It's a hard call, if Phoenix is in pain it might be hard to tell as most cats have a surreally high pain tolerance. That's a good thing. If you can't really afford canned cat food, the last thing you need is a giant vet bill. I would think on it a while, see how kitty behaves and go from there. Give it a minute. Just my humble opinion. 😻 Wishing you all the best 💝