If you suspect your cat is sick and the gums are pale, grey, blue or bright red, then your cat most likely is in trouble (although you should be aware that your cat might still be in trouble even if the gums are their normal pink color). Check them regularly, and you’ll get a sense of what they look like normally. Lift your cat’s lip and look at his gums now. One useful indicator of cat health is the color of the gums. If you are wondering whether you need to get out of your pajamas and head to the emergency cat vet in such a situation, there are some guidelines you can follow. However, it is not exhaustive, and you may find yourself in an ambiguous situation not covered on the list. The following list is designed to help you recognize cat emergencies that always warrant an immediate trip to the vet.

Some helpful hints for determining cat emergencies that need your vet’s attention ASAP One way to determine if it’s a medical emergency or not? Examine your cat’s gums. For instance, I owned cats - including males - for 25 years before I knew that any urinary irregularity whatsoever in a male cat could be an emergency. But owners should not feel guilty if they fail to recognize these subtleties - cats don’t come with warning labels, and a person who doesn’t know the symptoms can’t be expected to recognize them (and, by definition, subtle symptoms are hard to recognize).

It is certainly true that early recognition of subtle cat emergencies will improve the chances of a good outcome. Although some cat emergencies come on suddenly and are anything but subtle, it is true that many other cat emergencies start with vague symptoms.

They wonder whether their cats might not have gotten so sick if they had recognized earlier that a problem was developing. And I also meet some cat owners who feel very guilty. In my role as an emergency veterinarian I treat some very sick cats.

Kitty jump slo motion