The Truth About the Grand Budapest Hotel Cat

Did he just throw my cat out the window?

Contains spoilers for The Grand Budapest Hotel but not many because I didn’t finish watching it.

As you know if you read my previous post, I don’t like cats getting killed in movies. You might be forgiven for thinking that’s why I have never seen The Grand Budapest Hotel, but honestly it’s that I just don’t get Wes Anderson and haven’t watched one of his films since hating The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou in 2004. I can’t say I particularly enjoyed this one either, but at least after watching (half of) it I finally understand all those viral Tik Toks from last year.

For those of you who haven’t seen the movie, a character played by Jeff Goldblum has a Persian cat who is introduced solely so that Willem Dafoe can throw him or her (both the sex and name of the cat are extraneous) from a window. I don’t know why because I wasn’t paying that much attention. Jeff Goldblum later throws the body of his cat into a bin. I stopped watching after that so I’m sorry if anything important happened later.

But what is the likelihood that this cat would have died? Cats are known for landing on their feet, to the point that somebody made a paradox about it. In recent years the UK veterinary charity PDSA has reported successful treatment of cats falling from 50 foot (15ish meters) and 30 foot (9ish metres, also how good a name is Flearoy?). So why was this cat not so lucky? For this we must ask three questions.

Question 1: Why do cats usually land on their feet?

Cats have an innate righting reflex, where they turn their entire bodies in mid-air to land facing feet down. This allows their legs to absorb most of the impact, reducing injury to the rest of their body. Kittens show an ability to do this from the age of seven weeks. The actual technique of the righting reflex is beyond me mainly because physics is too hard, but a cat’s flexible spine, sensitive inner ear and small, floating collarbone are vital in the manoeuvre (I can do biology).

Image: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Question 2: Can cats survive a fall from a window?

Cats falling from windows and balconies is not uncommon in urban areas, although it is usually related to an accidental misstep rather than from being thrown by Willem Dafoe (I hope so anyway). There’s even a name for the collection of injuries that are likely to occur: “high rise syndrome”. Since cats often land on their feet (see question one) these injuries are likely to be broken leg bones although can involve other parts of the body.

Falling from a height is very survivable for cats. In fact, in a study in Istanbul over 90% of cats that fell more than four meters survived with veterinary treatment. Most studies of veterinary records show a similarly high survival rate. However, this might not be a true reflection of survival, since there is no information on how many cats were not brought to the vet because they died from the fall. There are no jokes in this section because dead cats make me sad.

Question 3: Why did this cat not survive?

The likelihood for surviving a fall and the severity of injuries depends on several factors. The influence of the height of the fall is not totally clear; some studies found that as height increases, the resulting injuries get worse. Others found that after a certain height, injuries don’t increase any further (something to do with terminal velocity which I also don’t understand because physics). And another found that falling from a lower height (around the 2nd or 3rd floors) was the most dangerous. This might be because the shorter distance allows less time for a cat to fully twist in the air. This makes it more likely that they will land on their head or body where injuries are more life-threatening. I’m not sure about the height of the window in this movie, but it could reasonably be the second or third floor. Apparently the surface the cat lands on is generally unimportant, even for concrete, so those highly aesthetic cobblestones would not necessarily equal a dead cat.

Age might also be a factor. Most of the cats in studies on high rise syndrome are young. Of course, young cats are more likely to fall from a height, getting distracted while chasing a butterfly or leaf or ghost that no-one else can see, but it also might be that younger cats are more likely to survive the fall. Without mortality data we just don’t know. The cat in the movie might also have been unwell, perhaps inner ear damage or spinal pain which can both impact the righting reflex. In one study of medical records of cats, 1.8% of Persians had spinal disease, so maybe this cat was one of those unlucky few. Persians also have much flatter faces than moggies which could potentially impact their inner ear and therefore balance, although this is just an educated guess and has to my knowledge not been investigated. Please don’t test it at home.

Overall:

• Most cats would have survived this fall, albeit with multiple injuries.

• Choosing a Persian may have made death more likely.

• I didn’t like it.

The Grand Budapest Hotel Cat Facts score: 6 out of 10 cats for scientific accuracy (lost one cat point for throwing the cat in the bin)

References:

De Decker, Steven, Anne-Sophie Warner, and Holger A. Volk. (2017) Prevalence and breed predisposition for thoracolumbar intervertebral disc disease in cats. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery 19, 4; 419-423. 

Karabağlı, M., Mutlu, Z., Kaya, D. A., Duman, B. E. E., et al. (2024). A Retrospective Analysis of High Rise Syndrome in Cats in Istanbul: 160 Cases (2016-2017). Pakistan Veterinary Journal, 44 (3). 

Vnuk, Dražen, Boris Pirkić, Dražen Matičić, Berislav Radišić, Marko Stejskal, Tomislav Babić, Mario Kreszinger, and Nikša Lemo. (2004) Feline high-rise syndrome: 119 cases (1998–2001). Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery , 6; 305-312. 

Sechzer, Jeri A., Susan E. Folstein, Eric H. Geiger, Ronald F. Mervis, and Suzanne M. Meehan. (1984) Development and maturation of postural reflexes in normal kittens. Experimental Neurology  86; 493-505. 

Whitney, W.O., Mehlhaff, C.J., (1987). High-rise syndrome in cats. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 191, 1399e1403. 

Zaghloul, A. E., and A. Samy. High Rise Syndrome: A Correlation Between Height And Affections In 45 Cats From Urban Areas. (2018) Alexandria Journal of Veterinary Sciences  59, no. 2.