This little video from Japan (I think it is Japan) reminds us of the beautiful and astonishingly athletic abilities of the average domestic cat. Or is this cat a special one? Obviously not all domestic cats can do this but a lot can. I lived with one who could do this.
The cat has a superior number of fast twitch muscles in the legs, particularly the hind legs. These muscles are able to contract fast. Some cats are obviously endowed with more than their fair share but all cats have a high percentage.
There are many wild cats, or indeed all the wild cats, that can jump in a similar way. The serval is known for huge vertical jumps and so is the caracal. It is almost unfair to single individual cats out. It is just the cat, period. They are amazing.
The person who made this video did a fabulous job of the slow motion video and the camera angles. You can see how calm and controlled this cat is even when at peak performance. There is no straining when he jumps over 190 cms, which is over 6 feet.
I lived with a little, compact female moggie, half Norwegian Forest Cat who could jump on top of a fridge freezer from a standing position. The top of the freezer must have been 7 and a half feet tall. She could also race down trees head first from 30 feet up. I miss her.
Hi Michael,
When I saw the first jump at 150 cm – almost 5 feet – I thought, not bad but I’ve had cats jump higher than that. Then I watched through the last jump, which was 196 cm (I think) and that was impressive.
Hope his legs don’t get damaged on the hard floor below.
That’s over 6’4″ and it’s really high for a classic domestic cat.
The coolest part of the video were the camera shots – very well done.
I’ve had three cats that were part Maine Coon and one of them could jump incredibly high.
He was a white cat with silky fur and he was pretty big at around 18 pounds and was a brick house – all muscle.
He could jump and wrestle better than any cat I’ve had save perhaps my male Siamese.
He was brilliant and exceptionally polite.
He used to play my guitar by watching me and then plucking a string. Then he’d look up at me as if to ask, “Did I do it well?”. I used to give him a big, reassuring smile and while I stroked him, I’d say “Good boy, that was great”. I think he understood the praise because he used to look pretty happy with himself afterward.
Like your NFC, he was able to jump up on the tall fridge from a stand still. The fridge was about 6 feet, so it wasn’t as tall as your fridge. But I was under the impression that he could have jumped higher if we had anything taller in the room. I used to find him up there pretty often.
I miss my Maine Coons. All three of them were cousins and nearly the same age. They were a close knit family unit.
I rescued them from a very overcrowded house. The house was a tiny one bedroom house with no basement and no attic. There were about 40 cats and 4 dogs crammed in there. The second you walked into that house, urine vapor burned your eyes and nose.
Many died of leukemia. That guys operation got shut down by the city, thankfully.
The guy who had the cats and dogs didn’t spay or neuter any of them. I still shake my head at how ignorant that guy was. I don’t know what he’s up to right now but last I heard he didn’t have any pets and I hope it stays that way.
Cool video.
=^-^= Hairless Cat Girl =^-^=
Our Maine Coon could jump on top the fridge, but he was an enormous beast. I’m more impressed with my mom’s cat Fluffy. She’d wasn’t anywhere near his size and she could do our piano, which is a stand up. Not quite six feet. Her talent was climbing to weird places. We had a clock/fire alarm. I know, a weird setup, even worse when it was electric and made in the late 1960’s in a mobile home. Anyway, the thing fell down and left a tiny tab of a ledge, meaning it stuck out like 2 inches, but was only and inch across. I watched her get up there and I just let sit until mom came out to see. She was furious. I had to move the TV! So next she used the book case. That was a good 5 feet up x 5 feet over onto this tiny ledge. She made me move the piano there. lol. Stupid cat. Not records, I know, but she was just 9-10 lbs. Great video.
Good point. It isn’t just the height cats can get to it’s the accuracy and precision of the jump too. They are enormously precise jumpers. It is a heady combination of power and precision. Cats impress me.
Very impressive! My Lilly can jump very high. It’s shocking sometimes to see her suddenly jump where I thought she could not go. Your lady NFC/moggie sounds amazing. The top of a tall fridge is very high. It must have been impressive to watch her do it. Cats are amazing. Often they can do things we didn’t know – it’s just they choose not to but then one day all of a sudden one of them is up somewhere you once thought out of reach, just looking at you like nothing special is happening. Gotta love them 🙂
Gotta love ’em as u say. My NFC mix was a fine, talented cat. She was small too. Her fur was thick making her look bigger. She was fearless and beautiful. It is hard thinking about her.