there is a problem in jquery 1.9; i'm animating the height of an element, which has a padding-top; before the animation starts (if i animate it to a smaller height) the height is increased to height+(padding-top)...and then the animation happens;...so i'm guessing that when the animation starts it sets the height of the element to it's current height, but with the padding; i don't know if it's a bug or a feature