Hi there,
Just thought of a question I'd like to put out there...
Is anyone else's young Ragdoll rather clumsy and find it difficult to jump onto or off high surfaces? Jemimah is only 1 and she has always been this way. She can confidently jump onto or off a surface that is about 2 1/2 feet off the ground but anything beyond that, like my kitchen counter, is too high. She gets onto the kitchen counter by jumping onto the bar stool first and if I catch her on there and tell her to get off, she will jump off if she has to, but prefers to go down via the stool. If I take her into the backyard (supervised), it doesn't even occur to her to try and jump up onto the fence because it's just far too high for her. Yet, other cats in the neighborhood are constantly walking along the fences. Also, yesterday, something got her attention while my husband was carrying her and she went to leap out of his arms and didn't fall on her feet! She was ok, thank goodness. Is this normal for Ragdolls and cats in general? I have only ever seen this in older cats.
Yvette
Ragdolls can jump, but prefer not to do it as much as smaller cats.
Oh gosh, that sounds like many people describe their ragdolls! I'm forever amazed at how often Samantha rolls and "falls" off where she lays above my head on my recliner sometimes!!
I wouldn't say my Hermes is less agile but he certainly doesn't jump on the kitchen counter ... he prefers a short cut to get up to that hight. It's completely fine by me I don't want him on the kitchen counter LOL. - I haven't seen him clumsy either, although I have heard that kind of description of raggies - I think it's related to their size
Theo regularly falls off the back of the coach. Though I think my dog may have something to do with this?? hmmm...He is 10 months old and has never not even once jumped on my kitchen counter. My other two do... they do it to get away from him when he tumbles them over. I thought maybe he was just dumb but I guess not! Thanks for asking such a good question. I just learned something new
Good luck!
Heather
Well maybe Milo is the odd one out but he can certainly jump!!! he often jumps on the kitchen counter and table although he of course is not meant too!
I have even seen him jump onto the top bunk of my twins bunk beds,
I have a question for you " do you think this appears to be natural behaviour? are there any other signs of uneasy balance" you are obviously worried that this problem has not resolved itself as time has gone on I remember you asking about this when she was a kitten
have you actually taken her to the vet or mentioned her inability to balance 2 i/2 feet is not a very high distance also the fact that she doesn't land on her feet if dropped or rolling off something is a bit strange for cats.
Thanks for all your replies.
Well I haven't really been worried about it as I did think it was just her 'floppiness', but wanted to get an idea about other Ragdolls and see if this actually is typical for them. I mentioned when she was a kitten that she would get so floppy that she'd fall off the edge of the bed but I haven't asked about the 'jumping up high' thing. When she was a smaller kitten, I just thought it was because she was still little and developing and more recently I've put it down to her floppiness. She can balance on the edge of the toilet seat when she goes, which is kinda slanted and not very wide. It's when she tries something more ambitious like other cats do. Sometimes, she try to be really clever and race up to the top of her cat tree, only to miss the top and be hanging off the edge by her front paws, which looks very clumsy and is rather funny to watch! That's the kind of clumsiness I mean, more so than her balance. She is due for her 1 yr vaccination shortly so I will pose the question at the vet to be sure she's not over weight or anything else. Maybe she is just content exploring all the things that are within easy reach! :-)
Our ragdoll is the most floor bound cat I have ever been around. He didn't get on the counter until he had been at our house for over 2 years, and only then he jumped up there because our sink had a developed a noisy drip! That's fixed and he hasn't jumped up there since. I think that is about his max height. When he was a kitten he often came up short just trying to get on our (highish) bed, that's what claws are for! I wouldn't call him clumsy though, he can be pretty acrobatic when playing.
We have an enclosed patio, 3 sides are high walls and one side is a 6 foot fence with a couple of 2x4 supports that would be an easy scramble, I don't think it has even occurred to him that he could possibly get over this fence. Most siamese or tabbies for instance would be over it without even giving it a second thought! I have also noticed how long he will ponder a new leap, even a small one.
Boo was really clumsy as a kitten; he fell once off the staircase and smacked his face - trip to the vet on that one. He can and does jump up high but would like to get higher and can't. He sits and yowls at the fireplace mantle. He would love to get up there but it's too high for him. He seems to be less clumsy now that he's almost 2 but he still has a bit of it. They're just goofballs!
Diwan is clumsy... I think he still isn't used to the fact that he isn't that little kitten anymore and that there is a lot more of him than before. He jumps on chairs, counters and tables... He climbs his cat tree without problem but climbing isn't his thing. As for jumping from one furniture to the other when there is a real gap between them, he doesn't dare (which is good as I can feed his brother food Diwan is allergic to). That might change, he looks a lot more comfortable lately.