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.

You can also give your kitty Colloidal Silver to drink instead of plain water.  Mine like it and drink it willingly.  It's kinda like a mild NATURAL antibiotic, and should help with any infection related issues.  You can get it at any health food store.  I would just put small amounts in a separate bowl, next to the regular water and let her choose...  I hope you can take care of her without spending a fortune...  At least maybe it will help her while you're hunting for an affordable place, and then maybe some on a regular basis to keep problems at bay.  I drink it, my cats drink it, and my mom in a nursing home does as well...

Thank you very much for your advice and comments! I have found a vet who cares for her very well and at a 10th of the cost. They gave her antibiotics which calmed the infection down until I could not see it, and after we took her off, it came right back and now after 3 rounds of the strongest stuff they can offer her (amoxicillin) the infection is back again and looks to be as bad as before. I am taking her off the antibiotics and giving her raw milk (if i can find it) for some supplimental probiotics. The end of the story is she is happy and in less pain then I have ever seen her in!

Thanks!

Amy

GREAT news!!  I still HIGHLY recommend the Colloidal Silver as a daily thing for her, she has some serious stuff going on bless her heart!  I can't say enough great things about the CS - I use it for all kinds of things, and you'll likely even see her health improve in other ways as well.  Awesome stuff...  Glad you found a nice inexpensive vet.

Thank you very much for your kind words and support.

I am concerned about dosage of CS for her, as she's under 10 pounds. Have you found any guides or advice for how much to give? This is the product I bought.

http://natural-immunogenics.com/silver_dosage.php

Thanks!

Amy

It's not a harmful product unless you go berserk (not likely, she wouldn't drink enough to be harmful).  I give both my babies (my avatar is the one who is only 9 pounds, and the other is 18 pounds) a mix of 50/50 colloidal silver (5-10 ppm) with distilled water in one of their water bowls, and just tap water in the other.  This way, they only drink what they seem to need.  Nice thing is that since it won't allow "slimy growth" in the water bowl, you don't have to dump it out and start over - just add to it as needed.  I only put what I think they'll drink in to start with, then keep the bowl at that level more or less from then on.  By having a tap water bowl as well, they can drink whichever they prefer.  Oddly, they seem to prefer the CS water, and they are never sick.  My small one has glaucoma and is blind in one eye, but that predates the CS entirely.  I think you'll find that your kitty will thrive on it!

Sharon

So sorry to take so log to get back to everyone.  Many thanks for your prayers, concern and support. 

It tured out that my dear kitty had oral cancer by the time we had enough fuds to take ghim back to the vet. 

I had a human friend who died of oral cancer living in great pain until the end, so I had him put down 1-21-10.

He is still greatly missed.  Good luck to all with your kitties. 

The collidioal silver helped at about one drop to oe cupof water, but at the end he got a lot more relief from

Slippery Elm Bark made into a paste from thepowered herb.  It helped my human friend quite a bit too.