Willie was orphaned at a very tender age.
A gentleman with a tender heart, upon hearing that one of his customers had a litter of kittens he intended to keep in his backyard to fend for themselves, picked them up and took them to a cat rescue organization. Too young to be on their own, because they were not quite weaned yet, they still needed bottle feedings as they learned to eat solid foods. Tragically, the mother cat had run out the door of her home with a kitten in her mouth when she was run over.
Now old enough to be vaccinated and sterilized, the litter was adopted as was Willie. Two years later, Willie was diagnosed with stomatitis, a feline dental disease. Stomatitis is an extremely painful condition of the buccal cavity. This condition may cause ulcers to form on the lips, tongue, gums, and back of the throat. Cats will have difficulty opening their mouths and often will not eat resulting in life-threatening starvation.
The Clinical Signs of Feline Stomatitis are:
• Drooling (sometimes with blood)
• Unkempt hair coat (because grooming is painful)
• Refusal to eat
• Bad breath
• Weight loss
• Pawing at the face or mouth
The recommendation was full mouth extractions by a dental veterinarian. Unfortunately, the extensive medical care required for this household’s geriatric dogs plus the added dental expense for Willie became a prohibitive cost for this family. The heart wrenching decision was made. Willie was returned to the cat rescue he had been adopted from.
The rescue group took Willie to a veterinary oral surgeon. He had a total dental extraction. He may be on long-term antibiotics, but for now, he takes doxycycline until one remaining area of intense inflammation clears up. He has gained weight. He is now able to eat both wet and dry food without a problem.
He is feeling great! He cruises around the facility greeting everyone, including staff and guests. He never gets into confrontations with other feline guests. He is lavished with praises for his great personality. “He is one wonderful boy!”
The cost for this procedure was astronomical! Rescue groups are not offered discounted prices by most veterinarians. Care is provided on a cash basis or with a credit card. This small volunteer rescue group luckily had the ability to pay for this procedure this time, but will they be able to provide emergency medical care to the next rescued cat?
Please make a generous donation to Animals Abused & Abandoned here. All donations will be used to create a credit balance at this veterinary clinic that can be used by this rescue group for the next cat they save.