海外「うちの猫はいつも家の同じ場所でジャンプする」

How good is the cat’s jumping ability?
Cats have excellent jumping power that can fly about five times their body length, and 1.5 to 2 meters, such as refrigerators and shelves, can easily jump without running.

If you convert the height to a human being, you can jump up to about 7 to 9 meters, that is, the second to third floors of the building without running.

comparison with other animals
How good is the jumping power of such a cat compared to other animals?
Why cats are so good at jumping compared to different animals
Next, let’s get closer to the reason why cats are good at jumping.

My ancestors lived on trees
The cat’s ancestors were arboreal hunting animals called “Miaquis”.

Although the surface of the Miaquis was dominated by large carnivorous mammals, it evolved specifically for tree life about 25 million years ago, dogs chose to live on the surface, and cats chose to continue living on the tree.

It is believed that small cats have acquired agile physical abilities to obtain food and escape predators, and from their remnants they have become able to jump and move quickly.

have developed hind leg muscles
The cat’s leg muscles are composed of quick muscles with excellent instantaneous power.
The fast muscle is a muscle specialized for instantaneous power, and it is provided at a high rate for athletes in sports such as sprinting and weightlifting.

The cat’s high jumping ability is also produced by this fast track, and although he is good at agile movements such as jumping and running fast, he has no endurance, and it is said that cat cheetahs with a maximum speed of over 100 kilometers per hour can maintain that speed for about 10 seconds.

flexible spine
The cat’s spine is very flexible and plays an important role in jumping power.

When jumping high, the cat’s posture looks at the point of arrival, shrinks its legs and curls its back tightly.
From this rounded posture, you kick the ground with your hind legs, which are composed of quick muscles, and jump high using the strength of your spine.

The flexibility of the spine is structured to withstand the strong impact of falling, and the flexibility of the spine can be used to twist the body to recover its posture in the air and land safely with a high probability.

have a good sense of balance
Cats have an excellent sense of balance, which also helps them jump.

A nerve called vestibular nerve is connected to the semicircular tube, which controls the sense of balance, so it can accurately detect the direction, gravity, centrifugal force, etc. of the body.

Cats have developed tricircular tubes and vestibular nerves compared to other mammals, so even if they jump from a high place, they can keep track of their body orientation and land well without losing their balance.