# Cat flies out of 3 story window and walks away. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 18, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-flies-out-of-3-story-window-and-walks-away/686435 "2014-04-18T19:15:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-flies-out-of-3-story-window-and-walks-away/686435/1 "2014-04-18T19:15:14Z")
[Cecil did a column on cats surviving falls.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1143/do-cats-always-land-unharmed-on-their-feet-no-matter-how-far-they-fall) It still is amazing to see it happen so gracefully. That little moggy does spread himself out like a parachute and walks away. Tail up and proud as ever. Cats are so cool. 🙂 I find it amazing cats remain calm and can rationalize the situation. Screw this fire, I’m outta here! A dog would just panic and shut down. They’d find the dog in a corner dead from the smoke. AFAIK dogs wouldn’t jump from a window like that. > **[WATCH: Cat survives jumping from 3rd floor window after lightning strike sets...](https://www.nydailynews.com/2014/04/18/watch-cat-survives-jumping-from-3rd-floor-window-after-lightning-strike-sets-building-on-fire-in-florida/)** > > That’s one of his nine lives gone! Incredible footage shows the moment a terrified cat leapt from the third floor of a burning building – seconds before it caved in. Charlie Jasper was … > [@](#): > > **Extract from Cecil’s column:** Cats have a nonfatal terminal velocity (sounds like a contradiction in terms, but most small animals have this advantage). Once they orient themselves, they spread out like a parachute. There are cats on record that have fallen 20 stories or more without ill effects. As long as the cat doesn’t land on something pointy, it’s likely to walk away." > > You’re thinking: no freaking way. But believers trot out a 1987 study from the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. Two vets examined 132 cases of cats that had fallen out of high-rise windows and were brought to the Animal Medical Center, a New York veterinary hospital, for treatment. On average the cats fell 5.5 stories, yet 90 percent survived. (Many did suffer serious injuries.) > > We know cats have exceptional coordination and balance, so maybe that contributed to the high survival rate. One cat, for example, is known to have survived a 46-story fall. (It apparently bounced off a canopy and into a planter.) ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-flies-out-of-3-story-window-and-walks-away/686435/2 "2014-04-21T16:06:53Z")
I have absolutely no problem with dropping all three of mine out of one of my **Second Story** windows in the event of fire. In fact, if the situation was that bad, I’d probably drop myself out of one of those windows right after them. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-flies-out-of-3-story-window-and-walks-away/686435/3 "2014-04-21T16:18:46Z")
"Hey kids…today, we’re going to teach poodles how to fly! " ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-flies-out-of-3-story-window-and-walks-away/686435/4 "2014-04-21T18:44:09Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > "Hey kids…today, we’re going to teach poodles how to fly! " Oh maaaaaan! ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-flies-out-of-3-story-window-and-walks-away/686435/5 "2014-04-21T19:07:39Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > "Hey kids…today, we’re going to teach poodles how to fly! " Yeah, but what about… Badgers? (D&R…) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-flies-out-of-3-story-window-and-walks-away/686435/6 "2014-04-21T19:40:37Z")
Badgers? Badgers? We don’t need no flying badgers! ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-flies-out-of-3-story-window-and-walks-away/686435/7 "2014-04-21T19:44:01Z")
I’m pretty sure my cat would drop like a bowling ball. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-flies-out-of-3-story-window-and-walks-away/686435/8 "2014-04-21T19:48:01Z")
For the record: the “three-story cat” didn’t walk away, tail up, uninjured. He ran like hell after hitting the ground, and suffered a jaw injury. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-flies-out-of-3-story-window-and-walks-away/686435/9 "2014-04-21T20:00:58Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > I’m pretty sure my cat would drop like a bowling ball. But to be fair, your “cat” is just a bowling ball with whiskers and ears painted onto it. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cat-flies-out-of-3-story-window-and-walks-away/686435/10 "2014-04-21T22:11:51Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > But to be fair, your “cat” is just a bowling ball with whiskers and ears painted onto it. You leave Hambone alone!