The ability to match walking pace

[You, sir, name?]

I've noticed that while some animals have no trouble walking at the same pace as someone else (humans, dogs), others have serious trouble with this. Cats for example. While they seem to enjoy going for a walk, they usually stop, run up to you, run past you, stop, run up to you, stop, run past you, stop, run up to you, and so on.

Is there some theory as to why some animals have (or lack) this ability to match walking speed?

[Anubis]

It's not that they can't, they just don't want to.

[TaintedDeity]

They have tiny little legs and don't fancy walking uncomfortably fast for long distances?
Could be true for some animals.

[Izawwlgood]

The kinematics of short legged (relatively, like, smaller then a 30-40 lb dog) animal, especially ones that specialize in sprint work, like felines, would probably make them lousy walkers. Indeed, look at the bored lope of a large cat (lion, tiger, size), compared to the sprint.

I'd say it probably has more to do with the skittish nature of cats though. I know many a Jack Russel that won't walk along side you, but bounds forward, runs back, around, forward, over, hops, barks, forward, back, rather then just walking along side.

[ian]

They have tiny little legs and don't fancy walking uncomfortably fast for long distances?
Could be true for some animals.

So cats do it just due to leg size? I think there is an easy way to test this. We need a lion and a tiger, FOR SCIENCE!

[You, sir, name?]

Couldn't it be down to hunting style, though?

Cats, while they are pack animals, are solitary ambush predators. So they need to be able to overtake prey, but they don't really benefit from running as a unit.
Dogs (or rather, wolves) are pack hunters, they gang up on their prey and pursue until their prey is too exhausted to put up much of a fight, so the ability to stick together while running is obviously beneficial for them.

[Bhelliom]

Don't forget that the cat probably knows EXACTLY what it is doing is is most likely just screwing with you. You know, for CAT SCIENCE!

[kernelpanic]

Don't forget that the cat probably knows EXACTLY what it is doing is is most likely just screwing with you. You know, for CAT SCIENCE!

Sigged.

[Ingolifs]

I know many a Jack Russel that won't walk along side you, but bounds forward, runs back, around, forward, over, hops, barks, forward, back, rather then just walking along side.

Or if it's anything like my old Jack Russell, Runs off into the distance, and reappears 3 days later covered in blood and shit.

[Sir_Elderberry]

Don't forget that the cat probably knows EXACTLY what it is doing is is most likely just screwing with you. You know, for CAT SCIENCE!

Cats are basically small, furry GLaDOSes.

[Goemon]

Also, cats don't canter, which is probably the pace they'd need to move at the speed a human normally walks...

[You, sir, name?]

Also, cats don't canter, which is probably the pace they'd need to move at the speed a human normally walks...

I've never seen dogs the size of (larger) cats do that either, but they seem to be able to match pace just fine.

[Minchandre]

I'd wager it's a matter of psychology: consider my two dogs, one of which (an old malamute) is happy to just trudge along, and the other of which (an adolescent German Shepherd) does the running back and forth thing. They're about the same size, though I will admit that they carry themselves differently.

[{delta}]

Why is it that we always try to assigned quantized values to cats?

I am pretty sure that the range of cat velocities is pretty continuous...it is just that they are cats and...are...not quite all there.

[poxic]

I am pretty sure that the range of cat velocities is pretty continuous...it is just that they are cats and...are...not quite all there.

*ahem*

If cats were dogs, there would indeed be something wrong with them. They are not dogs, however, but cats -- not hierarchical pack animals, but solitary hunters. Anyone who expects a cat to act like a dog will be sorely disappointed (and the cat will be sorely annoyed). One must earn the respect of a cat, mostly by understanding her and showing respect to her in the first place.

Now that I've soapboxed sufficiently: there's no "walking" a cat. There's only "accompanying a cat on a mission of stealth, contemplation, and occasional frenetic scrambling".

[{delta}]

If cats were dogs, there would indeed be something wrong with them. They are not dogs, however, but cats -- not hierarchical pack animals, but solitary hunters. Anyone who expects a cat to act like a dog will be sorely disappointed (and the cat will be sorely annoyed). One must earn the respect of a cat, mostly by understanding her and showing respect to her in the first place.

So you are saying making one chase a laser pointer to a point where you have set up a small diffraction grating is,in a word, "right out" in this cat/human respect earning process?


What about K-nex made snow lifts and cats? Perhaps there is some deep seated physiological hate I am missing here...or cats just hate science.


I suppose I am going to have to redo my whole approach. There goes next week's launch. *sigh*
I even had a little "Suck it Laika" embroidered on the custom Catsronaut outfit.

[poxic]

Heh. Laser pointers are simply acknowledging kitty's need to hunt small things. As far as launch vehicles go, it's probably up to the individual cat whether she would enjoy such a ... nah, launchings are right out.

[You, sir, name?]

This and this supports my theory. They do seem to be able to reasonably adapt their speed to match their surroundings, but only to a pretty coarse approximation. The second cat keeps lagging behind, and dashing ahead (like I described in my original post).

[{delta}]

It still matches my cat presupposition.

Cats: They aren't quite all there.

I am still convinced (I convinced myself!) this is more a problem with cat psychology rather than physiology.


It doesn't take much to make them walk in an odd manner. (Well...Odd for a cat)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 000288165#

[mr-mitch]

It's because you don't know the position of the cat until you look at it.

[Mokele]

There multiple aspects to this.

First, there is a powerful effect of leg length. Walking vs. running have very distinct patterns in terms of the kinetic & potential energy exchanges of the center of mass, both of which depend upon leg length. limbed gaits can be characterized by the Froude number = V^2 / gl, where l is leg length. Across animal sizes, the walk/run transition tends to occur at ~0.5, so shorter-legged animals will need to run to reach the same speed and longer-legged animals. There are, of course, other important aspect such as muscle physiology properties, but this works well as a first approximation.

Second, there's ecology / evolutionary history. Cats are typically burst-runners, not endurance-runners, thus are more likely to become tired of running. This is also seen other animals with a predominance of fast-twitch muscle fibers and lower aerobic scope - most lizards typically move with sudden bursts of speed interspersed with stops.

Finally, there's behavior. There's the fact that cats aren't pack animals, but also the fact that they're fuzzy little bastards.

Also, See this freely available paper on the scaling of feline limb kinematics (punchline - a little cat moves exactly like a big cat, just scaled down).

[chocolate.razorblades]

It's because you don't know the position of the cat until you look at it.

Schrodinger?! IS THAT YOU!?