limping cat, vets straight away or wait 24 hours?

[Tiggy's Mum]

Pleased to hear it turned out to be nothing  I once took Riley to the vets as he he cut his paw in the garden and there were bloody footprints everywhere. I rang the vets straightaway and got an appointment, raced him there only for the bleeding to have stopped and on examination by the vet the tiniest 'paper cut' could be seen on his pad  The vet asked me was that the only reason I had bought him in (in a friendly way) and then charged me £8 instead of the usual £30 and sent me on my way 

[JenGeorgieBob]

Well, panic over! Benji was fine this morning, a bit of a stiff leg but loudly demanded food and attention, so he did not go to the vets today (although we did, to register them all) he is having a nap at the moment and is taking it easy, it is still not 100% but the only symptom is a little bit of stiffness at the moment, so a half dose of metacam tonight and he should be fine (we hope).
I think they just like to worry me silly, haha! thanks for the advice and help (and the welcome to Basildon :D

[mad_lilli]

My tabby thug Teddy is regularly to be found with some fight injury or another (god knows what he'd be like un-neutered    )
Anyways, his favoured injury is the poorly paw. This can come from landing awkwardly, jumping from too great a height, a bite (usually from the tabby up the street) or a broken toe nail. I used to panic thinking he was fatally wounded, but now I tend to have a good look at the limb for possible causes, wrap a warm damp flannel round It and give it a day or so. In his case, it's generally an abcess that pops itself and I clean with saline solution (on vets advice). He currently resembles a chipmunk, abcess on his cheek............ They're such a worry!

[heather sullivan]

My elderly cat of 18 sits with one of her back legs stuck out sometimes, but she has arthritis in her back knee, and vet said that they often sit like that

[sheilarose]

Agreed, limps DO come and go. If its serious it will be there in a couple of days, if not it will be gone within 24 hours.

He's done one box too many, likely. Don't panic, relax and monitor carefully.

Oh and  to Basildon! xx

[Tiggy's Mum]

If there's no obvious injury I'd wait til tomorrow (and that's coming from a cat hypochondriac of the highest order!). To try and get the balance right I ask myself whether, if it was a child displaying the same symptoms, you would take them to A&E or wait til the Doctors opened in the morning.

Hope it's nothing too serious, the boys send a magical healing headkiss Benji's way

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

They are so precious

[JenGeorgieBob]

thats what I thought...and I don't actually think my health would cope with me waiting longer than that!

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Think I woulkd take him tomorrow unless he improves overnight

[JenGeorgieBob]

Hi,
Benji has started limping this evening, I can't find any lumps or anything physically there (like a wound or anything) have checked his leg and his pads and nothing there. He is eating fine, haven't seen him use the litter tray recently. He does have an old trauma to his back but it has never bothered him this much. Have given him a small dose of metacam for now. He is reluctant for me to fiddle too much with his leg, but I can't find a specific site that is bothering him. Do I leave it for 24 hours before going to the vet? annoyingly, we were planning on going to the vets tomorrow to register with the vets and take up all their medical history but obviously wasn't planning on taking a cat with me...just worried really.
Oh and when he sits down to eat his food, he sticks it out at a slight angle to make it more comfortable for himself.
Any advice appreciated!