The best I have actually seen to date was a friends cat that would
have been about 8-10 quite happily (voluntarily) jump from the roof of
a 2 storey house to the ground (concrete path) without any troubles
whatsoever.  He then landed smoothly and walked off with his tail in
the air as though he had only just jumped down from the table to the
floor. He was one of those "unbreakable" cats that definitely did have
9 lives however ;)

The other case I heard of (but not seen) was a friends russian blue
fell from a balcony of their 4th storey apartment and land without
problems.   Apparently this had happened several times over the years
that they had had him.  The only problem was the constant howling to
come back inside ;)
In this case it was probably an accidental fall as the balcony edge
was concrete and therefore there was no grip for his claws (unlike
wood).  

There are other items you see occasionally on the news of cats up
power poles, trees etc that are a fair height and often they will
eventually jump down without incident. (usually just as the rescuer is
about to grab them:)

On the other hand, I know of a russian internet friend who's cat fell
from a similar height and didn't survive it :(.  I dont know the
breed, age, what the cat landed on or what was the actual cause of
death.
--------------------

From this - I would have to conclude that if your cat is fit and
healthy it should be pretty safe for your cat to fall/jump if its only
a few metres and there isn't anything glass (and can break and cut the
cat) sharp, pointy etc underneath that it could land on and be stabbed
by.

An old, frail or sick cat is a different story however and I would try
to avoid falls at all costs.  

Also one that is very nervous or fearful there may be a risk of heart
attack/shock from fear of the fall - even if the impact isn't
physically enough to do damage normally ?

I had a guineapig when I was younger and he fell accidentally off the first
floor balcony onto the grass. He survived but smashed his leg to peaces. (It
took a month to heal ).So for a cat, first floor flat should be relatively
safe to jumpfrom, but again depending on a cat, and depending if s/he is
prepared for a jump or startled or slipped. My Tigger fell of a cupboard
recently and landed on his back. Luckily he was OK, but I assumed until then
that all cats land on feet. Well this one didn;t :) Or didnt have space
between a cupboard and open door to turn his body and land properly. On the
other hand Lil One jumped off a first floor window purposely and was
absolutely fine.

All I'm gonna say is don;t risk. He could be OK, or he could break his neck.
Cats are agile.But,is it worth a risk?

if it's only two or three meters
and there is grass below...your cat should be ok

but if it's concrete or any higher...
why take a chance?

A low fall between, let's say one and two floors is dangerous because the
cat can't turn, then it lands better, and beyond a certain height it will at
least get injured. My colleague lost a cat that fell off the balcony of the
third floor.
P.S. Here cats have *seven* lives only ...

Carola

It looks like someone has actually done some research into this -
http://ffden-2.phys.uaf.edu/211.web.stuff/Kuhns/terminal_velocity.htm

Some time ago, I read a news story about this.  There is a middle height
that is more dangerous than higher or lower.  If I remember correctly, 30
feet was the most dangerous height, because cats don't have enough time to
get properly oriented.  If you drop cats from 1000 feet, some will survive
and some won't -- depending on weight and athletic ability.  Sometimes a cat
will survive, but its legs will get messed up.

I am sure when it dies, it stays dead.  Dont really want to tey to find out.

Gary.