Published Jun 15, 2026
Kirsten McCarthy / Cats.com
One of the wonders of feline biology is the ability of cats to almost always land upright on their feet, even if the cat falls facing a different direction. For example, if you accidentally bump your cat off the bed and he falls off feet last, he will twist in midair and still land on all fours. How do cats do that?
This question has intrigued scientists for more than a century, and the most recent study, led by a veterinary physiologist in Japan, showed that cats’ ability to land upright after a fall is partly due to differences in flexibility between the cat’s upper and lower spine. This combination of spinal flexibility and controlled rotation helps cats reorient themselves in midair and land on their paws.
Yasuo Higurashi, a researcher in Yamaguchi University’s Laboratory of Veterinary Physiology and Biochemistry, and his colleagues studied the mechanical properties of a cat’s spine in a study published in The Anatomical Record. The researchers found that the thoracic spine, located in the front half of the cat’s body, is much more flexible than the lumbar spine in the rear half. The stiffer lumbar spine doesn’t rotate as easily as the upper thoracic spine.
“The flexibility of the thoracic spine and the stiffness of the lumbar spine were strikingly contrasting,” Higurashi tells Cats.com in an email. “The thoracic spine had a range of slack motion, whereas the lumbar spine had very little.”
Kirsten McCarthy / Cats.com
The behavior in which cats reorient themselves in midair is academically called the “air-righting behavior” – a function that has been studied but not explained well, until this study, Higurashi says.
“Physicists have long tried to explain how cats perform this behavior, but how easily the cat’s spine can twist had not been well-understood,” he says. “This study provided data on the actual twisting flexibility of the cat’s spine.”
Higurashi and his team conducted the study by examining the spines of deceased cats and twisting them. They also dropped live cats from low heights to study their trunk motion, with thick and soft cushions at the landing site. The researchers found that the upper portions of the cats’ bodies twisted before the lower portions; the dead cats’ spinal areas were distinct when twisting. The thoracic region was less stiff and more flexible.
Before beginning the study, Higurashi wasn’t sure what to expect.
“I had seen videos of cats performing the air-righting behavior, but since it was my first time testing it myself, I was unsure whether the cats would actually perform the behavior,” he says.
For future research, Higurashi and his team plan to collect more data about falling cats, and construct 3-D and mathematical models, he told The New York Times.
Kirsten McCarthy / Cats.com
As lithe and agile as cats may be, we must still consider safety and possible injury hazards. It’s important to note that, while cats usually land on their feet – and they almost always do with simple falls at home, like when they squirm out of our arms or fall off the bed – a very high or rough fall, like from a multi-story building, can indeed injure and kill a cat. The righting reflex helps reduce the risk of damage to a cat’s head, neck and spine, but it doesn’t prevent it altogether. A fall can cause soft tissue damage, jaw fracture, broken teeth and limbs, a fractured pelvis, and lung damage.
In 2004, a study published in The Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery examined the cases of 119 cats that had fallen from a balcony or building two or more stories high. The study found that 96.5% of these cats survived the falls, but nearly half of them suffered broken bones, and others got damage to their teeth or chests.
Our cats’ bodies are amazing but not invincible, so take precautions to protect your cats from bad falls.
Higurashi advises cat parents to observe their cats’ backs and learn from them.
“The secret of the cat’s flexibility lies in the thoracic spine,” he says. “Please take a close look at the twisting and bending movements of your cat’s thoracic spine.”
