  Glitching pulsars are expected to be important sources of gravitational
waves. In this paper, we explore six different models that propose the emission
of transient continuous waves, lasting days to months, coincident with
glitches. The maximal gravitational wave energy is calculated for each model,
which is then used to determine whether associated gravitational waves could be
detectable with LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA's O4 detectors. We provide an analytical
approximation to calculate the signal-to-noise ratio which includes information
about the source's sky position, improving on previous estimates that assume
isotropic or sky and orientation averaged sensitivities. Applying the
calculation to the entire glitching population, we find that certain models
predict detectable signals in O4, whereas others do not. We also rank glitching
pulsars in order of how significant a signal would be, based on archival data,
and we find that for all models, the Vela pulsar (PSR J0835$-$4510) would
provide the strongest signal. Moreover, PSR J0537$-$6910 is not expected to
yield a detectable signal in O4, but will start becoming relevant for next
generation detectors. Our analysis also extends to the entire pulsar
population, regardless of whether they have glitched or not, and we provide a
list of pulsars that would present a significant signal, if they were to
glitch. Finally, we apply our analysis to the latest April 2024 Vela glitch and
find that a signal should be detectable under certain models. The non-detection
of a supposedly detectable signal would provide an efficiency factor that
quantifies how much a model can contribute to gravitational wave emission,
eventually leading to a differentiation of models and independent constraints
on physical parameters.
