problems with jumping

My cat doesn't have problems with jumping a couple of feet, but I've noticed
that she has never jumped higher than a couple of feet. I often read about
people who suffer with their cats jumping on counters, but I have never had
that problem. She has been to the vet and the vet does not see any problems
with her legs or otherwise. I'm just wondering, is it common for cats not
to want to jump high (or jump from high places, for that matter. She is
very cautious when she jumps down from anywhere--even my bed.)? Could she
have had a bad experience in her former life-as-a-stray to cause her to be
afraid of jumping to/from high places? Just wondering...

rona

--
"Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and they will
**** upon your computer."
--Bruce Graham

In article ,
"Rona Yuthasastrakosol" wrote:

My cat doesn't have problems with jumping a couple of feet, but I've noticed
that she has never jumped higher than a couple of feet. I often read about
people who suffer with their cats jumping on counters, but I have never had
that problem. She has been to the vet and the vet does not see any problems
with her legs or otherwise. I'm just wondering, is it common for cats not
to want to jump high (or jump from high places, for that matter. She is
very cautious when she jumps down from anywhere--even my bed.)? Could she
have had a bad experience in her former life-as-a-stray to cause her to be
afraid of jumping to/from high places? Just wondering...

rona

My theory is that there are "up" cats and "down" cats. I have one of
each. Otis prowls the countertops and lounges on the top of the
refrigerator. Hektor seldom chooses to jump on the counter (though he
*can*, and also likes to jump into the windowsill at the same height)
but prefers to lounge under the bed or table or desk.

Hektor is also a bit overweight while Otis is trim. I think this is
partly a cause of Hekky's reluctance to jump (16 lbs. is a lot of weight
to move around!) and partly an effect (he's a laidback slow easy going
cat who's not very active). Is your cat heavy at all? Can you feel her
ribs easily?

-Alison in OH

Rona Yuthasastrakosol" wrote:

My cat doesn't have problems with jumping a couple of feet, but I've noticed
that she has never jumped higher than a couple of feet. I often read about
people who suffer with their cats jumping on counters, but I have never had
that problem. She has been to the vet and the vet does not see any problems
with her legs or otherwise. I'm just wondering, is it common for cats not
to want to jump high (or jump from high places, for that matter. She is
very cautious when she jumps down from anywhere--even my bed.)? Could she
have had a bad experience in her former life-as-a-stray to cause her to be
afraid of jumping to/from high places? Just wondering...

Could be. I used to have a cat that while young, tried to jump up on the coffee
table (not much of a jump) and missed. It was as though after that, she figured
she was clumsy and she would never try to make a jump that was more than a foot
or two. Even then, she would spend many minutes positioning herself for that
little jump. She just wasn't much of a jumper.

Some cats don't like to jump very high, some cats can't (if they are pudgy, for
example). Other cats seem to love to spend time figuring out how to reach the
highest spot in the room. One of our current cats actually managed to jump from
the floor to the top of the refrigerator once. I don't think she could do it
now that she's middle aged, but maybe her only reason for trying in the first
place was to prove that she could.

"Yngver" wrote in message
...

Could be. I used to have a cat that while young, tried to jump up on the
coffee
table (not much of a jump) and missed. It was as though after that, she
figured
she was clumsy and she would never try to make a jump that was more than a
foot
or two. Even then, she would spend many minutes positioning herself for
that
little jump. She just wasn't much of a jumper.


Poor kitty! That sounds just like my cat, though. Even when she just jumps
onto or off of my bed (which isn't very high), she checks out everything
around her, then positions herself, then jumps. It's never a quick event
for her.

Some cats don't like to jump very high, some cats can't (if they are
pudgy, for
example). Other cats seem to love to spend time figuring out how to reach
the
highest spot in the room. One of our current cats actually managed to jump
from
the floor to the top of the refrigerator once. I don't think she could do
it
now that she's middle aged, but maybe her only reason for trying in the
first
place was to prove that she could.


She's pudgy (almost back down to full-figured, though), but she wasn't pudgy
when we got her. She didn't like jumping then, either. But maybe her
increased pudginess has discouraged her from trying to jump again. I'll see
if she starts jumping more when she has lost a couple of more pounds (she's
down to 11--just 2 more pounds to go!)


rona

"Yngver" wrote in message
...

Could be. I used to have a cat that while young, tried to jump up on the
coffee
table (not much of a jump) and missed. It was as though after that, she
figured
she was clumsy and she would never try to make a jump that was more than a
foot
or two. Even then, she would spend many minutes positioning herself for
that
little jump. She just wasn't much of a jumper.


Poor kitty! That sounds just like my cat, though. Even when she just jumps
onto or off of my bed (which isn't very high), she checks out everything
around her, then positions herself, then jumps. It's never a quick event
for her.

Some cats don't like to jump very high, some cats can't (if they are
pudgy, for
example). Other cats seem to love to spend time figuring out how to reach
the
highest spot in the room. One of our current cats actually managed to jump
from
the floor to the top of the refrigerator once. I don't think she could do
it
now that she's middle aged, but maybe her only reason for trying in the
first
place was to prove that she could.


She's pudgy (almost back down to full-figured, though), but she wasn't pudgy
when we got her. She didn't like jumping then, either. But maybe her
increased pudginess has discouraged her from trying to jump again. I'll see
if she starts jumping more when she has lost a couple of more pounds (she's
down to 11--just 2 more pounds to go!)


rona

In , ospam
(Yngver) wrote:
| Rona Yuthasastrakosol" wrote:

| My cat doesn't have problems with jumping a couple of feet, but I've
| noticed that she has never jumped higher than a couple of feet. [...]
| is it common for cats not to want to jump high (or jump from high
| places, for that matter. She is very cautious when she jumps down
| from anywhere--even my bed.)?

| Could be. I used to have a cat that while young, tried to jump up on
| the coffee table (not much of a jump) and missed. It was as though
| after that, she figured she was clumsy [...] She just wasn't much of
| a jumper.

My Marie is like that. For a cat, she's rather clumsy and not at all
sure-footed.

I've seen her miss jumps, but not consistently. On narrow ledges, she
may stumble and struggle for balance. (It's a minor problem for me too,
because she'll fidget a lot in my lap, and the claws inadvertently come
out when she loses her footing.) Also, there's a distinct waddle in her
gait, her butt swinging from side to side. It's kind of cute: you might
think she sashays! :-)

AFAICT, her rear legs splay outward quite a bit, so she may have trouble
keeping the toes on her hindlegs close together when needed. The vet
found nothing wrong with her, but at some point I may have her checked
thoroughly for possible inner ear problems. Right now, I'm not too
concerned as her loss of balance and misjump episodes are occasional
only.

| Other cats seem to love to spend time figuring out how to reach the
| highest spot in the room.

A floor-to-ceiling cat tree can usually satisfy that urge. :-)

In , ospam
(Yngver) wrote:
| Rona Yuthasastrakosol" wrote:

| My cat doesn't have problems with jumping a couple of feet, but I've
| noticed that she has never jumped higher than a couple of feet. [...]
| is it common for cats not to want to jump high (or jump from high
| places, for that matter. She is very cautious when she jumps down
| from anywhere--even my bed.)?

| Could be. I used to have a cat that while young, tried to jump up on
| the coffee table (not much of a jump) and missed. It was as though
| after that, she figured she was clumsy [...] She just wasn't much of
| a jumper.

My Marie is like that. For a cat, she's rather clumsy and not at all
sure-footed.

I've seen her miss jumps, but not consistently. On narrow ledges, she
may stumble and struggle for balance. (It's a minor problem for me too,
because she'll fidget a lot in my lap, and the claws inadvertently come
out when she loses her footing.) Also, there's a distinct waddle in her
gait, her butt swinging from side to side. It's kind of cute: you might
think she sashays! :-)

AFAICT, her rear legs splay outward quite a bit, so she may have trouble
keeping the toes on her hindlegs close together when needed. The vet
found nothing wrong with her, but at some point I may have her checked
thoroughly for possible inner ear problems. Right now, I'm not too
concerned as her loss of balance and misjump episodes are occasional
only.

| Other cats seem to love to spend time figuring out how to reach the
| highest spot in the room.

A floor-to-ceiling cat tree can usually satisfy that urge. :-)

In article ,
"Rona Yuthasastrakosol" wrote:

My cat doesn't have problems with jumping a couple of feet, but I've noticed
that she has never jumped higher than a couple of feet. I often read about
people who suffer with their cats jumping on counters, but I have never had
that problem. She has been to the vet and the vet does not see any problems
with her legs or otherwise. I'm just wondering, is it common for cats not
to want to jump high (or jump from high places, for that matter. She is
very cautious when she jumps down from anywhere--even my bed.)? Could she
have had a bad experience in her former life-as-a-stray to cause her to be
afraid of jumping to/from high places? Just wondering...

rona

My theory is that there are "up" cats and "down" cats. I have one of
each. Otis prowls the countertops and lounges on the top of the
refrigerator. Hektor seldom chooses to jump on the counter (though he
*can*, and also likes to jump into the windowsill at the same height)
but prefers to lounge under the bed or table or desk.

Hektor is also a bit overweight while Otis is trim. I think this is
partly a cause of Hekky's reluctance to jump (16 lbs. is a lot of weight
to move around!) and partly an effect (he's a laidback slow easy going
cat who's not very active). Is your cat heavy at all? Can you feel her
ribs easily?

-Alison in OH

Rona Yuthasastrakosol" wrote:

My cat doesn't have problems with jumping a couple of feet, but I've noticed
that she has never jumped higher than a couple of feet. I often read about
people who suffer with their cats jumping on counters, but I have never had
that problem. She has been to the vet and the vet does not see any problems
with her legs or otherwise. I'm just wondering, is it common for cats not
to want to jump high (or jump from high places, for that matter. She is
very cautious when she jumps down from anywhere--even my bed.)? Could she
have had a bad experience in her former life-as-a-stray to cause her to be
afraid of jumping to/from high places? Just wondering...

Could be. I used to have a cat that while young, tried to jump up on the coffee
table (not much of a jump) and missed. It was as though after that, she figured
she was clumsy and she would never try to make a jump that was more than a foot
or two. Even then, she would spend many minutes positioning herself for that
little jump. She just wasn't much of a jumper.

Some cats don't like to jump very high, some cats can't (if they are pudgy, for
example). Other cats seem to love to spend time figuring out how to reach the
highest spot in the room. One of our current cats actually managed to jump from
the floor to the top of the refrigerator once. I don't think she could do it
now that she's middle aged, but maybe her only reason for trying in the first
place was to prove that she could.

If a cat has a hard time jumping up I would consider something wrong
with muscle, bones, tendons, nerves, backbone, whatever. But if that
cat is hesitant to jump down from low places like the bed, I think
eyesight problem is more likely. Perhaps she is nearsighted so she has
a tough time judging depths. ?