Source checked 12 November 2026. PawLine editorial team. Not professionally reviewed.
Educational information, not veterinary, building or installation advice. Never drop a cat, stage a fall or test a barrier with an animal. Keep access to unresolved hazards prevented. After a fall, seek immediate veterinary care; do not wait for a worksheet or app reply.
Lower buildings are not exempt
ASPCA explicitly warns that one- and two-story buildings still carry fall risk. That is a reason not to dismiss an opening because a building seems low. The site does not rank floors or certify a safe maximum distance.
A survival story is not a forecast
Public accounts of cats surviving falls do not tell this website what will happen to another animal. This guide makes no survival-percentage promise and uses no anecdote as a safety threshold. Serious harm remains possible regardless of a reassuring story.
No arithmetic replaces prevention
The tool takes no weight, height, surface hardness or age input and calculates no injury score. A numerical result could create false reassurance about access or care. The useful outcome is an unresolved prevention question for the appropriate professional.
After a fall, do not test the conclusion
ASPCA recommends immediate veterinary attention. Do not wait for a limp, arrange a practice walk or compare a landing with an online example. This site cannot exclude hidden injury or decide from a description that care is unnecessary.