Let’s consider a series of the most popular objections from people who are firmly convinced that their cat won’t jump out of a window.

"Our cat is afraid of heights, so she won’t jump!"

Cats don’t jump out of windows on purpose. A fall is always an accident, which happens because cats are not naturally afraid of heights due to the high-rise syndrome we discussed in the previous post.

But even if, for some reason, your cat is afraid of heights:

• Health condition (e.g., experiencing pain, especially in the joints, which is common in Scottish Fold cats with chondrodysplasia, a genetic joint disorder);

• Psycho-emotional state (e.g., being stressed, panicking, or fearful when being picked up or in a new environment, such as a noisy balcony with unfamiliar smells);

• Severe obesity, which prevents them from jumping high.

None of this eliminates the possibility that a cat might fall accidentally—while playing, while hunting birds or insects, out of fear, during play with another cat, or even while sleeping on the windowsill of an open window without a protective screen.

You’ve likely seen how erratically cats leap when suddenly startled. This could happen in a SECOND on an unprotected window without an anti-cat screen. And a cat can be startled by anything. It’s not just about visual stimuli but also their acute hearing. More on this and their hunting instinct will be discussed in the next article.