Teeth issue/problem/question for my semi feral

[sweetlilac]

Hi friends,
thank you all who respond when I thought my sweetie had died, she vanished, as you have helped me give my kitty-angel KittyKat a precious safe loved life.

She "ran away" and only returned after (i found out) a giant abcess had burst in her neck somewhere. Gone at least 3 days, i thought she had died.

Thank goodness she trusted me, I had purchased a carrier (I got advice here to take her to the vet, and, hoping she was alive, bought this carrier,) I luired her with treats into the carrier, she was pretty gone, rushed her to the ER, and she came back to live another day/week/???

Problem is, ... the vet said she had a lot of bad teeth which would need to go soon. I live in a very high cost of living county (we bought a long time ago)... and prices are insane. I haven't priced out getting her teeth "fixed" but the one post i saw on NextDoor said they liked Dr A better than Dr B (vets) as a tooth extraction was $1100 cheaper!

What do people do? Kitty is no spring chicken kitty cat and the sweetest ever, but how much does a full extraction cost? What can I do? What do others do? Kitty must be ? 14? idk 12? 16?

Thanks. I found another abcess starting and just had surgery myself, one week out, and this made me so very sad. So far she doesn't seem to mind. I just want to do all I can, but find out how? Is this going to set me back thousands? etc. I thought of flying her to Mexico to get her teeth removed (a joke)! as this seems so pricey. And I am homebound right now myself.

again, thanks. Kitty has gotten so much love, b/c this board and such caring members are on it. Kitty thanks you too. PS she has never seen any dr. other than the original TNR before I moved here, and then the ER vet.

 

[Antonio65]

Bad teeth can be even life threatening, due to infections that can't be controlled. Furthermore, bad teeth and sore gums impair the ability of the cat to eat, so again it is a concerning condition.
I have three semi feral cats in my yard, and about 4 years ago one of them had problems in her mouth and her teeth were giving her very inflamed gums. After a long period of treatment with antibiotic and prednisolone, we eventually decided to remove all her teeth, and she is fine since.
You can read her story here
Semi Feral Cat with Teeth Removed

 

[sweetlilac]

Thank you. This is a great recap. Can I ask in general how much this costs?

 

[Kris107]

When we had our cat's teeth cleaned I want to say it was maybe $800-900? Might depend on number of extractions needed too. I called a lot of different vets and ended up with one that was known for affordable vet care (sliding scale, etc). It is definitely important to do if you can possibly manage it. When I was a child we had a cat who got sepsis from infected teeth and passed away. After that we always got our cats dental cleanings if it was needed.

 

[sweetlilac]

OK good to know. We are in HCOL area, may have to go a county over! Sad that I am homebound for now after surgery for a bit. I'll see what I can do. Much appreciated, and of course want to help Kitty asap.

 

[Kris107]

Hope you have a good recovery! It's great that you want to help your kitty too. I feel fortunate/grateful I can afford to do the dentals. I guess consultation with a vet if not possible is the next thought. Perhaps they'd just put them on high-dose antibiotics and hope that keeps the infection away and the teeth fall out naturally? With antibiotic resistance that might not always work though.

 

[sweetlilac]

Thank you! Today has been full of wound care and doctors but this afternoon I will finally have some time to deal with KittyKat. Poor dear. much appreciation.

 

[Antonio65]

Thank you. This is a great recap. Can I ask in general how much this costs?

Well, it mostly depends on where you live, I guess.
Here in Italy, for the full mouth extraction, it cost me about €650.

 

[tyleete]

It depends on the vet and how many need removed. But having most or all the teeth removed takes away 1 of their defense mechanisms away. Their other being their little murder mittens. And cats can have trouble eating dry food after as well, for obvious reasons. If she's not an indoor only cat yet, you might want to think about making her so. I've had 2 cats need a lot of teeth removed. 1 has stomatitis and has 17 taken at once, 1 more his following visit. Another too much plaque that ate away at too many and had something like 12 removed. The first costme $600, the second $800. I've got a good vet, but I think it depends on her mood of what she's going to charge me, cause it's always different.
Shop around.
I hope you feel better soon. Thanks for being so concerned for this little one.