Old Barn Cat with rotting canines and white gums

I've inherited a colony of very tight and sweet barn cats, and one of the older ones is a fixed short-haired 9 year old calico. She is a very sweet cat and I tried to re-home her via the humane society since there is too much competition here and cats of her age tend to not live very long out in the country. She passed the temperament examination, however the examiner noticed that her canines are in very bad shape and that her gums are white, which might mean that she has a life threatening disease process going on. I cannot afford to get her into the vet because I'm on a fixed income, but I was able to pick up some penicillin from the grange the other day. How much should I administer to an older cat who weighs maybe 3 lbs right now? I also picked up some canned kitten food to try to keep her fed/hydrated/get more weight on her and have started working on the teeth using gauze and a solution of baking soda and water. So far, she is very reluctant to getting my help with her mouth, and I don't want to over stress her poor little body. Should I hold off working on her teeth for a few days until after I get the infection under control? Any help would be appreciated.

Hello and welcome!!  

Thank you so much for taking care of this colony and for caring about all of them. 

Is she really only 3 pounds?? That's very skinny for an adult cat unless she is just very small in general. Has she been eating at all? If so, what and how much?

If you cannot afford a vet, I would at least call one if  you have one that you use regularly and see if they can give you any advice over the phone. Are there any low cost vet clinics near you that might help? If you need help finding one, please let us know where you are located and we will help you search

The canned kitten food is a good idea. I'd add some no sodium chicken broth or bone broth to that to add nutrients and I'd make kind of soupy to see if she can lap it up more than trying to chew if her teeth are bothering her. I make homemade broth by putting a whole chicken in the crock pot with filtered water to cover and let it cook overnight. You get a pot of rich, dark yellow broth and lots of chicken that you can chop up or shred finely and add it to her food for extra protein and calories. The whole thing should cost about $5 and goes a long way. This will also help keep her hydrated

Again, thank you for caring about this little girl and her friends. They are lucky to have you in their lives. 

She NEEDS to go to the vet.  White gums are a sign of anemia.

Yeah. I have been trying to survive on less than $500 a month, with two kids of my own mind you, so going to a vet isn't an option for us right now. The lady at the shelter also recommended getting some L-Lysine vitamins and crushing them up and adding it to her food to help her immune system. I have been making them all some home-made boiled cat food whenever I run out of the dry commercial stuff. They seem to greatly prefer my home-made stuff, btw. I generally make it with things like chicken thighs and beef liver and cabbage and stuff like that ... and lots of love of course. This time of year, I guess they are more likely to get things like colds and worms, but this advanced tooth decay and anemia is something new to me.

And I estimated the weight. I'm not sure how much she weighs because I don't have a scale, but she is quite underweight right now because of her teeth and such. I've started feeding her as much canned kitten food as she can eat, twice daily. So far it comes to be about a large can of kitten food a day eaten in spurts between coming up to me for attention and encouragement, for which she receives ample positive strokes, so to speak. Plus she has plenty of water and such.

I have to let you know, she seems to be doing a bit better. She feels heavier than she did yesterday when I picked her up. She actually ate about twice as much of the canned kitten food as yesterday, and her gums are showing some signs of pink. They are still way way  too white, but there is some hope. Also, after some diligent searching on the web, I figured that .5 ml was an appropriate dose for her, and she was an angel when it came to administering the penicillin. I brought her into the house and had her isolated in the bathroom, just long enough so that we could be alone and away from other cats and distractions for feedings and for medicating, and after eating so very well, she came over to me when I called her, curled up on my lap while I sat on the toilet lid, purred while I poked around trying to find just the right spot and made the "tent" on the scruff of her neck, and continued purring and sat there quite contentedly while I administered the shot while giving her encouraging words and giving her more strokes and such. She's a good old girl, and though I'm not the one who has been with her her whole life, she clearly is comfortable with me. This is good news. I hope she makes it.

CrazyCatAuntie said:

 
I have to let you know, she seems to be doing a bit better. She feels heavier than she did yesterday when I picked her up. She actually ate about twice as much of the canned kitten food as yesterday, and her gums are showing some signs of pink. They are still way way  too white, but there is some hope. Also, after some diligent searching on the web, I figured that .5 ml was an appropriate dose for her, and she was an angel when it came to administering the penicillin. I brought her into the house and had her isolated in the bathroom, just long enough so that we could be alone and away from other cats and distractions for feedings and for medicating, and after eating so very well, she came over to me when I called her, curled up on my lap while I sat on the toilet lid, purred while I poked around trying to find just the right spot and made the "tent" on the scruff of her neck, and continued purring and sat there quite contentedly while I administered the shot while giving her encouraging words and giving her more strokes and such. She's a good old girl, and though I'm not the one who has been with her her whole life, she clearly is comfortable with me. This is good news. I hope she makes it.

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That's good. I'm glad to hear that she's eating better. Most vets will do a phone consultation for free. It couldn't hurt to give one a call just to be on the safe side. Just let them know what you see and what you are doing and they can tell you if there's anything else you can do for her. 

I hope she continues to improve. Do you have any pictures of her? 

We had some pretty anemic cats from the relatives next door years ago.  We also had a massive flea infestation. After trying to spray we finally bought a ton of frontline and got as many of their cats as we could.  The cats looked better in a few weeks and we were able to spray and kill of the remaining flea population , at least over here.

Thank you for doing all that you are able for this Grand Old Dame kitty.  She seems to be rallying under your care.  I would also recommend defleaing for her, as that can certainly cause anemia, as well as general misery.  Yes, she should go to the vet, but I, also, have been in the position that you are in financially.  You might also try local rescue groups who might be able to assist with medical care.  Best of luck to both of you!  Sounds like this old gal really wants to be "your" kitty now.  Give that some thought.

She is doing more than rallying; she is romping in the sunshine!! Yep. I'm on the left-hand side of the nation. Maybe the kitten food is making her feel like a kitten or something, but she has been feeling so good that she has been cleaning herself more, playing with the younger cats, sunning herself, and even trying her hand at hunting in the neighbor's pasture. I didn't get a good look at her teeth and gums today, clearly she wanted to go out and have adventures much more than she wanted to have me poke around her mouth, but all in all I can tell that at the very least her quality of life has significantly improved over the past few days. I think she is just getting weary of the routine and just wants to go out and enjoy this false spring we are having out here is all. And, no, I don't have any pictures of her nor do I have any way to get a picture of her, but she was named Domino because she is a short-haired calico that is primarily white with orange and black splotches that I guess reminded them of how a domino looks, though they don't look that regular to me. She's a love, for sure, and she doesn't care if you are a cat, a person or even a dog. As long as you are friendly, you are okay in her book. The cat colony out here is pretty remarkable that way actually. Even the lady at the Humane Society remarked that it was highly unusual that we could bring in three cats at one time in one cat carrier, and they could stay so calm and cuddly with each other. But that is what they do. They are really tight. And they were really scared, but they would have been even more scared if they didn't have each other. They are so friendly and so welcoming that I have to institute "rules" when I go out to feed sometimes. Things like "if you are not a cat, you cannot eat here" ... because otherwise those cats would happily share with all the fauna in the area. And whenever strays get dumped out here, pretty soon one of the colony invites them down for a meal and a meet and greet, and they never want to leave. It is a challenge!! They get fixed and released, but there never seems to be an end to the them because people keep dumping their cats out in the country. It is sad really.

Oh, and I do comb them with a flea comb. We don't usually get many fleas in this area, especially this time of year, thank goodness, but I did have a cat who suffered from fleas back when I lived in a region of the state notorious for fleas that are highly resilient to chemicals and such.. We do get ticks out here though (yes, I'm in the mountains now). I wish I could afford to get something fancy like nematodes, but I think if mom and I can pool our resources and can set aside a little bit at a time we can get enough diatomaceous earth to treat the areas around their housing, this house, the lawn and maybe a little bit farther out. If I do that each year, I'm hoping that it will help. I might use a little bit of DE in their bedding boxes, but I'd rather not because I don't want them to inhale the dust. I use towels and hand crocheted thick mats as bedding in them now, which are machine washable, so I'm hoping that regular washing will help keep parasites down as well. I'm also considering looking into natural repellents, like peppermint, and growing them around the cat bedding areas in the sunny seasons and using the dried plants under their bedding in the winter. I have ideas, but I am fairly new to taking care of so many animals, especially outside ones, so I'm doing my best to come up with ways to make it work on an extremely limited budget. In the meantime, I'll keep using the flea comb. These cats love the flea comb by the way. Most of them are long haired and quite silky, and about the only time I ever see them "fight" is when I only have one hand available to brush or comb them and so many wanting to be groomed. They are really pretty spoiled, especially for outside cats who were once wild and all.

My parents did a good job over the years, but now that dad has passed away and mom has slowed down, I need to help mom and carry the torch as it were. I will probably never do as good of a job as she does, especially since I'm disabled and have two kids, but I do try.