Did I jump too fast? (photo included)

[Lizzie]

First, the photo to satisfy you image-hungry posters:



Now the question. We all beat ourselves up whenever we think, or know, that we waited just a little too long to take one of our cats to the vet. I suspect, in fact, that the majority of us take our cats to the vet at just the right time, but we always forget that. I'm wondering how many of you panic and rush a cat off to the vet and then realize that you could have waited, even your vet says you could have waited.

Yesterday morning, Thumper was his usual hungry, toy-mad self. That evening, he wasn't hungry and, while friendly and enjoying his cuddles, didn't want to play. He was in isolation in a warm bedroom (ousting poor Ginger) within half-an-hour. He was at the vet this morning. He doesn't have a temperature, hasn't thrown up, litter box stuff is normal. The vet put him on antibiotics as a just-in-case but couldn't find anything wrong with him. Thumper, in fact, spent most of the time at the vet fighting being examined, jumping down and prowling the room, and occasionally trying to get in a good nip at either of us. He is one of my FIV+ boys, which is one good reason for my haste, but he's a young and healthy one.

So, do you sometimes fly straight into panic mode and find you didn't need to? (And I'm not talking about realizing you accidentally spat out a cough drop and then your poor cat rolled on it, as happened to Lisa ) Or maybe you can list those times also for fun.

Now, as a reward for reading this, you get another image. He's an interesting looking cat isn't he? Big ears, big eyes, and very short legs.