Adopted kitty and heights.

[A Chozo]

Hi. So, I've adopted temporarily a young (4-months old) cat, and her new owner will come get her next wednesday, since I can't raise her myself (allergic). I got her two days ago, and only now she began exploring the house, which... gives me some concerns.

In the house, there are two tall spots that she can access: A balcony, on the second floor, from where she can jump to the garden (there's grass), and a balcony inside the house, also on the second floor, from where she can jump to a room on the first floor. Recently, she started to sprint to those two places, to climb and look at stuff below. I know cats love heights, but now I'm afraid that she may slip, fall down and injury herself, and there's still some days until the new owner comes - I can't deliver a injured cat and I'm worried about the cat's health. Here's a image to show what I'm talking about:



Everything is paint. I don't think she can climb on the vertical surfaces if she slipped.

So... Does anyone here knows if a young cat can survive a 4,30m fall on hard floor? Because I don't want to lock her from the rest of the house, and I can't build a protection on those balconies (other family members wouldn't let me). If I open the door leading to the balcony, she'll sprint there just to climb and walk around. It's a 15cm space, and she walks on the very edge.

Should I be worried? Should I limit her access to the dangerous places? Should I give her to another temporary house (without ledges) until Wednesday?

Thanks in advance for any help!
and sorry for the bad english

[Damajin]

Cats can land from that kind of height just fine if they don't fall awkwardly or tumble. The more out of position she is to land on her feet the more likelihood of getting hurt, and a cat that old isn't going to have the body structure or strength to handle that type of fall.

Limit her space is the easiest and safest bet, for you and her.

[Attackrabbit]

Will most likely be fine. My cats have squirmed their way out of 2nd floor window and jumped onto the lawn with no ill effects, also had them miss the lawn and land on the drive as well as fall out of trees in the garden from much higher again with no ill effects. 4.3m onto hard floor, whilst not ideal, shouldn't do too much damage to either the floor or the cat.

[Puupi]

Will be fine if she drops. My sisters cat used to run away and walk on the rail of her balcony. The same rail was connected to other balconies so the cat run on it around the apartment complex. At 8th floor in the city centre. That was crazy as hell, but cats are like that.

[A Chozo]

Thanks for the quick replies!

GF said that they usually stay at high places, but usually don't jump (only her older ones do that). And, if they do, they... don't die/no serious injuries. I just want to prevent the poor kitty from exploring/creeping the dog downstairs. She's a daredevil - Once I grabbed her from the balcony, placed her on the floor in a far away room, and then she ran back to the balcony.

I'll try to calm down. I can't prevent a cat to cat.

[Gamevizier]

She's just scanning and planning for a way out after her scheme of killing the owner, which is you, is successful.

No hard feelings, thats part of their grand scheme of taking over the world.

[Mihalik]

While cats are prone to look for high places they aren't really prone to fall.