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My cat hops like a bunny??

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29K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  Twisted  
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#1 ·
Has anyone else seen their cat go downstairs hopping like a bunny? You know, the two front paws down a step and then the two back ones after. She has been checked out by the vet, who can't find any evidence of pain in her joints, no signs of arthritis. She is 5 years old and has never gone down our stairs this way until a few weeks ago. Is it possible she is in pain and just wouldn't show it when the vet checked her out? (She is literally petrified of strangers, and the vet falls into that category). She was kind of like a rag doll during the examination, so you would think that she would make some kind of reaction to pain, no?

Christine
 
C
#2 ·
To you last question, no, cats generally don't show pain. They tend to hide it. I think the only issue here is not the way she's going down stairs, but the fact that she suddenly started doing it differently than before. You took her to the vet and she checked out fine. So at this point, just keep an eye on her for any further developments. If there are none, she's probably just fine and is maybe just getting a little more sedate now that she's a mature lady. :wink:
 
C
#3 ·
Wow, I never knew they didn't show pain. Now I am very, very concerned because about the same time she started "hopping" downstairs, was when she started her aggression problem with my other cat. And I specifically asked the vet if these two incidents could be related. She said she didn't think so, but I wonder. The vet certainly didn't relay to me that cats don't show pain. Right now I have very little confidence in my vet. Maybe it is time to make a switch.

Christine
 
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#4 ·
Don't judge your vet based on some obscure point of cat behavior. People write books to explain all the complexities that are a cat. A vet doesn't have time to tell a patient's owner all this in an office visit. Chances are your cat is fine. Just keep an eye on her for any other unexplained changes. Maybe you can try a different vet next time you need to see one and judge for yourself which one you prefer. :)
 
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#5 ·
Christine, last year I had exactly the same experience with my older 7 year old Indigo (also have a 1 year old kitten).

She also suddenly started bunny-hopping down stairs instead of alternating her stride, but she also slightly raised her right front paw every now and again when sitting. Also no signs of pain.

Took her to vet who saw no signs of injury and asked me to observe her. When it still persisted one week later I took her back for X-ray just in case. X-ray was to rule out any fracture, bone tumour etc. IF there had been swelling or other signs of injury an ultra-sound would have been the next step to check out the soft tissue. X-ray showed very mild signs of arthritis in joints (were undectectable on physical exam only), which we were then able to surmise had probably been made more painful in the right front paw due to the fact that this was the one she favoured to slap the kitten around with. It was either that or soft tissue strain due to the frequent beatings she administered to keep him in his place. I introduced them slowly etc but every day he would wake up filled with the joy of kittenhood and wonder whether today was the day she would appreciate a good pounce and stalking.

AFter about 2 weeks she started running down stairs normally again and the problem has not reoccurred. Your situation sounds very similar to mine and I would suspect that the aggression and the bunny-hopping are related. Monitor the situation and check out all the posts on this forum with advice on how to deal with cats fighting - not getting along - it helped me and Indigo's discipline paw has been able to get some rest now and then.

Hope the situation improves and you are able to get to the bottom of it.
 
C
#6 ·
Thanks for the info. I will definitely keep my eye on her. She does tend to limp ever so slightly (of course, I am watching very closely, maybe imagining it? lol). Tim, I know I sound very harsh about the vet, but this is also the vet that told me to put the aggressor "Slinky" to sleep because I would never be able to fix this re-directed aggression problem. She also will not even consider any kind of drugs, which I guess is good, I am not fond of them myself. But she made me feel so helpless, that I left there very heartbroken, and very, very determined to find a way to get the cats back on track (that's how I found this site). I am just very disturbed that she was so quick to suggest PTS after one visit with no bloodwork or anything. Oh well, I probably will try someone new next time. Hopefully things will smooth out soon.

Christine
 
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#8 ·
Lol. I am not sure how much I know. You have all taught me so much in the few weeks since I found this site. Everybody has been very helpful, and I have read a lot of posts and learned a lot I didn't know.
 
L
#9 ·
This is a bit off topic but growing up I had a cat, Miracle, who hopped like a bunny. He was born with "deformed" back legs, they worked more like bunny legs. As he aged he had problems with them and we had to have him put to sleep when he was about 10 due to severe arthritis.

People used to call him cabbit! because he was like a half cat half bunny!
 
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