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When she wishes to, the cat is impressively graceful at jumping up on things -- from the floor to the bed is an impressive feat (I think), especially for a 17-year-old cat. But often she does *not* wish to, and then, of course, there's the getting down again. She will (and does, to my dismay) leap off the bed, but I feel terrible about putting stress on her joints, and sometimes she limps afterwards just to really drive the guilt home.
ANYWAY we have tried various options to create ways for her to get up onto things she wants to get up onto (and back down again) that she will use, and yesterday I put together some stairs for her. (She has a ramp. She enjoys sitting on it when it's flat on the floor. She goes up it no problem, but sometimes forgets that it's angled on the way down and slides to the floor, and she always looks so affronted by the situation.)
THE STAIRS. First she ignored them entirely, despite the fact that I know she is perfectly capable of going up and down stairs. With the addition of treats (and me pretending I wasn't paying attention), she deigned to go up the stairs, and now seems pretty comfortable with that maneuver.
Going *down* the stairs is still a work in progress. I think she probably doesn't have fantastic depth perception, so new things are hard. Once she learns them, I have every confidence that she will only leap to the floor when she wants to, and not because she feels like she has to.
ANYWAY we have tried various options to create ways for her to get up onto things she wants to get up onto (and back down again) that she will use, and yesterday I put together some stairs for her. (She has a ramp. She enjoys sitting on it when it's flat on the floor. She goes up it no problem, but sometimes forgets that it's angled on the way down and slides to the floor, and she always looks so affronted by the situation.)
THE STAIRS. First she ignored them entirely, despite the fact that I know she is perfectly capable of going up and down stairs. With the addition of treats (and me pretending I wasn't paying attention), she deigned to go up the stairs, and now seems pretty comfortable with that maneuver.
Going *down* the stairs is still a work in progress. I think she probably doesn't have fantastic depth perception, so new things are hard. Once she learns them, I have every confidence that she will only leap to the floor when she wants to, and not because she feels like she has to.
