[littleum]

We came home about 8PM tonight to find one of our cats (Twilight) limping on one hind leg. If she were a horse I'd say she wacked her stifle a good one. Weight bearing, stable, no obvious injuries, not sensitive to pressure, no heat, no swelling. Wanted her dinner, wanted to drink from the shower, wanted to go outside, wacked at some bugs, wanted treats. Obviously lame, but no "this is an *emergency* red flags. Resting comfortably in her cat bed as I type.

Clearly, she needs to go to the vet to get checked out. But go NOW or go in 8 hours when she can have her usual vet? I wish she could talk!

So... out of curiosity, how does everyone else decide between waiting until sunrise vs going to the ER?

[EqTrainer]

It doesnt sound emergent. I would wait for my own vet to be available. Good luck!

[BasqueMom]

Three legged lame--vet now. Limping, everything else normal, vet tomorrow.
The horse would probably get put in stall for the night. Cats are smart...if she/he was really hurting, they would be plumped on a pillow waiting for room service.

[alspharmd]

I would definitely wait to see the regular vet.

[JB]

How is kitty this morning?

I would have agreed last night, wait for regular vet, given the details

[littleum]

Thanks for the feedback. Part of the temptation is we have such a good ER 15 minutes away, so it's just easy to be very cautious.

My husband (being the wonderful man he is) opted to sleep on the floor by our bed. Twilight was DETERMINED to jump up onto the bed with us. She figured out quickly he was going to sleep on the floor and snuggled right up next to him like always. She seemed much more relaxed with a human to snuggle with.

I'm hoping it's just a pulled muscle (she seems to work out of it if she's up and about). We're packing her off to the vet right now.

[littleum]

Looks like kitty has a luxating patella! She wouldn't limp at the vet's office but our vet was able to feel some movement. And apparently kitties do have a stifle just like horses. Learn something new everyday.

Thanks for the thoughts and feedback.

[JB]

That's what happened to my kitty several years ago. She got a volume days' worth of pain meds (I took her to the EV as she was in trouble ) but she was quite fine after a few days

[SquishTheBunny]

I get a lot of calls at the ER overnight for limping pets. I always tell people to come in if they feel their pet is in distress, but if they are otherwise acting normal (other than the painful leg) it can usually wait. The nice thing with ER's is that they are open 24/7,so if the circumstances should change, they could always bring their pet in.