How urgent is your cat’s health problem?
How urgent is your cat’s health problem?
Your cat is not well. How urgent is the need to get him to the vet? The best answer is to play safe and get him to the vet asap. That is the standard recommendation. It is common sense.
However, If you don’t want to do that this page might help in deciding how soon you should take your cat to a vet. The information comes from: A-Z OF CAT DISEASES & HEALTH PROBLEMS by Bradley Viner BVet Med MRCVS Published by Howell Book House Macmillan – USA. ISBN 0-87605-043-7. I am not saying it is a foolproof guide. It has been taken from a decent book, that’s all.
A problem that some cat caretakers (cat owners) have is getting their cat to the vet promptly enough when the health problem demands prompt action. Delay obviously makes things worse. The usual reason for the delay is an understandable concern about the open ended nature of a veterinarian’s fee. How much is it going to cost? If the health problem is unknown or unclear the cost will be unclear as well until tests have be concluded etc. Some procedures have fixed costs but a lot of health issues do not. The main reason for delaying is to see if the problems resolves itself to avoid vet’s fees.
This is not a comprehensive list but against each symptom/illness is a number 1-3:
- Â = See vet immediately
- Â = Book next available appointment with vet
- Â = Make arrangements to see vet in due course
This list is alphabetical:
- Anal irritation – 3 (cat scooting or licking a lot).
- Bad breath – 3 (see Bad Breath in Cats)
- Behavioral abnormalities – 3
- Bleeding – 1
- Breathing that is laboured – 1 (My Cat Has Lost Appetite and Weight with Labored Breathing)
- Choking – 1 (hacking noise story)
- Collapse – 1
- Constipation/straining – 2 (Home Treatment)
- Convulsions – if repeated in quick succession or if it lasts for about 5 mins – 1
- Coughing – 2 (Cat Cough)
- Diarrhea – 3. If blood stained of severe – 2 (Treating Cat Diarrhea)
- Ear problems – 2
- Eye problems – 2. If damage to eye – 1 (Feline Eye Disease)
- Feeding problems – 2
- Depraved appetite (eating strange things) – 3
- Hunger (ravenous) – 3
- Fever – 2
- Fits – 1 (seizure)
- Hair loss – 3 (see more)
- Injuries – 1 (fan blade injury)
- Lameness – 2
- Nails (ingrown) – 2 (trim claws)
- Nasal discharge – 2. If bleeding – 1
- Obesity – 3 (see more)
- Pain – 1 (signs of cats in pain)
- Paralysis – 1 (more)
- Poisoning – 1 (more)
- Scratching – 2 (can be caused by stress)
- Skin Problems – 3 (more)
- Sore mouth – 2 (mouth disease signs)
- Sneezing – 2 (more)
- Staggering – 1
- Straining – (if can’t pass urine – most common illnesses)
- Swellings – 2
- Swollen abdomen – 2 (personally story)
- Thirst (excessive) – 2 (more)
- Vaginal discharge – 2
- Voice (loss) – 3 (more)
- Vomiting – 2 (if severe or persistent – more).
- Weakness – 2
- Weight loss – 3 (more)
- Worms – 3 (story)
- Wounds – 2. If severe – 1
- Yellow gums, ears – 2 (picture and more)
This is a really useful list!