This may sound like some urban legend, but in fact "High Rise Syndrome" refers to the typical types of injuries that are seen when cats fall from a significant height — anything from two stories to twenty stories or more. Veterinarians at just one major New York City veterinary center, especially during the warmer months when more apartment windows are opened, see an average of five cats a week that have fallen from high rises.
ASPCA high-rise facts about cats and high-rise safety:
Cats have excellent survival instincts and they don't deliberately "jump" from high places that would be dangerous. Most cats fall accidentally from high-rise windows, terraces, or fire escapes.
Cats can slip through childproof window guards. To fully protect your cat, you should install screens in your windows.
Cats have an incredible ability to focus their attention on whatever interests them. A bird or other animal attraction can be distracting enough to cause them to lose their balance and fall.
Because cats seem to have little fear of heights and enjoy perching in high places, pet owners assume they can take care of themselves. Although they can cling to the bark of trees with their claws, other surfaces — such as window ledges, concrete or brick surfaces — are much more difficult.
It is a misconception that cats won't be injured if they fall from one or two story buildings. They may actually be at greater risk for injury when falling shorter distances than by falling from mid-range or higher altitudes. Shorter distances do not give them enough time to adjust their body posture to fall correctly.
Remember that when cats fall from high-rise buildings they may end up on sidewalks or streets that are dangerous and unfamiliar to them. Never assume that the animal has survived the fall; take the animal immediately to the nearest animal hospital or veterinarian.
There is a 90% survival rate for cats that are high-rise victims if they receive immediate and appropriate medical attention.
Lady - A Recent Member
of Feline Flying Club
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Lady Healed
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Sugar, One Day After Falling 18 Floors
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Several studies conducted in New York City, as well as a study done in a European city, all paint the same pictures with similar conclusions and discussion — and firmly established that far-falling felines are by no means a rarity.
The cats at greatest risk are younger cats — cats up to two or three years old comprise the bulk of the falling felines. Despite their amazing balance they can still tumble off of fire escapes, balconies, or through open windows that are not securely screened. All cats have the innate capacity to fixate like a laser on potential prey. This is a distracting disadvantage in the city high rise environment! The younger, inexperienced cats tend to be less aware of their surroundings. Many are still practicing and learning their feline predatory moves and how the laws of physics apply to them.
Of fallen felines who were brought to the Animal Medical Center in NYC — these are the statistics:
High-rise syndrome was diagnosed in 132 cats over a five month period.
The mean age of the cats was 2.7 years.
Most victims fell onto pavement/concrete.
Ninety percent of the cats had some form of chest trauma. Of these, 68% had lung bruising and 63% had a collapsed lung. Abnormal respiratory patterns were evident clinically in 55%.
Other common clinical findings included facial trauma (57%)
Limb fractures (39%),
Shock (24%),
Traumatic joint luxations (18%),
Hard palate fractures (17%), and
Dental fractures (17%).
Emergency (life-sustaining) treatment, primarily because of thoracic trauma and shock, was required in 37% of the cats.
Non-emergency treatment was required in an additional 30%.
The remaining 30% were observed, but did not require treatment.
Ninety percent of the treated cats survived.
How and why do 90% of these cats get by so well? Many folks would be open here to invoke the mysterious powers that cats possess, that they have nine lives and so forth. However, analysis of the known, including some basic physics, provides the current speculations on such high survival rates.
Most of us are aware of cats' incredible ability to right themselves in mid-air. A cat can maneuver into an upright posture — appropriate for landing — within the first two and a half to three feet of any fall. From this initially muscles-tensed reflexive positioning, cats in a fall relax their muscles to gradually assume a "flying squirrel" positioning. This seems to occur in cats as they achieve terminal velocity. While the maximum (terminal) velocity of a human falling thru the air is 130 mph, the falling cats in their reflexive position only reach a terminal velocity of 60 mph.
So when kitty hits at their relatively lower speed, kitty is relaxed (instead of tense) and their splayed-out position (maximum surface area) spreads out the force of impact on their (again, relatively) low mass bodies. The studies all suggest that it takes cats about five or six stories of falling to achieve terminal velocity and for kitty to become a relaxed flying squirrel. Perhaps feeling the diminishing acceleration from gravity as it turns into a neutral free fall, they gradually relax their bodies.
In any case, the death rate for cats falling "only" two to six stories is 10%. Yet the death rate for falling from seven stories or higher is only half of that at 5% ! The studies on this include mentions of cats surviving falls of 32 and 46 stories.
This is all so astounding, yet we must remember in all our amazement that vertical flight is hardly recreational for our cats, and that it is preventable.
