Is the kind thing to do to euthanize him?

I have a dilemma. I don't know what to do with one male cat. He either needs to be neutered or pts. The problem is his teeth. I'll tell you what I can about him. He has a limp, I don't know what happened for sure. He is a sweet guy. He is a lap cat that loves to get petted. He has a slight overbite(in my unexpereience opinion). His gums are red, he has lost some teeth, & some of the rest of his teeth look yucky.

He is property of the Humane Society, technically. He is one of the outside cats. I was simply going to have him euthanized, & I finally had to tell my little sister. She was crying. I don't know what to do. It is going to cost $30for the vet to see him(& she can't see him until tomorrow-after the neuter appt.), & I don't know if the HS is willing to do that. They cannot afford to pay $200 to remove his teeth if they need to be removed(like we had to do for Twitch). We can't afford to do it either. Not after all of the spays/neuters we have to pay for. I could take him to the vet that is doing the s/n, but he thought Twitch would "just get over her teeth problems" on antibiotics. He is a good vet, but he doesn't know a darn things about dental health in cats. I hate to see such a nice cat euthanized, but if there is nothing we can do for him, then maybe it needs to be done.

I would appreciate any advice you can give. Do I take him to the vet that isn't so good with teeth? Do I euthanize him? I really don't want to have to make this decision, but something has to be done for him.

I would only do it if he is in noticable pain that looks like it won't go away without treatment or he can't perform daily functions without pain. If he can still eat then I would think he could continue on and with someone willing to do twice a day dental brushing maybe it coudl improve. Maybe a fundraiser could be started to raise the money for dental work to be done. If your little sister is really upset you could get her involved to help raise money. A jar could be set up at willing stores, maybe ask for a dollar donation at church or other orgs?

If he can't eat properly though that is another issue though.

He seems to be able to eat fine. I got to thinking that maybe if my parents made a donation to cover some of the dental care & then gave more donations as they could until they covered the cost, maybe the HS would do it? I have to talk to them tonight about it. I will try to take pics of his mouth & post them. His breath doesn't seem to stink as bad as Twitch's did, so i do have some hope for him. I might ask the vet for some antibiotics just to see if they help clear things up.

If you haven't all ready, I would call every vet in your town and find one that might work something out with you. You will find some that are unable to, but there might just be one out there that would be in a position to help.

I'm not sure I really understand what is happening here. What I am getting (and I could very well be wrong) is that nobody can afford the vet care for this cat so the only option is put it to sleep. Is that what is happening here? If so, that is so wrong!

Can you not sell something to get the funds to take him to a vet?.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

I'm not sure I really understand what is happening here. What I am getting (and I could very well be wrong) is that nobody can afford the vet care for this cat so the only option is put it to sleep. Is that what is happening here? If so, that is so wrong!

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The problem I think is that no one really owns the cat. Humane societies do it all the time, they have so much in-flow that they can only keep the adoptable cats. I'm not saying that is right but they are probably money-tight as it is to stay running that it will take personal effort on the fosters part to save this cats life. And you can't save all the cats in the world, as it sounds like this person is already putting considerable money into other feline expenses.

Hopefully you can find a vet in town that would be willing to at least cut the cost as a volunteer effort. Then added with some donations and fundraising it sounds like this cat might have a chance. If hes not in pain though you are not under as much time-pressure to get it done. The limp could be from an old/healing injury. Its hard to tell if its serious or not as cats hide pain well.

Originally Posted by SolarityBengals

The problem I think is that no one really owns the cat. Humane societies do it all the time, they have so much in-flow that they can only keep the adoptable cats. I'm not saying that is right but they are probably money-tight as it is to stay running that it will take personal effort on the fosters part to save this cats life.

Hopefully you can find a vet in town that would be willing to at least cut the cost as a volunteer effort.

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Do the Human Societies not have vets on staff (or volunteer their services) that could tend to this kitty? This is really sad.

This kitty sounds like he really needs dental work done sooner rather than later!

I agree with ringing around all the vets you can to see if there is anyway that you can get the medical care for him!

I would definitely try to at least sell somthing so that you can give the vet a down payment towards the tratment and work out a payment plan with them. This cat does not need to be pts!!

Please try to find the money somewhere!!

There are two vets in town. One doesn't know about teeth & the other will cost at $30 to see him. It will cost more for any meds, treatment, etc. I don't have a job, so me paying for this is out of the question(I would if I could). My parents won't pay for it because they already pushed the budget pretty far to get all of the other cats fixed. Captain(that's his name) seems to be walking better in the house now that he has warmed up. The HS doesn't have a vet or anything on staff. They have to pay a vet in the area to care for any animals.

I came up with another idea. I might take Captain with me to the HS tonight & ask them what they think. They have never met him. He is a sweetheart & he's cute. There aren't any other cats there that look like him. Being in a rural area, I don't know if he will get adopted, though. I called the vet that is bad with teeth & he said that maybe he is inbred really bad. I am not going to mention that to the HS. However, if the HS calls the vet, he might give them a discounted rate, but that is the one that isn't so good with teeth.

My last resort if the HS won't take him is to call a vet near me & see if he will see him. I will have to drive 20 minutes or 30 mintues to get to a vet that does payment plans & maybe then I could work something out. I have been calling vets & volunteers at the HS to see what they think, but so far I haven't come up with any ideas on what to do or who to see. I will let you know tonight if I came up with anything. I am going to the HS tonight & the vet in that town I think does payment plans.

So far, I am just brainstorming for ideas & calling people for ideas. I haven't come up with a clear solution yet, but one volunteer did offer $50 towards his treatment. That is a start, at least.

Thats a start. I would make up some flyers and take them to the vet offices with a money jar and ask if the vet/store will leave it at teh counter for donations. You can ask family and friends for $5 donations. It might accumulate faster than you expect and that is not asking a lot on the part of the donar. If you are in any clubs/school you could ask there too. If you have any pet stores in your area you can write them a letter asking for a donation to saving the cats life to get this dental work done. I remember one time I was fundraising for an educational thing I wanted to do and I wrote to all the companies in my town and surprisingly got back quite a few donations, from $10-$200. Companies/stores will give donations to help local causes and write it off on their taxes. Its worth a try. You'll want to include the total cost of care a dental treatment would be. So you will need to get a price quote, $200 seems a little low but maybe your town is small enough that that is right, in that case its a great price.

Is there a no-kill rescue in your area? Rescues like the ones I work at specialize in taking in and rehabilitating hard to adopt or hard to cure cats.

Originally Posted by lionessrampant

Is there a no-kill rescue in your area? Rescues like the ones I work at specialize in taking in and rehabilitating hard to adopt or hard to cure cats.

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There is only one in the state of Minnesota(it's three hours away from me) & the waiting list is about a mile long.

I called the vet that doesn't know too much about teeth. Since Twitch, he went to some dental classes for vets(he went to nutritional classes, too-he doesn't reccomend Hill's SD anymore). He had a neuter appt. for this afternoon, but they canceled. He was sitting around twiddling his thumbs. I explained Captain's troubles to him & he told me to bring him in. He was going to neuter him & pull whatever teeth needed to be pulled. I got there & learned he doesn't have bad teeth(they will need a cleaning in the near future, though), but rather has gum disease. Guess that shows what I know. Captain got all of his vaccinations, FeLuk tested, earmited, wormed, & a steroid injection. I was given Clindamycin Hydrochloride Drops to give him once a day, too(nasty stuff ). The vet told me his teeth should be looking better by this weekend. When his teeth are in good shape, I am going to take Captain to get neutered & to get his teeth cleaned. The vet is going to give me a big discount since I have had so many cat s/n there. We have done quite a bit of business with him as far as dogs go because he is so good with them, too.

I had gotten into the frame of mind that there was nothing to do for Captain. His future looked grim. I appreciate all of the advice from everyone. I probably would have given up on him.

We are paying to get Captain's teeth in good shape, but then he will be surrendered to the HS. I think once I talk to them tonight about what we are doing for Captain & once they get a chance to meet him, they will really like him. The vet thought he way very pretty. He is gray with white "socks" & a white tip to his tail. He does definately have an overbite, though.

I will try to remember to keep you all updated on Captain's condition!

This is encouraging news. Thank you for not giving up on him.

Keep us posted please.