Is my cat an Oscar winning actor? Or is he actually injured?

WibblyGirly

We went shopping 2 days ago leaving the cat home alone for about 2 hours. Come back and he's holding one of his front paws in the air and limping a bit. No obvious sign of injury so we thought maybe he just slept on it funny or jumped off the bed at a bad angle.
My partner find the paw in the air too cute to resist so cat gets treats.
We say we'll see how he goes and keep him in if it's bad in the morning.
Next day he's walking round fine so we let him out and he goes off playing for a good 3 or 4 hours.
Comes in to have a super long nap.

Then starts with the paw again! Walking on 3 legs sitting in the kitchen looking super cute!
All we can see in his paw is a little black dot that shouldn't be there as his pads are all pink.

So limping badly last night right? This morning he's walking fine again!!
Is he doing this knowing the cute paw gets more treats from daddy? Is he being really brave as he still wants to go outside?
Is selective hurty paw a real thing?

We will call the vets on Tuesday if we're still doing the paw thing by then.

GwylimT

Cats instinctively do not show pain, the cat needs to be seen by a vet as soon as possible. Tuesday is two days away, to leave an animal in pain for that long is cruel.

WibblyGirly

Well the vets are closed for the next 2 days with it being Sunday and New Year's Day.
He's currently outside playing again. I don't want to take him to the vets if he is feeling better now as it's just wasting their time when they could have other emergency animals to see.

WibblyGirly

The advice I have read online for minor foot issues is to keep an eye on it for 3-4 days and then if no improvement to take him to the vet. If it was causing major issues for him I'd take him I straight away however he is playing, jumping around and catching mice! It's just funny how he was fine yesterday morning then in the evening decided it hurt again.

GwylimT

WibblyGirly wrote: »

Well the vets are closed for the next 2 days with it being Sunday and New Year's Day.
He's currently outside playing again. I don't want to take him to the vets if he is feeling better now as it's just wasting their time when they could have other emergency animals to see.

All vets in the UK offer 24/7 treatment, they are not closed you simply have to call before you go.

I wouldn't leave an injured animal in pain.

unforeseen

There's no real evidence that the cat is in pain. It may have been at the start but now looks as though it has twigged that it is a good way to get treats.

Simple test is to stop giving treats and see if the limping miraculously goes away.

There again it could be a strain that needs time and a few hours strenuous chasing etc makes it ache again. So keep cat in for a day and see what happens

unforeseen

GwylimT wrote: »

All vets in the UK offer 24/7 treatment, they are not closed you simply have to call before you go. .

and expect to pay a premium on the consultation fee for out of hours service

WibblyGirly

Thank you unforeseen. He's a smart cat, I think he knows the cute paw gets treats from dad. He's currently outside chasing a squirrel. Just seen him climb up and down a tree to get to it.
I hadn't thought that the running around may be causing it to ache more. He's in the window now so I'll keep him in the rest of the day

StaffieTerrier

I'd keep him in and keep a close eye on him.

My cat has worked out that if she appears to be ill or injured she gets lots of fuss and attention from me. A few weeks back she came home limping. She spend most of the afternoon curled up in her bed looking very sorry for herself, so I planned on booking a vets appointment the next day. The same evening I went to bed and left her downstairs with my partner. Within a couple of minutes she was out of her bed and running around. Needless to say, she didn't go to the vets

iammumtoone

I would keep him in, in one room where he can't jump about if possible.

Keep him calm so not make things worse. Will your vet charge for a phone call out of hours? might be worth ring to see what they say doesn't sound serious enough to me for an emergency trip but none of us are experts.

I would certainly take him on Tuesday just to get him checked over.

iammumtoone

GwylimT wrote: »

All vets in the UK offer 24/7 treatment, they are not closed you simply have to call before you go.

I wouldn't leave an injured animal in pain.

Going to the emergency vets is a bit like a person going to A&E, if this situation was a person you would not turn up at A&E without first ringing to find out if you needed to. As the OP pointed out much in the same way people going to A&E when they don't need to they are taking resources away from those will really need it, works the same with animals the limited time the vet has on call-off needs to be for emergencys only.