Why Cats Have Nine Lives
By Ted H Stuart
Many, many years ago the ancient Egyptians believed that cats were sacred creatures, and they actually worshiped them. An Egyptian goddess called Bast (or Bastet) was said to have the head of a cat, and the body of a woman. Legend has it that she would bring cats back to life nine times - which gave rise to the myth that cats have nine lives.
While in most countries, cats are said to have nine lives there are some exceptions. In Arabic countries and Turkey the slightly less fortunate cats have six lives, and in Germany and some Spanish speaking countries they have seven lives.
An old book (written in the middle of the 16th century by English author William Baldwin) called "Beware the Cat" contains the phrase "It is permitted for a witch to take her cat's body nine times". During the Dark Ages, many so-called witches were burned at the stake, accompanied by their poor, unfortunate cat.
Some people believe in the superstition that cats have many lives as they can survive falls from great heights with few, if any, injuries. However cats actually survive these falls that would otherwise kill humans or other animals not because they have multiple lives, but because of several natural advantages they possess. Their small size, low body weight and flexible bodies all combine to soften the impact as they land after a fall.
Cats also have an unusually good sense of balance, which allows a cat falling upside down to right themselves by quickly determining their position (upside down or upright), repositioning their body, and making any adjustments necessary to make sure they land safely on all four paws.
By landing on all fours, the impact from the fall is absorbed by all four legs which helps cushion the landing. In addition the very flexible cat also bends its legs when it lands, which cushions the impact by spreading the load through the joints and muscles as well - rather than just the bones which could easily break.
There is an interesting note to add, in that a cat actually stands a better chance of surviving a fall from a greater hight than a lower height! Data gathered by New York veterinarians from their feline patients supports this fact. 10% of their patients died after falling from 2-6 stories, while amazingly only 5% of the cats died when the height was 7-32 stories!
The vets worked out that this was because the additional height buys the cat more time to spread their body into an umbrella shape, which slow's the cat's fall - a bit like them having their very own built-in parachute!
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