I am wondering if there is anything I can do for my 14 year old Tabby cat.  He has gingivitis and need one tooth pulled.  This will cost about $500.00!!!!  He is drooling quite a bit and is really picky about his food.  Even though I suspect he is in pain, it will take me about five weeks to save enough money.  I'm thinking he might get some relief if I paint his gums with chlorophyll, but what I see at the Health Food Store has peppermint oil and I wonder if its safe to give a cat peppermint oil?

Ouch!  Poor kitty!  Try giving him Colloidal Silver as his drinking water - it kills infections and is good for many issues in their bodies.  However, I would measure it when you put it out and monitor consumption to see that he's not going on a drinking strike.  If he doesn't drink it, you'll be faced with dehydration and that's worse.  So put out some good "CS" (from health food stores) and watch his consumption or lack of it.  If he won't drink it, try putting some in his water (not straight up CS, but part), then increase it gradually.  IF he'll drink it straight up, his dental infection will clear up quicker, and many times they actually seem to know it will help them and they drink it on their own.  Hope it works, he's in pain and soon will quit eating entirely.  Keep us posted?

CS will do as well as any antibiotic, but usually these oral inflammations are virus-related. Colostrum (such as New Life Colostrum Plus) contains antibodies and other immune factors, and can be helpful; add it to a little milk or cream so as he drinks it, the colostrum will contact the mucus membranes. Your vet should also be able to give you something for pain such as buprenorphine drops. If he's that bad off, do try to get it done as soon as you can. I know cost is high, but with modern dental equipment, digital xrays, monitoring, etc. it really does cost the clinic a lot to do them. Heck even with my 15% veterinarian colleague discount my cat's dental was also $500! Ouch! But he is so much better now, it was worth it.

It's been a while since this post was made, but I am hoping to open up this discussion again.

I adopted a 10 year old cat 3 years ago. She's exhibited signs of tooth pain and probably has feline gingivitis. I am not willing to take out a loan to get her teeth fixed. I had not known at the time I adopted her and fell in love with her that I would be put in this very difficult MORAL situation. What to do?

I have seen on this post people suggesting antibiotic solutions, but will that really fix the problem? It seems to me that teeth are needing to get extracted here and antibiotics and immunity boosters will only heal up the infections, not the actual problem. I don't really want the $2K vet bill to extract all her back teeth, go into debt doing so, but is it really worth a vet visit to make me feel worse about this situation? Maybe there are low cost vets that can help me out. Any suggestions?

I am so frustrated, please excuse my tone and exhaustion with this mess!

Amy

Do you know of the lost-cost clinic in Fort Lupton, CO. If you live in the area, they offer low-cost dental. See their website: http://www.everycreaturecounts.org/spay.htm

I'd also try to look around at other vets for pricing if you don't live close by. The prices can really vary. In addition, you can sign up for Care Credit, which is where you can pay it off w/o incurring interest if you do so over a certain period of time. Many vets offer it. Your kitty sounds like it needs a bit of work to ease the pain.