A bit of a shock

**mcguy** · 16th August 2010, 10:48 PM

Originally Posted by Karena

That is how Simba climbs down from trees. He did try and come down head first once but ended up jumping the last bit so he now lowers himself down backwards. He seems to be able to hang on to the trunk using his nails very well and will often stop half way to look around

Some cats figure it out and some never do it seems. Cats have very sharp claws and can easily grip trees to climb up, but since the nails curve backwards so much, they do not offer any grip at all for going down headfirst. It is when they walk out on a horizontal branch that they are most likely to have trouble figuring out how to get in position to shimmy back down. Our MC mix was excellent at doing the shimmy down, but I have seen other cats get 10' up and then just let go and push off to get back down. Worst descent we ever saw was a cat that our MC mix had treed, who had gone more than 20' up. We took our cat in and waited and waited to see how this cat would get down from such a height. It came down headfirst, jumping from branch to branch, but eventually missed a jump and came crashing down the last 10-15' through several branches. Luckily did not appear to be injured.

**Howlinbob** · 17th August 2010, 10:10 AM

Thanks NCarver. So Larry is going to have to learn how to shimmy down backwards. When he fell he had just ventured out onto a horizontal branch, but as it's a conifer and the branches are quite bendy, I guess he started to droop, and there was nothing much else for him to grip onto.

Our rescue cat Humph is an masterful tree-climber - and tree-descender! Maybe he could pass on a few tips to Laggs.

**mollyanna** · 25th August 2010, 08:45 PM

treessss OMG not going their at all
anna broke her leg from a great hight,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, the pc table

**WoodsideMaineCoons** · 25th August 2010, 08:55 PM

One of my younger cats a few years ago fell off of the window sill above the sink and fractured his leg....it was awful as he was just a baby but he recovered really well.

When we complete our outdoor run, we are planning on putting some small fruit trees in there for the cats to have a good climb up but I don't think they'll be tall enough to injure them if they fall!

debbie560 · 25th August 2010, 09:22 PM

Originally Posted by Karena

That is how Simba climbs down from trees. He did try and come down head first once but ended up jumping the last bit so he now lowers himself down backwards. He seems to be able to hang on to the trunk using his nails very well and will often stop half way to look around

Mine do that too, some will climb and climb as high as they can then look down and go in to a blind panic... then try and itch down backwards... making lots of little noises.. and some go in to blind panic and just take a leap.... Cats do not always land on their feet... and headaches come regular.... because on their head is the place they land.. but then they shake it, run off and a couple of hours later they are back where they started....

**WoodsideMaineCoons** · 25th August 2010, 09:23 PM

Mine climb on top of the banisters and then look down and panic!

They also panic when they climb on my worktop and then see me coming into the kitchen

debbie560 · 25th August 2010, 09:26 PM

Originally Posted by WoodsideMaineCoons

Mine climb on top of the banisters and then look down and panic!

They also panic when they climb on my worktop and then see me coming into the kitchen

Lol... so do mine you can actually see it on the faces thinking ooh dear I am for it now...

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