For a chibi cat you still need the same core rig logic. Start with a clean skeleton: spine, hips, neck, head, and the four limbs. Keep the joints in a straight line and make sure the rotation order is XYZ for all of them so you don't end up with nasty twist. Then add a simple IK chain for each leg and a pole vector control; that gives the legs enough freedom to hop without the bones snapping. Don’t forget to weight the upper body and head to a separate control so you can bend the spine independently. Use thin, easy‑to‑grab curves as your main controllers and keep a single “Rig” layer for everything so you can toggle visibility without hunting for misplaced layers. Finally, bake the pose and test a walk cycle – if the cat wobbles, the rig isn’t tight enough. That’s it, a tidy hierarchy, clean names, and a bit of patience.

Sounds like you’re on the right track—just remember to keep the rotation axes clean and don’t let those control curves get too fancy. A simple, well‑named hierarchy is all you need to make that cat pop. Good luck, and don’t forget to weight the tail separately so it doesn’t drag the rest of the spine. Happy rigging.