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When cats jump

post #1 of 9
9/5/10 at 9:46am
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I learned a fascinating new (to me anyway) fact today about how cats jump. You know how they will stand there weaving thir heads around and moving their bodies up and down before they make a big jump? They can calculate from the movement of their head relative to the place they want to land exactly what the angle of the jump should be and the trajectory of the curve needed to land in t he right place. I always thought they were just being indecisive or getting up the courage to make the jump!
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post #2 of 9
9/5/10 at 10:36am
Lots of animals and insects calculate before a jump. Spiders and preying mantis do, too.
I see this a lot in my golden geckos, and this method works on cats too, and when I see them starting to calculate a jump I will simply block their view. They can't make the jump.
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post #3 of 9
9/5/10 at 11:38am
I find with my manx,they go from a quick sit and then stra8ight to the jump,Going up stairs they use there back legs ands look like a bunny,they hop upso much our pets.
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post #4 of 9
9/5/10 at 11:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jennyranson View Post
I learned a fascinating new (to me anyway) fact today about how cats jump. You know how they will stand there weaving thir heads around and moving their bodies up and down before they make a big jump? They can calculate from the movement of their head relative to the place they want to land exactly what the angle of the jump should be and the trajectory of the curve needed to land in t he right place. I always thought they were just being indecisive or getting up the courage to make the jump!
Wow, that is interesting! It also explains why Queen Eva is still so clumsy and misses her mark so often, she does not yet do any calculating before jumping.

However she loves to copy anything Tolly does so hopefully she will learn how to jump properly too.
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post #5 of 9
9/5/10 at 11:58am
^Planning is not a kitten's forte, or that of my big fluffy Sherman.
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post #6 of 9
9/5/10 at 12:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cruiser View Post
I find with my manx,they go from a quick sit and then stra8ight to the jump,Going up stairs they use there back legs ands look like a bunny,they hop upso much our pets.
If it is low enough or a nearly vertical jump to an established height (kitchen counter for example...), I suppose cats don't need head bobbing to generate visual motion cues because it is already a learned behavior. Amazing that orienting in space for an angle shot, even if it is jumped every day, must be less mentally taxing than simply storing and retrieving the trajectory in memory.
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post #7 of 9
9/5/10 at 2:02pm
Pay close attention to their pupils when they are about to jump- they are also used to calculate the distance/depth of the jump by closing and opening them. Cats are amazing "machines"!
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post #8 of 9
9/5/10 at 2:21pm
Oooh, that is fascinating, thanks for sharing!
Ripley is really agile but I always thought she was 'plucking up the courage' for her amazingly accurate jumps!
I now have renewed respect!
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post #9 of 9
9/5/10 at 2:25pm
Our cat chirps just a little bit before jumping. It's like he's saying to, "Watch me!"

My vet said that a cat's back leg claws shouldn't be clipped, as they use these for balancing and 'digging' in' before a jump.

Lin
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