A Question of Cat Safety

Jasconius

I am moving to a new place and this new place has a townhouse-ish staircase, over which is, I guess a sort of half-wall/counter thing about 4 feet high that you can lean over and look down onto the staircase which is about 10-12 feet below

I am worried my cat might do something stupid like dart up onto this thing and fall right the fuck off of it and hurt herself.

so

1) can cats deal with this kind of fall
2) how can I prevent her from getting up on this ledge... It's pervasive and easy to get up to.

Chanus

My cats jump on ours all the time... they know where they can and can't jump.

If you want to prevent the cat jumping up, you can put double-sided tape on it... they don't like to walk on that.

But really, there's not much to worry about... at most, if your cat falls, it'll be maybe ten feet... she might end up with sore paws, but she most likely won't get hurt.

Skoal Cat

You can put them there and show them what its like, that way their first jump isn't into unknown territory.

JebusUD

Cats get in trees and the like outside. A 15 foot fall wouldn't hurt your cat. Like they say, cats always land on their feet. I would actually not do the double tape thing. Seems like a great way to get your cat off balance and falling.

Figgy

I have the exact same setup in my house, and I also have a cat. Our "half wall" is actually a railing, so it's even worse.

She jumps up there quite often, if only to get our attention because we yell at her when she does and she jumps down. It's like her way of being a little dick. One of many, actually. One time she did jump up there and fall right off the other side, landing halfway on a cushioned stool that's at the bottom. She wasn't seriously hurt, but it was obvious she wasn't too pleased with the results.

Since, she still hops up from time to time, but we are quick to reprimand her for it. There's nothing you can really do except correct the cat's behaviour.

Shadowfire

We had a 3' triangle cut out of the wall near the ceiling that connected the family room and living room in my old house (cathedral ceilings, so it was pretty high up). My cat got up there once and once he realized how high it was started crying like crazy. He never went up again, though.

What I'm trying to say is, you may want to have a ladder handy, but I wouldn't worry too much.

EggyToast

Cats don't really weigh enough to hurt themselves from that sort of fall. In general your cat is likely to not jump up and dart over it. Would she be falling on to hardwood or carpet?

Elin

National Geographic Video

I have no idea if I can embed that since it's not on youtube, but the video explains exactly how cats handle falling.

Jasconius

its carpet

looks like this wont be a major concern

thanks guys

MushroomStick

Not that I'd recommend it, but I've seen videos of cats jumping down from the tops of telephone poles like it was nothing.

MetroidZoid

Depending on the cat, it's a likely scenario that some time or another, it's going to make that leap and decide nope, not worth it, and will always remember that. My cats has a thing for getting on roofs, and always found a way at the last two houses. The last one included going onto a neighbors roof and THEN skying between houses to get on ours. This current house, the only way up (and down) was a large tree that inevitably he scaled, got up, and didn't want to come down. Eventually he made the 11' jump at the lowest point, and hasn't gone back up since.

Rikushix

Your cat will be fine. I grew up with no less than four cats (staggered) and every single one of them liked to sashay across the second floor banister which dropped down 15+ feet to the ground floor - which was ceramic tile. One of the current ones weighs nearly 20 pounds and he dances around on there like it's nothing. They can slip, but as long as it's a flat, even surface they're not going to do it of their own accord.