Title: High-rise syndrome

{{Short description|Cat injury from falling from a building}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2025}}
[[File:Berlin Badensche Straße Katze auf Balkon 03.10.2011 14-48-09.jpg|thumb|Cats have a natural attraction to high places.]]
'''High-rise syndrome''' is a veterinary term for injuries sustained by a [[cat]] [[Falling (accident)|falling]] from a building,&lt;ref name=&quot;ASPCA 1&quot;&gt;{{cite web |title=Common Cat Diseases |at=&quot;High-Rise Syndrome&quot; section |url= https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/cat-care/common-cat-diseases |website=ASPCA.org |publisher=[[American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals]] |access-date=27 March 2015 |date=&lt;!--undated--&gt; |author=&lt;!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--&gt;}}&lt;/ref&gt; typically higher than two stories ({{convert|7|–|9|m|ft|abbr=on}}).

== Injuries sustained by cats falling ==
Common injuries sustained in cats after a fall include:
* Broken bones, most often the jawbone as the cat's chin hits the ground; a [[Mandibular fracture|broken jawbone]] and [[Dental trauma|damaged or fractured teeth]] are the typical signs of a cat having sustained injuries in a fall.
* Injuries to the legs: joint injury; [[Tendon rupture|ruptured tendons]]; ligament injury; broken legs.
* Internal injuries, especially to the lungs&lt;ref&gt;{{cite web |url= http://sciencebasedlife.wordpress.com/2012/04/13/how-do-cats-survive-falls-from-great-heights/ |title=How do cats survive falls from great heights? |work=Science-Based Life |first=Kyle |last=Hill |date=13 April 2012 }}&lt;/ref&gt;

Studies done of cats that have fallen from two to 32 stories, and are still alive when brought to a veterinarian clinic, show that the overall survival rate is 90 percent of those treated.&lt;ref&gt;{{cite journal |last=Diamond |first=Jared M. |author-link=Jared Diamond |date=14 April 1988 |title=Why cats have nine lives |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=332 |issue=6165 |pages=586–587 |doi=10.1038/332586a0 |pmid=3357516}}&lt;/ref&gt;&lt;ref name=&quot;straightdope&quot;&gt;{{cite web |url= https://www.straightdope.com/21342281/do-cats-always-land-unharmed-on-their-feet-no-matter-how-far-they-fall |title=Do cats always land unharmed on their feet, no matter how far they fall? |work=[[The Straight Dope]] |date=19 July 1996 |access-date=13 May 2021}}&lt;/ref&gt;&lt;ref name=&quot;ASPCA 1&quot; /&gt;&lt;ref name=&quot;Vnuk et al. 2004&quot;&gt;{{cite journal |title=Feline high-rise syndrome: 119 cases (1998–2001) |first1=D. |last1=Vnuk |first2=B. |last2=Pirkić |first3=D. |last3=Matičić |first4=B. |last4=Radišić |first5=M. |last5=Stejskal |first6=T. |last6=Babić |first7=M. |last7=Kreszinger |first8=N. |last8=Lemo |date=1 October 2004 |journal=Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery |volume=6 |issue=5 |pages=305–312 |doi=10.1016/j.jfms.2003.07.001 |pmid=15363762 |doi-access=free|pmc=10822212 }}&lt;/ref&gt;

In a study performed in 1987 it was reported that cats that survive a fall from less than six stories have greater injuries than cats who fall from higher than six stories.&lt;ref&gt;{{cite journal |pmid=3692980 |date=1987 |last1=Whitney |first1=W. O. |last2=Mehlhaff |first2=C. J. |title=High-rise syndrome in cats |volume=191 |issue=11 |pages=1399–403 |journal=Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association}}&lt;/ref&gt;&lt;ref&gt;{{cite web |url=http://www.petplace.com/cats/highrise-syndrome-in-cats/page1.aspx |title=Highrise Syndrome in Cats |work=PetPlace.com |first=Dawn |last=Ruben |date=21 September 2014 |access-date=6 November 2007 |archive-date=21 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221170844/http://www.petplace.com/cats/highrise-syndrome-in-cats/page1.aspx |url-status=dead }}&lt;/ref&gt; It has been proposed that this might happen because cats reach [[terminal velocity]] after righting themselves (see below) at about five stories, and after this point they are no longer accelerating, which causes them to relax, leading to less severe injuries than in cats who have fallen from less than six stories. Another possible explanation for this phenomenon is [[survivorship bias]], that cats who die in falls are less likely to be brought to a veterinarian than injured cats, and thus many of the cats killed in falls from higher buildings are not reported in studies of the subject.&lt;ref name=straightdope/&gt;

In a 2004 study, it was reported that cats falling from higher places suffered more severe injuries than those experiencing shorter drops.&lt;ref name=&quot;Vnuk et al. 2004&quot; /&gt;

== Righting ==
{{Main|Cat righting reflex}}
During a fall from a high place, a cat can reflexively twist its body and right itself using its acute [[Equilibrioception|sense of balance]] and its flexibility.&lt;ref&gt;{{cite web |url= http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~barneye/kitty.html |title=Falling Cats |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070712033200/http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~barneye/kitty.html |archive-date=12 July 2007}} This material is originally from a magazine, but it is unclear which one.&lt;/ref&gt;&lt;ref&gt;{{cite web |first=Reto U. |last=Schneider |title=1894 Falling Cats |work=Verrückte Experimente |date=2004 |url= http://www.verrueckte-experimente.de/leseproben_e.html |access-date=24 October 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20050921124243/http://www.verrueckte-experimente.de/leseproben_e.html |archive-date=21 September 2005}}&lt;/ref&gt; This is known as the cat's &quot;[[Cat righting reflex|righting reflex]]&quot;. The minimum height required for this to occur in most cats (safely) would be around {{convert|90|cm|ft|abbr=on}}.

However, it has been argued that, after having reached terminal velocity, cats would orient their limbs horizontally such that their body hits the ground first.&lt;ref name=&quot;Vnuk et al. 2004&quot; /&gt;
A 1987 study speculated that this is done after falling five stories to ensure the cat reaches a terminal velocity by thereafter relaxing and spreading their bodies to increase [[Drag (physics)|drag]].&lt;ref name=&quot;straightdope&quot; /&gt;&lt;ref&gt;A 1987 study published in the ''Journal of the [[American Veterinary Medical Association]]'' of 132 cats that were brought into the New York Animal Medical Center after having fallen from buildings.&lt;/ref&gt; In 2021, a Chicago cat jumped from the fifth floor of a burning building, bounced after landing on a grass lawn feet-first and survived with no injuries.&lt;ref&gt;{{cite news |last=Picheta |first=Rob |title=Cat jumps from fifth-floor of burning building, bounces and strolls away |url= https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/14/us/cat-fire-jump-scli-intl/index.html |work=[[CNN]].com |access-date=25 August 2021}}&lt;/ref&gt;

== Reasons cats fall from high places ==
Cats have a natural fondness for heights, which leads to falls when the cat is distracted or goes to sleep. If this were to occur in a tree, the cat might be able to save itself by grabbing on with its claws.  Many building materials such as concrete and painted metal do not allow a cat to grip successfully.&lt;ref name=&quot;ASPCA 2&quot;&gt;{{cite web |author=&lt;!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--&gt; |date=2012 |title=High-Rise Syndrome |url=http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/cat-care/high-rise-syndrome |website=ASPCA.org |publisher=[[American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals]] |access-date=30 April 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150918225534/http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/cat-care/high-rise-syndrome |archive-date=18 September 2015}}&lt;/ref&gt;

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Domestic cat}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:High-Rise Syndrome}}
[[Category:Cat behavior]]
[[Category:Syndromes in cats]]