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Cat survives fall from three-storey building

Moggies have an ability to escape unscathed after plunging from great heights

Antonia Molloy
Sunday 04 May 2014 11:02 EDT
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It is said that cats have nine lives – but one moggy tested the theory to the extreme.

This is the moment a cat plunged from a three-storey building - and survived.

The feline is seen crawling through a hole in the roof before realising that there is nowhere left to go.

It turns around and attempts to scale the building but then suddenly loses its grip.

Plummeting to the concrete below, the cat is seen free-falling for around three seconds.

But it lands upright on the ground and quickly sprints away as another feline chases after it.

However, the feat is not as miraculous as it initially appears. Cats are naturally springy on their feet and can survive falls from even greater heights than the one seen here.

A 1987 study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association found that when moggies reach terminal velocity, having righted themselves after a fall, they spread out like a parachute, which minimises injuries upon impact.

So that’s why the lucky cat in the video looks like a flying squirrel…

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