13 Photos of Cats in Action

Cats are known for their playfulness, agility, and tendency to get themselves into a whole lot of trouble. Despite their frequent escapades, it’s hard to catch cats in action, but when you do, it’s a feline photographic masterpiece. Check out 13 of our favorite photos of kitties flipping, fighting, and flying.

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Reach for the sky

Cats have powerful muscles in their hind legs that allow them to jump up to five times their own height in just one leap.

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Airborne

Between 3 and 7 weeks of age, kittens become very playful and first begin to jump and climb as they explore their environment.

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Hold on tight

Kittens are born with hunting instincts, and through play, they develop the coordination and skills needed to capture prey. Taking the time to play with your cat — especially with strings or toy wands that mimic moving prey — will stimulate your pet's predatory nature and make him less likely to pounce on you and bite.

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Break it up

Cats fight for a variety of reasons, including hormones, jealousy and in defense of territory. If your cats are fighting, veterinarians advise spraying the felines with water or making a loud noise to break them up — never try to physically separate them.

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Anything dogs can do

Feline agility competitions are growing in popularity at cat shows worldwide. Modeled after canine agility competitions, the tournaments feature a ring in which cat owners try to coax cats to climb stairs, jump through hoops and weave around poles in as short a time as possible.

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Fighting like cats and dogs

Not all cats and dogs actually fight. In fact, most cats enjoy company and many make great companions for dogs and other pets. If you're looking to adopt a cat, ask shelter workers which cats would do well in a home with dogs.

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Liftoff

All kittens are born with blue eyes, but by the time a cat is 4 to 5 weeks old, their eye color will have full changed to their adult color.

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Reach out and touch someone

Cat allergies are usually a result of the Fel d 1 glycoprotein, which is present in cat saliva and skin excretions. Although Sphynx cats aren't hypoallergenic, they may be better for people with cat allergies simply because they don’t deposit allergen-laden hair.

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Flying high

Cats can exhibit a lot of energy during playtime — especially from dawn to dusk when they're most active — but felines sleep an average of 15 hours a day. They tend to sleep lightly during those cat naps though, and deep sleep typically lasts just a few minutes before the kitty goes back to dozing.

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Scaredy cat

Many cats are skittish or easily startled by sudden movements or loud noises, and fear in felines generealizes easily. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, this means that a cat can "experience something scary in the kitchen, like a glass crashing to the floor, and later become afraid of all linoleum flooring. Or they can go from fearing a particular object to fearing the entire room or location where the object first scared them."

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Stand tall

The world’s longest domestic cat was a 48.5-inch Maine coon named Stewie. The feline, who passed away in February 2013, has held the Guinness World Record title for longest cat and longest cat tail since August 2010.

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Cats don't always land on their feet

In 1987, New York City’s Animal Medical Center did a study of felines that had fallen from tall buildings. Ninety percent of the cats survived; however, most suffered serious injuries. The study also found that cats that fell from heights of 7 to 32 stories were less likely to die than those that fell from 2 to 6 stories. Falling from a one- or two-story building can actually be more dangerous because cats don't have as much time to position their bodies correctly.

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Face-off

Cats' brains are very similar to humans' in some ways, and studies show that cats have human-like emotions. Although experts disagree on the depth and range of these emotions, they agree that they're not that different from people's feelings. Perhaps this explains why cat owners ascribe the same personality traits to their pets that psychologists use to definite human personality: extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness and openness.