Cat's Movement and Equilibrium

Cat's quality of movements can be summarized with two words: grace and precision.

When walking calmly from a warm corner to another, when they go to inspect their territory or when they let themselves be carried by the agitation and the fury of the persecution, cats always use the muscles of their body with unequal economy, efficiency and elegance.

The key to their success as hunters resides in the perfect combination of their sharp senses of hearing, sight and smell, capable of situating and identifying their preys and of determining if it's necessary to act in a cautioned and studied way or fast and precise to catch it.

Amazing agility
Furthermore, the capacity to pass, in a question of a few seconds from being completely still and watchful to the action, is common on all felines, confirms the world of intense sensorial balance in which they live.

The control of their brain over its body is so firm that, even when the cat looses paw in an accident, he always tends to recuperate and to quickly adapt to the new situation. Although their movements will be, of course, more limited than before, the grade of movement they reach permits them to continue their way of life as it was before.

When walking normally, the cat moves first the right front leg, then the left hind leg, the front left leg after and finally the right hind leg, situating a foot in front of the other in a straight line.

When trotting, the interval between movements is shorter than their legs move two and two at the same time, always the front legs with opposition to the posterior ones.

When the trotting gets faster, the two hind legs are sent forward at the same time and the weight of the body falls on the front legs, making them give those amazing jumps that are so characteristic with cats.

During this change of velocity, if the cat has a clear intention, the claws are unsheathed ready to be used. On the opposite, one of the weak points of the cat's dynamic motor is its lace of capacity to maintain their running for a long period.

This characteristic is true for all the feline family, with the only exception of the cheetah that although he isn't a long distance runner, is capable of executing impressing speeds.

From the tiger to the smallest Asian wild cats, the hunting methods are based on patience and concealment, and not in fastness. Being them chasing a prey or escaping from danger, cats always prefer to jump or climb on high places before running, which gives them an advantage over other hunters and preys.