Gaited Cats ???

[Wellspotted]

I was reading a book on cats that I got from the local library. The book is MeowWow: Curiously Compelling “Facts,” True Tales, and Trivia Even Your Cat Won’t Know. The author is said to be a veterinarian.

I put the “Facts” in the subtitle in quotes, because even my cats do not know the “facts” in one chapter, which says that cats, like camels, pace instead of trot.

My cats do not pace. They trot. I have never seen a cat pace.

I have seen raccoons pace. I have seen possums pace. I have seen camels and elephants and Standardbred horses pace.

Do your cats pace? Have you ever seen a cat pace?

Is there a whole new subspecies of gaited cats out there of which I have been unaware all these years of living with cats and hanging out with them?

[Sooty_Tats]

I agree, Wellspotted - have never seen my cats or any other cats pace, ever! I definitely would have noticed. Lots of dogs will pace and yeah, raccoons and possums seem to pace by default. But cats are trotters as far as I know. I think your author is confused.

[Wellspotted]

That is interesting about dogs pacing. I am not around dogs as much as cats. I will have to be more observant around dogs. Is it different breeds that pace rather than trot? Or just individual dogs?

[sk_pacer]

I’ve seen a couple of my barn cats pacing, mostly the ones with curly tails although there is only one left now. Tippy paces sometimes as an intermidiary gait between trotting and flat out run and his brother used to pace all the time but I put that down to it being easier on his breathing. Can’t recall if others do it or not.

Found a synopsis of a study_ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8451315 and there is what appears to be a largish pdf file on the study that I found by googling for lateral gait in cats. Can’t open a pdf file with exploder and didnt bother trying Chrome.

[blairasb]

Both my kitties right now are trotters, but I have seen pacers too!

[Wellspotted]

Thanks for all the replies. This is getting interesting!

[GraceLikeRain]

I’ve never seen a cat pace or a sound and structurally correct dog pace. I have seen a sore or poorly built dog pace.