Yes to jump down is worse for the older joints then to jump up. Strange that Floppy doesn't want to use the ladder. Paulinchen never knew a ladder before but when she saw it the first time she went up and down like she was doing it all her life. Moritz uses Paulinchen's ladder, too but he didn't use this new one. I had to lift him up and put him on the ladder and he knew what I was expecting him to do. I think the problem was more because he never had to use a small ladder to get on the big ladder before than the ladder itself.
Right after I posted about Floppy never using the couch, and putting the steps away in the closet -- he jumped up on the couch today! Jumping doesn't seem to bother him as much as the landing when he jumps down, which definitely seems to cause him discomfort. I put the steps back, but he won't use them, he jumps up, and down.