I feel bad for Chris sometimes when I watch him get down from a height that wouldn’t normally be a problem for a cat. His excess weight and arthritis means when he jumps down from the sofa or something at a similar height, he tends to stumble after hitting the ground.
A little while ago I watched him climb up to one of the cat perches. He first jumped up onto his crate, moved over to the tall cat perch, climbed up the “steps” and then over to the Z shaped perch and finally to the where he is in the photo below.
It looked like Chris wanted to jump to the floor, which would surely have hurt him if he tried, so I pushed a shorter cat perch next to him and then put a pillow on the ground to hopefully keep him from hurting himself on the way down.
Of course, now he’s changed places with Floki and will probably come down the way he went up.
Bad Cat Chris 
It is hard when you can see them getting older.
It really is.
you’re a great and thoughtful kitty daddy but those darned kitties always do the opposite of what we want them to do!
Ain’t that the truth.
We do our best to try to help them, and often they find ways to cope on their own. One of my older cats went blind a couple summers ago (the lens in each eye dislocated a month apart). He navigates inside where no furniture has been moved of course, but he still finds a way to scale the bench to get some food, or if some papers get knocked down into his path before I see them, he manages to find away around and to reassure himself they are not going to hurt him. Chris will continue to figure things out too.
Thank you. Cats are amazing creatures.
Aww! I’m sure he appreciates you.
Thanks. 😊
Yes, we watched that with Brian too. Kitties usually figure out how to accomplish their destination goals though.
He surprises me sometimes.
Cats always do their own thing. 🙂
They sure do.
They get older with the same aches and pains that we may be feeling as we, too get older. We feel theirs so much more though don’t we? Oh for a few moments to share words and let them know we care and are doing all we can, all we can think of to ease those aches, to ask what more can I do for you my friend?
It seems worse for a cat because we humans don’t have to jump onto and off of things.
Cats have always impressed me with their ability to “figure it out”. Teddy is huge as you know and uses all the “assistance” steps and benches, etc. that we have around for him but I’m always looking out for ways to give him more views, more challenges, etc. It’s tough watching them get older and slower and less able to do things………
Hugs, Pam
It sure is. Chris will be fifteen in May.
Cats always seem to figure out a way…and learn what they can and cannot do.
Yes. They adapt well.
You know it! These adjustments have to be the kitty’s idea first. (For Chris’ sake, I hope he took the soft way down that you provided him….)
I don’t see him come down. I probably should have put another pillow on the other side.
I hope he saw the softer way and used it, but cat, as we know, think through situations in their way, not ours.
They say at church, “God’s ways are not our ways.” The same is true for cats.
That’s a fact!
In most areas of our house we have interim pieces kitties can jump up on or down to as we have a couple of heavy-weights. Our mom understands how Chris feels. She may not be overweight, but her knees are shot and just getting up and down from a chair is always an adventure in pain! You are a good dad to help out Chris. XOCK, angels Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta & Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth, Calista Jo, Cooper Murphy, Sawyer, Kizmet, Audrey & Raleigh
Thanks. I am certainly not immune to the effects of old age so I understand too.
Sweet photos! The kitties don’t have a heated mat, but we do have three rooms with heated floors. They are very popular on cold days! XOCK, angels Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta & Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth, Calista Jo, Cooper Murphy, Sawyer, Kizmet, Audrey & Raleigh
I bet heated floors are very nice.