Cats limping, no vets open

judgefudge

So basically last night I noticed my cat is limping quite badly. This has happened before where a stray in the area scratched him and he got an infected wound on his leg. However he hasn't been outside over the past week or two really due to such bad weather.

Last time he slept a lot and when I brought him to the vet she said he had a high temperature. This time he seems to be his usual self, and has a lot of energy at times, but he's still very noticeably limping.

Local vet isn't open again until Friday so I'm a little worried if it's infected, I don't want him sitting around getting a fever. I also don't find it comfortable to watch him hobbling around.

Just wondering if it's possibly a sprain or some other problem, if anyone has any experience with this type of thing? What can I do to help him until I can get to a vet?

He doesn't mind me touching his leg and it doesn't appear to be cut or swollen, but he's not putting weight on it,

Zapperzy

All vets have emergency cover 24/7, if you ring the normal number you'l either get diverted to an on-call vet or there'l be an answering machine with details of who to ring. If in doubt give the vet a call, they'l be able to advise you more.
If he's not putting weight on it he must be in pain so the least they'd do is give him some painkillers I'd imagine.

These things always happen on the most awkward days but that's what the on call vet is there for. Hope he's back to himself soon

shadowcomplex

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judgefudge

God I can't even imagine calling an on call vet at 2 o clock on Xmas day! I would feel awful disturbing them but maybe I'll call and see what they advise

aonb

How did you get on? Hows your cat today?

judgefudge

aonb wrote: »

How did you get on? Hows your cat today?

I've only seen this now, sorry. So I brought him to the vet on Xmas day and she couldn't find a single thing wrong with him. He stopped limping after that and I thought he was grand but every so often now I'll see him limping around for a day and then he's grand again. It's always the same leg and it's the leg that got a deep cut and infection in before.

Has anyone experienced this? Could there be some physical damage that can't be checked without an x ray or something? I don't like to see him limping but she thoroughly checked him over and said he was ok so I don't know if there's any point bringing him back. Maybe it's just stiffness?

lorebringer

judgefudge wrote: »

I've only seen this now, sorry. So I brought him to the vet on Xmas day and she couldn't find a single thing wrong with him. He stopped limping after that and I thought he was grand but every so often now I'll see him limping around for a day and then he's grand again. It's always the same leg and it's the leg that got a deep cut and infection in before.

Has anyone experienced this? Could there be some physical damage that can't be checked without an x ray or something? I don't like to see him limping but she thoroughly checked him over and said he was ok so I don't know if there's any point bringing him back. Maybe it's just stiffness?

To check it out further, your vet will need to do an xray (and perhaps other tests). It is very difficult to diagnose problems without further investigation. Joint problems are common in older (and not so old!) animals, and treatment is often easy, but if it is a repeat problem it is probably best to get it checked out to make sure the cat isn't in any discomfort.