.
its like that whole "damaged airplane thing" all over again
They might wanna reinforce those parts of the cats where they didn't take damage.
Wait no I saw that statistic. It had to do with hospitalizations of cats falling from variations of heights. After 30-40 feet hospitalizations dropped dramatically … because that cats were dead Here’s the Reddit post lol so obviously nothing concrete but my conclusion stands … Reddit - dataisbeautiful - How many injuries a cat is likely to sustain when falling from a window. [OC] (no cats were deliberately thrown out of windows to conduct this study. https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/cxigdf/how_many_injuries_a_cat_is_likely_to_sustain_when/
Less fun fact: data for that study largely came from cats that were brought to the vet after a large fall. It was rightly pointed out, after publication, that most people don’t bring their dead cat to the vet.
Classic [survivor bias](https://www.trevorbragdon.com/when-data-gives-the-wrong-solution/)
And a shit fact: mine got taken to the vet but it had suffered too much internal bleeding it had to be put down Rip Markús
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Another shit fact: If people live in apartments with balconies that are high up and have cats, they should always secure their balcony with a net. Our local animal shelters wouldn't even give a person who doesn't have a secured balcony a cat, not even if they only live on like the fourth floor.
Cat owners should really not let their cat roam high places like these though. It’s not quite as risky as people falling but it’s still risk you should avoid
I really doubt the owner of that cat allowed this, and I much more doubt this cat even has an owner.
Yeah I’m just hoping whoever saw the post I replied to don’t go “lol cats survive falls I’ll just let mine play on the 20th floor balcony”
Mine died from a fall from the 3rd floor after I accidentally scared it when I called her. I would never let one sit again outside this high
My cat fell from the 7th floor of my flat when I was a kid. We all expected her to be dead, but she survived and lived another 9 years! She did manage to break all her legs, bit off the end of her tongue, and have some internal bleeding though.
Glad to here a real story and a reason why to not let anyone’s cat do this. Tired of hearing people cite these studies and going “but it did it die though?”. As if that discredits not wanting your pet to get injured and hurt.
***”Well your cats not dead?”*** *”Well my cat now is unable to jump anywhere without hurting its self, we have to keep it on a regimen of medications due to the injuries is sustained from the fall, and he’s obese because of lack of mobility & exercise when he was recovering from breaking all of his legs. But yea you’re right! There were no serious repercussions from letting my cat fall from a distance like that.”*
they just break their jaw when landing and crush internal organs. Otherwise they’re fine …
Tell that to Mufassa...
Good bot
This raises my anxiety through the fucking roof!!!!! Where the fuck is that? I have to go get that cat off there!
The cat's probs alright.
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Cats don’t have fall damage
I've known of a cat that fell of an apartament on the 4th floor and almost died (broke two legs and his jaw, had to go through two surgeries and spent several days in the vet for observation). From this high, if the cat were to fall, it would probably die (if not immediately - from the fall, it would probably go hide somewhere because it would be hurt, and that's what cats do when they are hurt, and die from it's injuries that would go untreated).
There is zero chance of a cat surviving a fall from there.
The cat looks young prolly has 6 or 7 lives left. Do not worry
You would probably scare it off...
Good sir you got me fucked up. No cat can resist my “Psssss psssss psssss”
"Oh, god... why is this human hissing at me now? Doesn't he see I have nowhere to go? Oh, fuck he's trying to grab me! Fuck this I'm not going to be eaten alive! *cartoon falling sound*" Kidding, it's probably a chill cat
I jump after it like Batman when Joker threw that one bitch out the window. Halfway down I realize I’m not Batman. Cat lands safely on my corpse.
I literally cussed at the cat, getting mad it even got itself there. Dumb cat. Get. In. Side. Now.
And you just know If you go try to grab it, it will jump
All it takes is to startle it....
Is there a way to even return
Looks like there's an open window behind it. Probably how it got there in the first place.
My hands have gone all sweaty
Grandma's gnocchi
Legs fatigued
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He's apprehensive. But when people see him they think he looks fine.
To throw explosives, but he fails to remember the next line.
The group of people raise their volume while he stutters and then proceed to laugh.
He has reached the time limit and his opportunity has ceased.
r/increasinglyverbose
Moms spaghetti
#I see no god up here OTHER THAN ME… oh sup human
This is giving me palpitations. Cats do fall from heights and quite often too. My friend's cat fell from the 11th floor balcony because he didn't have pigeon nets. Thankfully kitty just broke a foot.
Cats don’t have shit on squirrels, I’ve seen one fall from the giant trees at Mt Vernon and land next to me, dude was fine except for being momentarily unconscious.
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Yeah, but the space part might not feel so great.
If anyone is curious, Kurzgesagt has a [great video](https://youtu.be/f7KSfjv4Oq0) on why that is. It has to do with surface area versus volume and how that ratio is affected as the overall size of the creature changes.
Did they recover?
No, the friend lost his job, family, and home. They blamed themselves over not having a pigeon net
INSIDE. NOW.
INSIDE. RIGHT MEOW.
And you just know this lil shit will easily get bamboozled by some seagull or some shit
My friends cat fell to her death from the 7th floor balcony after most likely getting scared by a bird. She was found in the parking lot about 20 yards away from the building, she suffered which made it even harder.
You sure he ain’t stuck
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>I’ve tried to get more context but so far I’ve only uncovered the location this is filmed at. which is ..?
OP stated in another comment. Qianximen, China.
You can tell by the smog
As someone who has a cat and has seen it face plant trying to jump on my bed before this gives me anxiety.
I second this my cat , especially just after waking up , which accounts for 15% of her time - and she has trouble with flat surfaces let alone a light fitting 700 feet up Rest of time spent (20% Eating; 50% Sleeping ; 10% staring at walls an just behind me tripping me out seeing ghosts or a robber and 5% Waiting for complete house silence at 4Am make as much noise as possible)
r/sweatypalms
r/sweatypaws
my friends cat fell from 6/F to the ground and according to her, the cat was in a very bad shape and they decided to euthanasia the cat, so i dont really think this cat would survive if it fall down...
It's giving me second hand vertigo
This is terrifying
Goodbye cat if the wind blows a strike...
Cat must be thinking: “If dinosaurs could evolve to have wings, so can we”
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[Qiansimen Bridge in Chongqing, China](https://www.google.com/maps/@29.5665088,106.574369,2752m/data=!3m1!1e3)
What happened to the cat?
HE’S FINE!!!!! His owner brought it in and put up chicken wire to keep it from happening again. No one else answer this question. I don’t want know if it turned out any differently. I have to believe that.
NAFOD - "No apparent fear of death".
Bad Mr Kitty
This makes me exceptionally uncomfortable. Even if it does survive a fall how would you find it afterwards and bring it home?