My cat fell off the balcony last night.
He's clumsy and fasinated with the edge. Not like my other cat who stays away from the edge and lounges in the sun. He likes to go over and stick his head through the holes on the railing. This concerned me so we wasn't usually allowed out without supervision. To be extra safe, I put parts of the old rabbit cage up over the gaps that were large enough for him to get through. The worked like grates.
I noticed he had pulled one off last night before dinner but I was bringing them in so I didn' t pick it up right away. Later Astrid wanted back out so Chris let her out and I guess Andy went out to. I called them to feed them and only Astrid came. She was already inside which was weird. Normally she needs to be pulled away from outside time. Since she was in I had forgotten the door was open. I had noted that it was weird Andy didn't come beg for table scrapes during dinner and that he hadn't head butted my leg in awhile. When he didn't come for food I began to worry. We searched all the closets etc. Then sawthe door was open and the grate was pulled down. IT was getting dark and we could see.
After several attempts we figured out how to get behind the building. We took a flashlight. A quick glimspe and back upstairs. But then I did research. I had to know for sure. Chris didn't want me to see if he splattered but I had to make sure he wasn't lying down there in pain..
Apparantly cats can survive falls less than 6 stories or greater than 8. It takes them seven floors to reach terminal velocity, so if they hit before that they're usually not falling fast enough to get seriously injured. If they fall greater than that they have time to adjust- once they hit terminal velocity they can no longer feelt he acceleration, which calms them down, and they spread out - kind of like a flying squirell. Cats have been known to survive up to 32 story falls because of this.
We live on the seven floor. The WORST possible chance. He would have hit at terminal velocity without any time to adjust.
Astrid wandered around the house and cried a little extra than normal last night. She's been very affectionate this morning. Last night she let food in Andy's bowl. Chris thinks she might have seen it since she came inside by herself.
It looks like one or two things happened. It looks like he was walking the edge as he was some distance to the right of the grate that had gotten knocked off. He was on his side. So it is possible he lost his balance and toppled over (this happened to him on the Cat tree sometimes.)
There was also a piece of chewed chewing gum kind of in his paw. When I picked him up this morning it was stuck to it. It's possible he fell on it, but it's also possible that someone spit it off of a higher floor and he went after it.
The people on 8 have a bird feeder hanging off their balcany so maybe that was his motivation?
I keep trying to find a reason. And I feel guilty - about the gate, about him beign out there unsuprvised because I got busy. I don't think I'll be letting Astrid out anytime soon - if EVER, even though she has no interest in the edge and is a little afraid of it.
I only had him a month but I loved him. He was goofy and not so bright some times but he LOVED the cuddles, he loved to play, he loved people and company .I miss him and my eyes hurt .
Last night I was so angry. I'm moving on to acceptance. It's stilla dumb way to go. Especially for a cat. I don't feel like I can ever adopt from there again. It's just a bunch of mixed feelings and craziness. He was only a year old :(
He's clumsy and fasinated with the edge. Not like my other cat who stays away from the edge and lounges in the sun. He likes to go over and stick his head through the holes on the railing. This concerned me so we wasn't usually allowed out without supervision. To be extra safe, I put parts of the old rabbit cage up over the gaps that were large enough for him to get through. The worked like grates.
I noticed he had pulled one off last night before dinner but I was bringing them in so I didn' t pick it up right away. Later Astrid wanted back out so Chris let her out and I guess Andy went out to. I called them to feed them and only Astrid came. She was already inside which was weird. Normally she needs to be pulled away from outside time. Since she was in I had forgotten the door was open. I had noted that it was weird Andy didn't come beg for table scrapes during dinner and that he hadn't head butted my leg in awhile. When he didn't come for food I began to worry. We searched all the closets etc. Then sawthe door was open and the grate was pulled down. IT was getting dark and we could see.
After several attempts we figured out how to get behind the building. We took a flashlight. A quick glimspe and back upstairs. But then I did research. I had to know for sure. Chris didn't want me to see if he splattered but I had to make sure he wasn't lying down there in pain..
Apparantly cats can survive falls less than 6 stories or greater than 8. It takes them seven floors to reach terminal velocity, so if they hit before that they're usually not falling fast enough to get seriously injured. If they fall greater than that they have time to adjust- once they hit terminal velocity they can no longer feelt he acceleration, which calms them down, and they spread out - kind of like a flying squirell. Cats have been known to survive up to 32 story falls because of this.
We live on the seven floor. The WORST possible chance. He would have hit at terminal velocity without any time to adjust.
Astrid wandered around the house and cried a little extra than normal last night. She's been very affectionate this morning. Last night she let food in Andy's bowl. Chris thinks she might have seen it since she came inside by herself.
It looks like one or two things happened. It looks like he was walking the edge as he was some distance to the right of the grate that had gotten knocked off. He was on his side. So it is possible he lost his balance and toppled over (this happened to him on the Cat tree sometimes.)
There was also a piece of chewed chewing gum kind of in his paw. When I picked him up this morning it was stuck to it. It's possible he fell on it, but it's also possible that someone spit it off of a higher floor and he went after it.
The people on 8 have a bird feeder hanging off their balcany so maybe that was his motivation?
I keep trying to find a reason. And I feel guilty - about the gate, about him beign out there unsuprvised because I got busy. I don't think I'll be letting Astrid out anytime soon - if EVER, even though she has no interest in the edge and is a little afraid of it.
I only had him a month but I loved him. He was goofy and not so bright some times but he LOVED the cuddles, he loved to play, he loved people and company .I miss him and my eyes hurt .
Last night I was so angry. I'm moving on to acceptance. It's stilla dumb way to go. Especially for a cat. I don't feel like I can ever adopt from there again. It's just a bunch of mixed feelings and craziness. He was only a year old :(
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