How fast do domestic cats run?

The first need to maintain good athletic shape in order to catch mice and birds, as well as to escape from the eternal enemies – dogs. For them, the ability to run fast is necessary for survival.

The second need to hunt only for a bow on a string or for a full bowl, and to escape – if only from the master’s slipper. They do not need to survive – the owners will take care of everything.

A young and active animal can simply rush and play wildly. The feline veteran, wise in life, will save all his strength for a lightning-fast sprint throw.

In general, it is believed that the maximum speed that these animals can develop reaches almost 50 kilometers per hour.

The fastest cat is called representatives of the Egyptian Mau breed. These animals have a special structure of the hind limbs. At the base of the paw, they have additional leathery folds. While running, they help to increase the stride reserve and range of motion, which adds speed.

Felinologists determine the average speed of a cat’s run as 13,5-13,8 kilometers per hour.

And the speed of a cowardly leisurely trot of a cat is slightly more than the speed of a calmly walking person – about 8 kilometers per hour.

Cat running technique

The cat manages to rush with jumps, each of which exceeds the length of its body six times! The front and rear limbs working in pairs help her in this. A push with the hind legs – a long jump – landing on the front, then on the hind legs – again a push and a jump.

When the animal is simply walking, the claws are retracted and it steps on the paw pads. You need to hurry – and the released claws contribute to better traction with the surface, helping to reliably push off for the jump.

The tail acts as a balancer and regulator of the direction of movement. True, bobtails and other tailless breeds are perfectly adapted to do without this cat decoration. They jump no worse, run no slower than their tailed counterparts. However, if the animal is left without a tail as a result of an accident or some kind of disease, it will take a long time to adapt to a full life and activity.

Cats are not marathon runners, but sprinters

But nature, having rewarded felines with speed and dexterity, deprived them of endurance. Like their larger cheetah cousins, normal cats cannot run at high speeds for long periods of time. The difference is that wild older brothers only risk not filling their stomachs, and for younger domestic ones not having time to escape – like death.

The heart of a cat is not adapted to long-term work in conditions of extreme stress. The initial speed is high and allows you to escape. But if the cat is driven by dogs and there is no suitable tree or reliable shelter along the way, then the animal will begin to suffocate and die (not from dog teeth, but from insane overload and stress).