Thread: Jump or Climb?

Louie was a climber & I used to think there was something wrong when he did'nt seem interested in jumping on things like the kitchen worktops but I had nothing to worry about he's jumping on everything now, bit of a pain when you cant see the tv though

One of my boys has never been a big jumper,we reckon its because he is such a big wuss,he will now hop onto the window sill but where as all the others fly from basket to basket on the cat tree,not him,he makes the middle bed by going from settee to the window sill & then steps into the bed & looks very pleased with himself for making it.If you are still having a crawly quiet life when booster time comes round just ask the vet to have a quick check of his hips but if he can make it into the attic I wouldn't think there is too much wrong with him,I have only ever had one make it up into ours....

Harry is definately a climber, always has been, he will get anywhere but in stages until eventually he gets to where he wants to go. Although in saying that he is in the garden chasing flies (again - favourite past time at the moment lol) and you would think he was on a trampoline, superb somersaults !!! ;)

So far at 15 weeks old, Oscar seems to be a climber, he has a multi level scratching post, and he shimneys up it pretty quickly!! Not so confident at jumping yet, but maybe that wil change with age!

MC males are not great jumpers in general, but I will note that hip dysplasia can be an issue for MCs, which is why all responsible breeders should be testing for it in their breeding cats. I would suggest you make certain this isn't the cause of his behavior. It can be evaluated with xrays.

Here are some links I know of:
MCBFA Health Issues
Hip Dysplasia in Cats: Winn Feline Foundation
PennHIP Home

Gryfn usually climbs, but if he can't then he happily will jump.

Thanks everyone for your helpful comments. Larry's jumping has improved, he seems to be able to judge it a bit better and now he jumps fairly cleanly onto the kitchen chairs/my lap. Monty though, is something else! He's so big, long and strong, jumping onto the counters is nothing at all to him and he can do it in a split second. I wonder, if he were to jump to his limit, how high it would be! (Don't really want to test him on that, though!) I think Larry has been watching his brother and thinking, hmm, I want to do that too...

They are nearly 6 months old now and the boisterousness has gone up a gear. We have a grand piano and a stack of guitar amps, and they've started to jump from the top of the amps onto the piano lid - eeek!!!! Who needs a kitten tree, eh?