Cats are athletic. No other act shows their skill better than jumping. Housecats amaze their owners by jumping directly on top of shelves. Today, we will discuss how this feat is possible.
Multiple questions, such as why cats jump when scared and why my cat is jumpy and scared? will also be answered.
Cats Can Survive Tall Falls
One of the main reasons why cats jump high when scared is because they think they are safe at that height. It is interesting to see that cats can understand that when they jump high, no one will be able to touch or hurt them.
Additionally, cats know that they can survive tall falls. Unlike humans, cats do not get injured when they fall from a long height. The higher fall is, the more time the cat gets to anticipate the landing.
The saying about cats always landing on feet is partially true, but it can also have an awkward landing. Cats train in the art of jumping and landing themselves. No parent cats have to teach their infant cats about this craft. Instead, the kittens spend their time perfecting this craft.
You might be surprised to hear this, but a fall of 10 inches or less is much more dangerous for cats than a long jump. This is because, during longer jumps, the cats get a lot of time to prepare for the landing. Whereas in the shorter jump, the landing is unalarmed.
Resultantly, cats can survive longer falls. On the contrary, shorter jumps are difficult to execute for the cats.
It can be a personality trait
Yes, jumping when scared could be a personality trait too. Some cats jump involuntarily when something scary happens. Cats are small creatures. They do not tend to fight other animals. Unlike lions, tigers, or dogs, cats do not fight.
So, if an animal of other specie threatens a cat, the feline will think about being defensive rather than attacking. Thus, cats jump to protect themselves.
This habit can be created not just during fights but also due to other factors. Not all cats are the same. All animals have different personalities, even if they represent the same specie.
For example, a particular cat may be shy around strangers (maybe due to any bad experience), so a home where strangers frequently visit may be a stressful environment for the cat to live in. As a result, the cat might spend most of its time hiding.
At the same time, a confident cat might not feel the same way. Instead, the confident cat would greet the visitors with joy. This difference is due to unsimilar personality traits.
In the context of jumping, some cats have a personality that they get scared easily. Hence, they jump whenever something incites fear in them. It could be part of their personality that they jump whenever someone or something scares them.
On the other hand, a brave cat would not do the same. Instead, the brave cat would look the problem in the eye and face them. These differences in cats make the whole experience of petting beautiful.
You shouldn’t complain if your cat is not habitual of being brave all the time. You’re not supposed to expect too much from your cat in terms of emergencies. Animals do not possess the thinking capacity of humans. Hence, they can’t make decisions instantly. So, you should not force anything on their personality.
Lack of exposure
Your cat might also jump excessively due to lack of exposure. It might be possible that your cat never has to face any situation during childhood where you could train it to handle situations. Just as we prepare our cats for specific tasks, we can also condition them to stay confident during emergencies.
Our cats can adapt if we train them correctly. For example, let us take two cats. One of them has not gone through instances where it had to face problems on its own. Therefore, the cat will be more likely to get scared.
Hence, the cat will jump as soon as it goes through an unexpected moment. The other cat has been conditioned into remaining calm in dire moments. This cat will have better exposure comparatively. Thus, it will be able to perform better.
Jumping can be a survival mechanism for cats
Well, most of the reasons mentioned above are relatable to pet cats. However, for wild cats, most of the reasons are unrelatable. For wild cats, the situation is different. They have to live their entire lives in the big scary world on their own.
In addition, they face a lot of predators in their lives. Hence, they have to prepare themselves to survive such encounters.
For wild cats, jumping can be a survival mechanism against predators. Our pet cats might rarely ever encounter a predator in their lifetimes because we keep them protected in our homes. However, these wild cats do not share the same fate as pet cats. They have to protect themselves out there in the cold. During the most challenging situation, jumping is all they can do.
Keep in mind that animals have different coping mechanisms depending on their encounters with nature. Remember that every cat has a different reflex when accompanied with a challenging situation. So you might want to handle your cat accordingly.
How do cats jump so high?
So we first talked about the reasons why cats jump when scared. Now, we will talk about how they jump so high.
Scientifically speaking, most modern cats are descendants of North African wildcats. It was a tree-dwelling specie. These cats needed to jump high on trees to protect themselves. They also required the ability to twist and turn.
Not all, but some of the domestic cats of today share the same qualities as these ancestral wildcats.
The physiology of cats helps them in being great leapers. Cats have more than 500 muscles in their body. Luckily, all these muscles play a role in their jumps.
Physiological factors improving the jumps of cats
There are other physiological factors involved contributing to the high jumps of cats. Multiple factors aid cats in aiming so high while they are leaping into the air. The other physiological factors have been mentioned below:-
- Cats have strong hinds and legs. Therefore their muscles can put a lot of strength while jumping. In addition, cats also have a lot of strength in their muscles, which helps generate more power.
- The cushions of cat paws possess dozens of nerve receptors. The nerve receptors help assess the jump. The cat can decide the best surfaces for jumping and landing. Furthermore, cats may also use their tails for balance.
- A cat has more than 200 bones. About 20 of these bones are part of its spine. As a result, the cat has a highly flexible spine. This flexibility enables it to land even under challenging situations. This reflex used by cats is called righting reflex.
How High can cats jump when scared?
An adult cat can jump around five to six times his body length. This length is about 8 feet. Cats can jump at this height both vertically and horizontally.
The height of the jump depends on the size of the cat. If the cat is small, it will not be able to jump at such a huge height. When cats get scared, they just voluntarily jump as hard as they can.
Other factors can also change the outcome of the jump. For example, if a cat has any kind of physical ailment, then it will not be able to jump for such a long distance. It is also possible that the cat is unable to land correctly too.
Therefore, we cannot always predict how high the cat will jump when something scares it.
If a cat is going through a disease, it can’t move like before. In such a situation, the cat might not jump after getting scared. However, cats can give different reactions depending on various conditions and contexts.
Final Verdict
Well, we have discussed why cat jumps so high and the mechanism behind it too. But, considering everything, one thing is for certain. It’s that cats love jumping and being athletic. You cannot deny that cats are always in the mood to show their skills.
Additionally, cats are made for such maneuvers from a scientific point of view. Historically, cats have been like this for centuries. So regardless of what we say today, it was normal for cats to jump throughout recorded history.
When cats see a threat to themselves or encounter something they can’t control, they are bound to jump. It is their way of coping with the problem. We might think this coping mechanism can hurt them, but it is normal for them. Your felines are instinctively trained to jump from heights. They can typically land even after jumping from the top of buildings.
Keeping these factors in mind, your felines can quickly jump through rooftops and buildings. In addition, their body characteristics and features allow them to attempt impossible tasks for humans.
Therefore, you do not have to worry too much about your cat getting injured during these jumps. Thus, you need to let them do their acrobats. Just ensure that your cat constantly repeats this brave feat without getting injured.
We do not want our pawed buddy to get hurt because of these jumps. However, if your kitten cannot attempt these jumps flawlessly, we recommend you keep a strong eye on them. Furthermore, you must condition your cat to stay away from jumps if it constantly hurts itself.
