Got cat from cattery, cat has awful gingivitis & periodontal disease...what to do?

jdell90

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I rehomed a 5 year old british short hair 2.5 months ago. At that time, the owner of a very reputable cattery said the cat had some "mild" gingivitis and that insurance will take care of it. I guess her old vet is holistic and said not to worry about it. Well I just took our cat to a vet and she has severe gingivitis and periodontal disease. Our vet says she needs almost all of her teeth out. Also, it turns out insurance won't cover this because it's a pre-exisiting condition (now I'm like duh). We bought this cat with the expectation of good health and now we have to pay $2.5k (initial visit, bloodwork, xrays, extractions) across all our vet fees within 2 months. I confronted the old owner and she is absolving her self of responsibility but offered to take the cat back. These dental issues take years of neglect. 1) I am annoyed the cat is in bad health, 2) she basically transferred health costs to me with misguided information 3) That is a lot of money. Part of me wants to give her back, but the smarter part of me recognizes she will just be put back in a bad situation. What would you do?
 

LTS3

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I'd just keep the cat and get a dental done soon as you can save up for it, preferably within a few months. In the meantime, you can start the cat on a home dental routine. Teeth brushing is best, just like it is for our own teeth. Use only pet toothpaste. Pet stores sell starter kits. Don't bother with Feline Greenies and most other dental treats. They're useless. The only ones I recommend trying are the CET dental chews. Dental dry foods are useless and full of junk ingredients, even the prescription ones. Dental additives that go in the water bowl are useless too, IMO, especially if you are feeding a canned food only diet.
 

mrsgreenjeens

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i would also keep this furbaby. Can you discuss perhaps getting some of your money back from the previous owner for the dental costs you are now facing. That seems rather fair to me. If not, I'm suspecting her business will get a lousy review from you, and THAT will end up feasibly costing her a lot more in the long run. (She should probaby get a lousy review anyway for letting it get this bad in the first place, but that's neither her nor there at this point)
 
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