To vet or not to vet

[Tilllly]

Buttons is a large 8 year old moggy

I think he got into (yet another) fight yesterday

Today, he's not really going out. He's eating but not a full bowl. He'll come happily for treats

But he's walking slowly, maybe gingerly even but not limping

He'll let me pick him up and I've felt him all over quite firmly and not had any reactions. I can't see a bite tho he's got very thick fur

I'm thinking vet, but he HATES the vet and has been known to either leave home for a couple of days or hide under the bed and bite hard if you try to get him

I don't know whether to wait a day or two and see if he gets better. Or risk his wrath with the vet in case it's serious

Could you do a video call with a vet. I did that as my cat was really not happy. But didn't want to wait until morning for her to be seen. But also didn't want to pay £150 to be seen by OOH. Video call cost £25 and of course, she made a miraculous recovery half way through the call. And by the end, was rolling on her back demanding belly rubs. 🙄

🤣🤣 typical cat! 🤣🤣

I don't think that's an option with my vet

It was with vet's now. The OOH vet

Most insurance has an option to call them for free, if that's any help?

Could you ring you vet and ask for advice. I've done that a few times. Sometimes was bring in others not

You need to carefully look through all his fur to see if there are any wounds. If there’s a problem with a wound it will come up in a limo quite quickly and then take him to the vets.

Oh I would definitely wait 24 hours and then make a decision. Vets are unbelievably expensive and it doesn't sound like anything urgent. If he's not right tomorrow then maybe phone them.

If I ring the vet, they'll say bring him in
They'd say that if I said a whisker was wonky!

I'll check thru his fur again

He's gone into the garden this morning and eaten his breakfast

Well he's only a tiny bit better so am taking him in at 1030

He'll hate me 😟

Keep us posted.

Vet has just given him painkillers and said bring him back on Thursday or Friday, if there's no improvement.

(And keep him in, which will be a challenge when we've got two other cats!!)

Thing is, he doesn't seem to be in pain, and he's eating okay just walking oddly
He's just walking funny. I didn't really understand why she was checking his claws to see if he'd been hit by a car but she doesn't think he has. We live on a very quiet road and we back onto fields so I didn't think that was likely anyway .

He was that upset in his carrier, and in the car, he wet himself

Does your vet not suggest gabapentin to calm him down before a vet visit?

Did the vet mention the possibility of arthritis?

We also have a large 8yo moggy and he had similar symptoms - turns out he's arthritic in both hips and now needs daily painkillers.

No, never been mentioned for any of them. None of them like it, but he gets very upset.

She didn't mention any diagnosis, just said let's see how he is in a few days after some rest and painkillers. But it literally came on while he was outside, he was outside playing and bouncing around as usual and then came and walking gingerly.

If you Google gabapentin and cats you'll see it's often used to reduce the distress of vet visits in cats who find it challenging. You can of course ask your vet about it before his next appointment.

@Tilllly our cats' symptoms came on really suddenly too - he was fine one day and could barely walk the next.

Of course it could "just" be an injury but worth keeping in mind as apparently it's very under diagnosed.

@WristCandy @catelynjane

Thank you both

I'll ask before I take him in Friday - if he needs to go

He's currently on DS1s bed, where he is not allowed to.... he's milking it!

Bless him, fingers crossed he's just landed funny and has just bruised a muscle or something. One of mine did it last week by doing some weird forward roll off the dining table in his rush to get his dinner