How badly hurt from jumping off a roof?
U15...@uicvm.uic.edu
Before I could call anyone about it, the kitten jumped down and landed on the
walkway below, apparently on at least three feet out of four. It limped a bit,
holding its right hind leg in a bent position, and then just sat still on the
ground for awhile (which it was still doing when I had to leave). How badly
injured does anyone think it actually is? It didn't seem to express much pain
overtly.
Mitch Pravatiner
U15...@uicvm.uic.edu
Christopher Camfield
Hm, I don't know, except that I think the record for cats falling and landing
uninjured is something horrendous, over 10 stories I think. (Does anyone
have the Guinness Book of World Records' cat records available? Are they
in the FAQ? If not, why not? They're somewhat amusing... "My cat gave
birth to HOW MANY KITTENS????" :)
Hm, this doesn't really answer the question. Oh well...
Chris
--
Christopher Camfield (ccam...@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca)
"England, you're my home, you're my heart's heart, crashing thunder of love,
You're the place of the poor open wound, you're the last rites of love..."
("England my home", The Levellers) (Just another anglophile :)
Nancy P. Milligan
: This morning, I noticed a kitten stuck on the roof of the house next door.
Aw! That's sad. :( Weirdly enough, cats are more likely to survive longer
falls than shorter ones. Hopefully he didn't break his leg!
--
Nancy P. Milligan n...@netcom.com
San Diego, California
Chris Foley
>Before I could call anyone about it, the kitten jumped down and landed on the
>walkway below, apparently on at least three feet out of four. It limped a bit,
>holding its right hind leg in a bent position, and then just sat still on the
>ground for awhile (which it was still doing when I had to leave). How badly
>injured does anyone think it actually is? It didn't seem to express much pain
>overtly.
I had the luck to be in the kitchen when my cat took its one and only foray
onto the roof. There had been some chairs and things stacked in a very
convenient manner on the deck, allowing her to pounce up into a new and
exciting area. However, about 6 nanoseconds after getting there, she decided
it was (a) boring and (b) really really scary, and WANTED DOWN. I had been
watching her cruising around the deck, and seen her disappear to parts
unknown, so I was out there within seconds to find her doing two things: (1)
saying MIAOU a lot and (2) looking for a good place to jump down. FEARING for
poor Tig's life, I strrretched my head up in the hopes that she might jump on
it (I knew height was good for something), and she DID! POUNCE on my head,
then the happy trail 'o' claws down my back and into the house. She stood in
the middle of the kitchen until I came inside, at which point she thanked me
by saying "MIAOU" and then examining what I was cooking.
Seriously, it depends how far the cat falls. A cat can actually get MORE
injured falling a SHORT distance, since a long distance enables the cat to
gird itself for landing. Since this cat KNEW it was going to jump (rather
than having fallen), it probably was quite limber and didn't take very many
kitty points damage.
- Chris (That chr...@ice.bc.ca guy again)
Joseph W. Marin
>This morning, I noticed a kitten stuck on the roof of the house next door.
>Before I could call anyone about it, the kitten jumped down and landed on the
>walkway below, apparently on at least three feet out of four. It limped a bit,
>holding its right hind leg in a bent position, and then just sat still on the
>ground for awhile (which it was still doing when I had to leave). How badly
>injured does anyone think it actually is? It didn't seem to express much pain
>overtly.
>
> U15...@uicvm.uic.edu
>
I don't really have a direct answer to your question, but I do have
an interesting anecdote.
Several years ago, I read an article in the New York Times about
cats falling out of windows of New York City buildings. Apparently,
cats frequently lie in the window sills, and roll out by accident.
Their survey of something like 200-300 cats showed that only several
of them were seriously injured or died. The real interesting thing,
though, was that those injuries and deaths resulted from falls of
seven stories or LESS. Of the cats that fell more than 7 stories,
very few (I think it was actually NONE) were injured seriously.
Wow! Cats are amazing! The explanation was that when cats fall
from lower stories, they turn their feet down and stiffen up, so
the impact can be harmful. When they fall from higher places,
they have time to relax their bodies, and spread out like a
flying squirrel. They catch wind and actually slow their descent.
I used to have a copy of this article, but I lost it. Does anyone
out there have a copy? I would love to photocopy it so I could
have it again....
Thanks!! joe
Joseph W. Marin
Psychology Department
Lehigh University
Louise Sutter
the show had a study of how cats fall, and it seems that
cats that fall from a medium height are more likely
to be injured than cats that fall from greater heights.
Apparently, when a cat falls from a great height, it has
time to twist around and go into free fall...the PBS show
had slow-motion footage of the cat twisting and spreading
out to catch the air. A fall from a shorter distance
doesn't give the cat time to right itself, hence, more
serious injuries occur. It was very interesting.
Does anyone know the name of that special? It might have
been on the Learning Channel, not PBS. I can't remember.
As an aside, I have a friend who lives in an 18-story
building. He once saw a cat fall from the 15th story.
It was dazed after hitting the ground, but amazingly,
was otherwise unhurt. Really astounding.
--Louise Sutter
OpenVision Technologies
lou...@security.ov.com
June
From what I've seen, cats don't express pain very overtly. My Pookah
broke his leg when he was nearly a year old (a friend's spastic dog, which
she wasn't *supposed* to let off leash, body slammed him into a wall...)
and the only sign was that he was holding it up. He looked a little
bit glazed, but didn't act "in pain". I rushed him to the vet (thank
the cat dieties for Open Saturday vets) and he had a fractured lower
leg. He was not amused with the cast, but he healed fine.
I'd get it to a vet if it's still around (and something else hasn't
gotten to it already...).
TTFN,
June
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
AKA: Vicious Bitch, Baroness Avila, Ivy on Divination Web,
ju...@cadence.com,
and Garlic Peel of the Peel Sisters!
Mom to Ariel and felines Scorpio, Pookah, Misty, Zipper & Vixen
"Would you, could you, in the dark??" T. Geisel
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
Tyler Yip - UnixWeenie(tm)
>In article <93218.162...@uicvm.uic.edu> <U15...@uicvm.uic.edu> writes:
>>This morning, I noticed a kitten stuck on the roof of the house next
>>door. Before I could call anyone about it, the kitten jumped down and
>>landed on the walkway below, apparently on at least three feet out of four.
>>It limped a bit, holding its right hind leg in a bent position, and then
>>just sat still on the ground for awhile (which it was still doing when I
>>had to leave). How badly injured does anyone think it actually is? It
>>didn't seem to express much pain overtly.
>
>Hm, I don't know, except that I think the record for cats falling and landing
>uninjured is something horrendous, over 10 stories I think.
>
>Chris
Last week, in the Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, California) I saw this article:
Sacramento Bee_, Wednesday, Aug. 4th, 1993
"Scene" section...page 1.
Cats spare none of their nine lives on high-rise falls -
by Mike Capuzzo
special to The Bee
There's very good news for those of you who have comitted the unforgivable
lapse of not payin attention to your cat at all times and therefore discovered
that Morris has leaped 30 stories out an open window: *He will land on his
stomach and not be hurt*.
Scientists in New York City have proved this remarkable phenomenon in a study
of 132 cats that fell an average of 5 1/2 stories out of tall buildings: Ninety
percent of them survived, including Sabrina, who fell 32 stories and chipped
a tooth and was hungry because she'd traveled a long way without eating.
Special note: Dr. Wayne Whitney and Dr. Cheryl Mehlaff of the Animal Medical
Center in Manhatten have nearly had their lives ruined by reporting this
research, and they want to emphasize: *They did not throw 132 cats out of
skyscraper windows on purpose*. The cats just fell. Since High-Rise Syndrome,
or HRS, has been reported from Los Angeles to Miami to Washington, D.C., this
summer, here is a safety guide to Frequent Flier Felines:
- Move to a Higher Floor. Among 13 felines that fell more than nine floors,
there was only one fracture and no deaths. This is because after falling about
five stories, cats spread their wings like squirrels, scientists suppose,
parachuting to the ground on their bellies and softening the impact. Cats are
believed to have nine lives because of their remarkable ability to land on
their feet, but HRS superstars survive by landing stomach-first. In shorter
falls, cats do land on their feet, causing greater injury (fractures and
hemorrhages are common), but few deaths.
- Don't Try This at Home. Cats, remarkably, study the horizon (even at night)
and torque themselves right-side-up for a proper landing in the first 3 feet of
a fall. Then they reach a maximum speed of 60 miles per hour while cruising in
for a gentle landing. Humans, however, tumble out of skyscraper windows at
disastrous angles and reach an impressive maximum speed of 120 miles per hour.
People cannot be taught to right themselves like cats, experts say. It's
innate.
- Don't Assume Cat Intelligence. If cats are so graceful and smart, why do
they fall out of open windows? Sixty-four percent of "high-fliers" are 2 1/2
years or younger and are making the bad judgments of young creatures
everywhere. Cats, so confident of their superior balance, commonly play on
open ledges, leap for insects or tumble in playful kitty duos out the window.
In Dade County, Fla., where a Himalayan named Bailey is the HRS record-holder
with a 24-story injury-free flight, cats leap after taunting birds. "The cat
leaps at the bird. The bird flies away. The cat keeps going," says a Miami
vet. "Cats are instinctive hunters." Alas, cats can't judge depth. Ten
stories looks like two stories to them.
- Don't Let Your Dogs Try This. Dogs are more careful around the window ledge,
but in 81 cases in New York City over several years, canines chased, among
other things, a squirrel, cat, another dog, - and, in one case, a burglar -
right out the window. Dogs also reach impressive speeds in midair and don't
fare as well as cats landing on sidewalks from great distances.
- Don't Assume Human Intelligence. Falling pets are common in summertime,
when it gets so hot people just fling open the ol' window. We recommend a
window air conditioner, and Dr. Whitney suggests investing in a remarkable
lightweight, perforated-aluminum technology that allows air to pass in and
keeps cats and dogs from goign out: "Put in a window screen."
*** end of quoted article ***
--
Tyler Yip, UnixWeenie(tm) \ God put me on Earth to accomplish a certain
email: dav...@ecst.csuchico.edu \ number of things. Right now I am so far
California State University, Chico \ behind I will never die. -Calvin & Hobbes
Karen Kolling
they fall long distances, I want to point out that what the study
actually found is that in general the cats are not hurt only when they
fall "medium" distances. That is, when they fall short distances they
are hurt because they don't have time to right themselves, and when
they fall long distances they are hurt by the impact.
Just in case those other postings were lulling someone into carelessness
about window screens or balconies...
Jack Campin
> Wow! Cats are amazing! The explanation was that when cats fall
> from lower stories, they turn their feet down and stiffen up, so
> the impact can be harmful. When they fall from higher places,
> they have time to relax their bodies, and spread out like a
> flying squirrel. They catch wind and actually slow their descent.
This combined with another piece of data in my head to form a THEORY.
Fluffy cats are not generally regarded as being very bright (certainly all
the ones I've known have been a couple of chunks short of a full can of
Whiskas, and the vet my girlfriend uses says this is her experience too).
Now, a high proportion of Scottish cats live in tenement flats. A dimwit
cat is more likely to fall off the windowsill attempting to catch
pigeons... so this is an evolutionary adaptation. We have two alternative
scenarios; either fluffiness made the coordination required to avoid
plummeting into the abyss redundant since a big furball is going to land
like a feather anyway, or else dim-and-shorthaired cats rapidly became
extinct.
Please don't tell Ishmael and Mingus about this, it might hurt their feelings.
--
-- Jack Campin -- Room 1.36, Department of Computing & Electrical Engineering,
Mountbatten Building, Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton, Edinburgh EH14 4AS
TEL: 031 449 5111 ext 4192 FAX: 031 451 3431 INTERNET: ja...@cee.hw.ac.uk
JANET: possibly backwards BITNET: via UKACRL BANG!net: via mcsun & uknet
Amanda Bischoff
>jm...@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (Joseph W. Marin) wrote:
>This combined with another piece of data in my head to form a THEORY.
>Fluffy cats are not generally regarded as being very bright (certainly all
>the ones I've known have been a couple of chunks short of a full can of
>Whiskas, and the vet my girlfriend uses says this is her experience too).
short-hair... :)
Manda
Lee Falta
> In article <93218.162...@uicvm.uic.edu> <U15...@uicvm.uic.edu> writes:
> >This morning, I noticed a kitten stuck on the roof of the house next door.
> >Before I could call anyone about it, the kitten jumped down and landed on the
> >walkway below, apparently on at least three feet out of four. It limped a bit,
> >holding its right hind leg in a bent position, and then just sat still on the
> >ground for awhile (which it was still doing when I had to leave). How badly
> >injured does anyone think it actually is? It didn't seem to express much pain
> >overtly.
Cats don't usually express much pain unless they are really suffering. I would
guess the guy has a broken leg, or maybe sprained. Hopefully he belongs to the
neighbors and they will check him out and take him to the vet if necessary.
Cats can fall from very high places and not be injured at all. A lot of it
depends on *what* they land on. Pavement is pretty unforgiving. My cat,
(named Dufus for obvious reasons), recently got himself stuck in a tree, about
35 feet high. After 5 days, it didn't appear that he "would come down when
he got hungry" like everyone said. I called the fire department, and yes, they
*do* rescue cats from trees (I live in a small town). Well, they came out with
an extendable ladder, which caused the cat to climb another 15 feet higher in
the tree. When the fireman finally reached him and tried to grab him, he bit
the man and proceeded to launch himself from the tree (50'), landing in a bush in
the neighbor's yard. He took off running and didn't come home til 10pm that
night. Smelled like a pine tree, had lost a few pounds, and seemed a little
stiff, but otherwise was fine. Darned if he wasn't stuck in another tree two
weeks later. Being too embarassed to call the fire dept., I just left him up
there. He cried and whined for three days. Then a huge storm came up. It
rained all night. The next morning he was waiting at the back door. Hasn't
happened since.
Lee Falta