Hello, I'm new to the forum. I chose to ask here because it seems an active and helpful forum.
A neighbour of mine has a couple of stray cats that she just feeds with dry food, they're always outdoors and have not been vaccinated. The last few days I noticed a small cat (it's not a kitten according to my neighbour, just looks very small and frail), that found a spot under her tree and doesn't roam around much. She seems to have problem breathing through the nose and has it's mouth open with drool running from the side. She's trying to meow but it comes out as a throaty whisper. Yesterday the cat was swollen under the eyes, but this morning the swell seems to have gone down a bit. From what I saw in Internet searches, this is probably a bad tooth? The cat can eat the wet food packages I got, but has problem with dry food and any big chunks, she tilts her head to the side and tries to eat like humans do when we have a toothache. She hasn't drunk any water at the times I've been there watching her.
Should I take this cat to the vet? My neighbour claims she already did and gave the cat some unspecified medicine that didn't help. Since she didn't even mention what the vet said the problem was with the cat, I'm pretty sure she's lying. If it is a rotten tooth, the cat will die from it if it's untreated, right? Could it be some other more serious illness?
Any help would be appreciated.
A neighbour of mine has a couple of stray cats that she just feeds with dry food, they're always outdoors and have not been vaccinated. The last few days I noticed a small cat (it's not a kitten according to my neighbour, just looks very small and frail), that found a spot under her tree and doesn't roam around much. She seems to have problem breathing through the nose and has it's mouth open with drool running from the side. She's trying to meow but it comes out as a throaty whisper. Yesterday the cat was swollen under the eyes, but this morning the swell seems to have gone down a bit. From what I saw in Internet searches, this is probably a bad tooth? The cat can eat the wet food packages I got, but has problem with dry food and any big chunks, she tilts her head to the side and tries to eat like humans do when we have a toothache. She hasn't drunk any water at the times I've been there watching her.
Should I take this cat to the vet? My neighbour claims she already did and gave the cat some unspecified medicine that didn't help. Since she didn't even mention what the vet said the problem was with the cat, I'm pretty sure she's lying. If it is a rotten tooth, the cat will die from it if it's untreated, right? Could it be some other more serious illness?
Any help would be appreciated.