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Asked by dalvindk to Damien, Rachael, Simon, Suzi, Tim on 16 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by megaside, witchdoctor101.
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Tim Fosker answered on 14 Jun 2011:
Hi @dalvindk
I don’t really know anything about this from a scientific point of view, but I guess the amount of flexibility in their back (spine) helps. When cats are falling they are able to twist around very quickly. I’m also sure one or two cats have fallen on their backs but it is not something I would experiment on with my cat 🙂
I’ve also heard that toast always falls butter side down (although I’ve seen actually seen toast fall butter side-up). However if the toast and cat information was true we could stick a piece of toast butter side-up to the back of a cat and the cat should just float in mid-air! 🙂
I hope that ‘sort-of’ answered your question.
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Suzi Gage answered on 14 Jun 2011:
LOVING Tim’s answer 🙂
Apparently their nervous system is very sensitive to gravity, and working with their inner ear, they have a really good sense of which way is up. Then combined with Tim’s comment about their flexibility they can turn in the air and land on their feet. Apparently this is only if they’re dropped between certain heights though, otherwise they either don’t have enough time to turn, or…well…that’s not so nice to think about.
Hope that helps 🙂
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Comments
crazy commented on :
😉
Damien commented on :
@Tim: Shouldn’t the cat spin in mid-air? Because its feet are always seeking the ground, but the butter on the toast is also seeking the ground, so they take it in turns to face it?
Tim commented on :
Good point @Damien – We probably shouldn’t test it. That would lead to one very dizzy cat.