Debra Hunsiker, age 10, of Edina, Missouri, for her question:
Why does a cat always land on its feet?
Andy, of course, is a pixie and for thousands of years of his long life he has been studying the ways of his friends in the family of human beings. He discovered long ago that there are two kinds of people. One kind loves cats and the other kind cannot abide them. Sad to say, he has found no trick to convert the humans who dislike cats.
The answer to this question should be read by people who love cats and also by the people who cannot abide the furry little creatures. Cats are creatures with minds of their own who do not seem to care whether they make enemies or not. When Miss Puss lavishes you with her parry furry affection, you may be surf she means it. Likewise, if she claws and scratches, you may be sure she means that also. This firm mindedness, thinks Andy, may be why some people dislike cats.
In any case, many people detest and even fear cats; even the gentlest cats that are very patient with people who rough them up and scarf them. These cat foes tend to believe all kinds of impossible things about cats, and none of these notions turns out well for Miss Puss. One such superstition claims that a cat has nine lives. If a person thinks a cat has nine lives to live, it does not seem to matter if the poor creature gets killed, for she still has eight more lives to lose. Miss Puss, like every other Earthling, has only one life and when she dies that is the end of it. So let's not go for this nonsense. It ends to make us less careful of the small pet that needs our protection. The report that a cat always falls on her feet happens to be true. But this, too, may lead us to be careless with Miss Puss. Remember she is small and her tiny bones are very slender and easily broken. If she falls from a great height she will be smashed to pieces.
Cats are descended from prowling and pouncing hunters who had to make their living on the ground and in the treetops. Miss Puss inherited a very agile body with fast reactions and split second timing. Her bones are jointed and padded with wads of pliable cartilage. This makes her skeleton and body elastic and bouncy. When she falls, her fast acting nervous system turns her body in mid air so that she falls on her padded feet. When she lands, her springy skeleton helps to break the fall and if the drop is not too far no harm is done.
If you are one of the humans who likes cats, you may try an experiment, but Andy makes no promises that Miss Puss will like it or forgive you. Hold your own cat a few feet above the ground, with her paws pointing up, and then let her drop. Your eyes are not sharp enough to catch the swift turn of her body, but she will manage to land on her feet. This is a trick she inherited from her ancestors, who had to make fast springs up and down the trees, and nobody has to teach her how to do it.