With their famed independence, cats will not be made to run anywhere unless they want to. While they may sprint speedily from a water hose or run like lightning when they hear the sound of food dropping into their dish, does this mean cats can run faster than humans?
The average domesticated cat may run at 30 miles per hour. Compare that with the fastest known human runner, Usain Bolt, who has clocked in at a record-breaking 27 miles per hour. With that in mind, don’t fret any longer that you’re just not quite fast enough to catch up with a cat, since even the record holder couldn’t accomplish the feat, either.
How do cats run?
Cats run differently than they walk. This has to do with their gait which changes according to the speed at which they move. The gait is the movement of an animal’s limbs as they move across land. For cats, they have something called a ‘pacing gait’. A pacing gait involves the cat keeping its paws in a straight line when walking, moving the legs from one side around the other as they step. This is relatively rare in mammals and is partly how cats have such good balance on narrow walkways such as the top of walls and fences.
When a cat picks up speed, its gait changes. It changes from this pacing gait to something called a ‘diagonal gait’. This is where the diagonally opposite legs on the hind and front quarters move at the same time. It allows them to run more freely, but obviously has less steadiness than if they were walking.
To better understand the reason for a cat’s agility and speed, AnimalWised dissects how a cat runs and why they can beat humans in some ways, but not others.
