The parachutist cat syndrome

We have always seen cats as great tightrope walkers, agile, fast and very clever, so much so that we say that they have 7 lives. But the fact is, they do not always succeed in their strategies, they have calculation errors, impulses difficult to control, among other factors and sometimes the flight, the pursuit or the game go wrong and end in accident.

Did you know that there is a syndrome in felines known as the parachutist cat syndrome? A priori it may sound funny, but it is a problem that should worry those who have a domestic cat in their lives, especially if they live in tall buildings, precisely because of these natural mistakes they can make.

Keep reading this new article to discover what it is about the parachutist cat syndrome and how to act in case it occurs.

What is the parachutist cat syndrome

This syndrome, also known as the flying cat syndrome, deals with the domestic accident that most commonly suffer cats and is that falls from great heights happen much more than we can think.

Our cat may chase another, an insect or a bird and decide to jump confidently through the window to go after its target and at that moment our cat is acting in the way known as the flying cat or parachutist syndrome.

Many times we see how they fall gracefully, as if it did not cost them the least effort, because it is a low height, or, in cases of more height they leave us even more open-mouthed when they make a turn in the air that allows them to fall suitable way to cushion the fall and run away. It is precisely at an intermediate height, ie a height too high to fall smoothly with a simple jump and too low to be able to make the turn and fall with the legs in front, or when it is an extremely high height and as much as can be placed well the impact is too strong, when there is danger to our cat.

This syndrome occurs when the feline executes decided, but in a way that ignores the set of real variables, a jump from an inadequate height to be able to do it correctly and the result varies according to that height and the previous physical state of the animal.

Are there cats more prone than others?

A factor that is known with certainty that does not affect the propensity in this case, is the factor of the cat’s sexual gender. Instead, yes it will affect the fact that be sterilized or not, in case of not being, it is very common for them to control the sexual impulse that always leads them to escape from home and an option is always the window or the balcony.

Another factor is age, because the younger the more curiosity and inexperience the cat has. In addition, in adolescence is when the sex drive mentioned above is higher.

In the case of kittens of a few months there is also a clear propensity, the inexperience It is very high because they are still learning and knowing the world. A part of the process of learning a kitten is to learn to measure distances, hence the funny videos circulating on the Internet of clumsy little cats that fall trying to reach places that turn out to be further away than they thought. Precisely, as they are not aware of the distance from their window or balcony to the floor or the nearest surface, confident jump and fall ill.

In addition, it is possible that a kitten that does not have a normal learning process will not learn many things about being a cat and in these cases, even if the cat is older, it will never act in a completely catlike way and if one of the things affected in their learning were distances, this cat will have more chances of falling from your balcony or window.

The good thing about all this is that there are different ways to prevent this from happening regardless of how our cat is. Later in this article we will discuss the most effective forms of prevention.

How to act and first aid

As soon as we detect that a cat has had a spectacular fall we must approach to evaluate the possible damages. It is vital that If the animal does not get up on its own, do not pick it up or move First of all, if not we should call veterinary urgencies to tell us the best possible, according to the condition of the animal, how to handle it to transport it or what will be the best option.

If the fall has been from an intermediate height, it is quite likely that no external wounds will be seen and even that the furry will get up on its own. Even so, the most advisable will always be go immediately to the vet, because it is very easy that there are internal wounds and these can go from mild to very serious. We may only notice a slight limp, but we must take it and take it to a complete review as it may be a broken leg or even internal injuries that should be treated immediately.

In the event that in the fall there have been external wounds, it will depend on the severity of these and the general state of the cat that is convenient or not that we do something ourselves. We must think that in the falls of cats with parachutist syndrome the most important wounds are the internal wounds, especially the break of the palate and the front legs, followed by breaks in the thorax and abdomen.

Another result in these cases is death, which usually occurs when the fall is from a height of floors too high, either instantaneous or after a short time due to internal injuries.

Due to the variety of possible results, First aid that we can offer ourselves is very limited, the most relevant being the immediate observation, the call to the emergency room and following in their footsteps, and taking the injured or apparently unharmed cat to the nearest veterinarian.

The life of our faithful cat friend, in many cases, will depend on being able to do these simple steps as quickly as possible.

Efficient prevention

As we have said before, there are many ways to avoid these accidents. For example, starting with sterilize our cat or cat and thus greatly reducing the likelihood that he feels the need to run away from home.

Another very logical and simple way is to avoid access to windows and balconies, but if you can not or want to, at least you can avoid the exit through these parts of the house. We will have properly place screens or mosquito nets and so our cats will not be able to go out there, but they will be able to watch and browse the way they like it.

Another idea is to make sure you enrich your environment enough inside the house so that you do not look for food or fun. We can provide interactive games for cats, search for food through several points of the house, if possible there is more than one cat to be always accompanied, scrapers at different levels and with various toys, circuits, shelves, etc.

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