Cat Is Suddenly Hesitant/afraid To Jump

[sarahrose28]

So my cat is 3, just slightly overweight and has never been the best jumper, he is a purely inside cat. It is not unusual for him to struggle to get onto kitchen benches but he usually manages and has no problem with the bed or couch. The past few days I've noticed he has had trouble jumping onto the back of the couch and the top level of the cat tree from the ground but was still fine with the bed and front of the couch.

I've noticed in roughly the last 8-12 hours he seems hesitant to jump on things and wants to be picked up. He has no problem jumping down and doesn't seem to be in pain, I managed to coax him once to jump on to couch with me and I found him on my parents bed to take him to bed after I noticed the problem but he will not jump onto my bed for some reason. If I don't pick him up then he will go and lay in the corner which isn't unusual he usually lays there when he's hot but he also isn't turning away from being cuddled or pet.

He is going to the toilet normally and is eating and drinking normally, still playing with his brother but is a more shy cat and doesn't play often. He received his yearly booster just last week and was wormed a few days before that and received a clean bill of health from the vet apart from the slight weight issue. He has started to dig his claws into me when I pick him up so I'm not sure if that's his way of telling me he's uncomfortable or in pain or he's just holding on, but that started a few weeks ago.

Should I be concerned or is it possible he's just injured himself slightly and it'll heal or maybe fell and is now afraid or could it be something more serious. Thanks in advance.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
Do you know where they gave the shot? He's not limping?

Even if he's not limping, I personally would call the vet - since this seems to be developing over time it might be worth having them double-check him.

 

[Etarre]

I agree that even though you've just been to the vet, it might be worth a quick visit in case he injured himself somehow. That might explain why he's afraid to jump, and seems to react badly to being handled.

 

[Hellenww]

Give him a gentle all over massage to see if he has any sensitive spots. Move each limb a little. Gently squeeze his belly to see if it's hard. Let your vet know what you find.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

So my cat is 3, just slightly overweight and ... The past few days I've noticed he has had trouble jumping onto the back of the couch and the top level of the cat tree from the ground ... I've noticed in roughly the last 8-12 hours he seems hesitant to jump on things and wants to be picked up. He has no problem jumping down and doesn't seem to be in pain, ... He received his yearly booster just last week and ...Should I be concerned or is it possible he's just injured himself slightly and it'll heal or maybe fell and is now afraid or could it be something more serious. Thanks in advance.

Could you call and ask the vet where the booster shot(s) were given? Back leg? Front leg? Are you able to gently move or press (all of) his legs to see if anything feels swollen or is painful for him? Perhaps it is related to some aftereffects of the booster shot? Maybe a quick visit to the vet can rule that in or out, and he can be checked also for a possible injury, too.

 

[sarahrose28]

Hi guys, thanks for the replies, his shot was given in the back of his neck like normal. He doesn't seem to be sensitive anywhere and nothing feels swollen and he doesn't seem to be in any pain. I made a step for him to get onto my bed which after showing him how to use he is, this morning he also jumped from the bed to the cat tree.

I think its possible he's fallen and hurt himself slightly, maybe pulled or sprained something or is now a little afraid but is still trying. I'll be contacting my vet today to see what they recommend I do but he is looking better it just seems like hesitation. He's never been that great of a jumper and is use to falls.

I've also taken videos so I can show my vet if she wants me to bring him back in.

 

[sarahrose28]

Update:
Spoken to the vet and they believe like me that maybe he's just had a bad fall and is now a little scared as he is still jumping on certain things but hesitates and won't do it if he tries again.

I've been told to monitor him and bring him in Monday as everything else like eating, drinking and going to the toilet is normal and he is still playful and doesn't seem to be in pain but to take him in straight away if any of that changes before Monday.

 

[Furballsmom]

You're an awesome cat mom!!

 

[1 bruce 1]

Give him a gentle all over massage to see if he has any sensitive spots. Move each limb a little. Gently squeeze his belly to see if it's hard. Let your vet know what you find.

If you use your hand as a massage motion down the spine, if you hit a sore spot on their back you'll see and feel the muscles jump a bit. Work that spot out gently. If they move away, or even try to see what you're doing, go more gentle on it.
If he had boosters, he might be sore. You might call your vet and let them know what's going on so they can put it in his chart, and see him if they think it's a problem.

 

[DreamerRose]

I can't help but think there's some neurologic problem going on. A shot near a nerve could do that.

 

[sarahrose28]

He’s learning to climb to compensate for not jumping and that seems to be fine, but my local vet is closed now so she said to just monitor him. They now only accept critical patients until Monday and the 24 hour clinic is over and hour and a half away which is to much of a journey for him.

He’s getting more playful and starting to run now that he’s realised he can still climb onto things and he has done a complete 180 and just seems happier and more back to his normal self but still keeping an eye on him and recording videos of behaviour that isn’t normal.

I’ve given him a massage, he has a couple of spots on his back that make him twitch but he’s been like that his whole life basically and vets never picked up on it. I’ve taken your advice and worked those spots out and shown my family how to do it to see if that changes anything whatsoever.

 

[Furballsmom]

I’ve taken your advice and worked those spots out and shown my family how to do it to see if that changes anything whatsoever.

 

[Kflowers]

If you can afford it you might want to get him a full body x-ray to look for arthritis. It can happen at any age. Our cat wasn't even one year when we discovered she had it. If he does have it, he's in pain. You don't have to get the expensive metcap which has side effects. It's easy enough to get some over the counter joint meds to ease the pain. Dasuquin has made a world of difference to our cat, she straightens her back out completely (we didn't even realize she couldn't before), she plays more, jumps more and is a lot better tempered.

 

[sarahrose28]

He’ll be going to the vet either Monday or Tuesday, I live in a small town and the vet isn’t there all the time so it’ll depend on that. He’s getting better each day and is climbing onto beds but has started jumping onto chairs.

He seems to be sensitive around his bum area and I don’t think he has pooed in the last few days so that is something I will monitor, it may just be that he is constipated but I’m still going to take him to the vet just to rule out anything more serious.

 

[Furballsmom]

last few days

I'm really glad you're going to the vet, let us know how things go and what they say

 

[1 bruce 1]

He’ll be going to the vet either Monday or Tuesday, I live in a small town and the vet isn’t there all the time so it’ll depend on that. He’s getting better each day and is climbing onto beds but has started jumping onto chairs.

He seems to be sensitive around his bum area and I don’t think he has pooed in the last few days so that is something I will monitor, it may just be that he is constipated but I’m still going to take him to the vet just to rule out anything more serious.

One day we came home and Baby Girl was tip toeing around the house and looking like a ghost had just tried to kill her. There was a big stack of magazines and books on the floor and we just picked them up and got on with it.
Next morning she didn't eat. Very alarming, because she's a pig and doesn't turn food down willingly (she gets that from her old man ). Later that day she didn't play, this active sweet cat was laying in her bed and would growl or hiss at you if you tried to pet her, and picking her up was met with noises heard from alien creatures.
The vet assumed the fallen books and papers meant she'd been horsing around, taken a bad fall, taken the books with her and hurt her back. The muscle reactions on that cats back were crazy. If you so much as touched her neck, a spot near her kidney would leap and jump around. This cat was hurting. It took a few days of pain medicine, confinement (the pain medicine made her feel better, but we didn't want her to over do it and make things worse) and a lot of massages to get her back to normal.