I am a veterinarian who works in the Chattanooga area. In November, I had a cat named Hazel who was brought in by her pet parents for euthanasia. I did not know her or her family prior to her presenting to me for euthanasia and she was described as not eating well, excessively salivating, and not grooming herself. Furthermore, she was only 2 years old!

After I met Hazel and examined her, her pet parents told me that her last vet visit was when she was 6 months old despite now presenting for euthanasia and despite this problem being ongoing for her whole life. She was in very bad shape. She was heavily salivating and there was blood and pus in her saliva. Her mouth was severely inflamed and painful. She was thin from not being able to eat much for so long. She had bloody brown matting along her paws and tail where she clearly had been trying to groom herself despite her horribly inflamed and infected mouth.

I explained to her owners that she had stomatitis and the condition is manageable with medications and curable with surgery. They had no interest in pursuing any form of treatment for her and just wanted her euthanized. I spoke with them and they were amenable to surrendering her for proper treatment so I took her into my own care and started her on medical management until I could get all of her teeth extracted.

After about 1 month of medical management, I finally was able to organize her transportation to get her surgery and she had full mouth extractions on December 18 by a veterinary dentist. Following surgery, she has been eating a lot of food and is able to groom herself and actually make herself cleaner. She is the sweetest and most loving cat and deserves every bit of this new chance of life that she is getting.

To be honest, I did not and do not have the financial resources for her procedure. I was able to pay for her procedure with a credit card that I have limited ability to pay off since I have been unable to work for the past several weeks due to complications with my pregnancy. I often feel regret for not euthanizing this beautiful cat because of the financial strain it has placed on my family, but I firmly believe that she was never truly taken care of by those that were supposed to and I wanted to give her the chance that no one has given her up to this point. I think she deserves it at least once to be cared for and given a chance to heal.

I ask that you share her story so that we all can carry the burden for this sweet cat who had been neglected for so long. At the very least, if you ever see a cat, dog, or other animal that you feel is being mistreated, neglected, abused, or denied appropriate medical care, please contact your local humane society, ASPCA, or animal control. If you have a pet with a chronic illness, please take them to the vet and follow up with them as needed to get your baby better.