One of my cousins has two calico cats, a mother and daughter. They both liked to sit perched on the banister on the landings and look down. When they moved to their present house in a historic area of Boston, their house had 12 foot ceilings on the first and second floors, "only" 10 foot ceilings on the third and fourth. One of the cats sat perched on the banister and fell two flights from the third to first floor--about 24 feet plus three for the banister. The cat survived with only some aches and pains for a few days. X-rays showed no broken bones but she used up one of her nine lives that day and no longer sits on the banister.