
Beniah’s Dental Surgery for Stomatitis Relief
Donation protected
Hi, My name is Tasia and I’m raising money along with 3 ladies from the MS Gulf Coast (Ocean Springs/Biloxi-area) to fund a dumped house cat’s full mouth extraction dental surgery at Duke Animal Clinic in Mobile AL on 4/15.
Poor Beniah was dumped in a neighborhood in Ocean Springs MS (where I used to live and volunteered doing TNR/rescue) late last fall. A wonderful family took care of him as an outdoor stray while trying to find a rescue/adopter who would take him. But in Dec, Beniah started having severe mouth pain/problems which caused drooling and refusal to eat.

When Dana posted this picture in a local rescue FB group, a.) I had no idea I knew Dana at the time (turns out her sister was one of my bffs in OS - just didn’t connect the name -small world and b.) I felt this cat needed more help than anyone realized. Outwardly he looked fine, but the drooling and not eating indicated a lot of pain and something serious going on. At that point, he needed an advocate and vet care and I just lived the stomatitis nightmare with one of my cats, so I felt like I was called to help him anyway I can.
Luckily, I wasn’t alone. It’s not easy helping an animal from 1000 miles away, but it can be done if you have a few local people who can work as a team. So Team Beniah was born. Me, who can’t stop helping the cats on the MS coast even being back in PA - those cats are all near and dear to my heart. Lori, who is super organized and aside from volunteering her amazing skills to Fixin the Coast (local TNR group), she tirelessly works to advocate for lost, homeless, and community cats/dogs, raise money for emergency vet cases (there are far too many). Dana and her family (especially her beautiful daughter who thought Beniah looked like a warrior and chose his name), who are dog people through and through, but went way above and beyond to help this poor cat who ended up at their house. She’s been taking Beniah back and forth to all his vet visits, giving him medicine, and making sure he eats, and giving him an indoor refuge in the laundry room when he needed it (Thank you Dana’s husband for being cool about us helping this poor soul in need!). And we’d be lost without Lynda, Beniah’s foster mom. Once Beniah got to the point where it was absolutely necessary he be indoors permanently, I put out a plea to Feral Feline Coalition (local TNR group) and Lynda stepped right up to take him in and care for him. It was a dream come true! I worked closely with Lynda while I lived in OS and we both volunteered with FFC. She was truly the missing piece of the puzzle and not only does he have a safe place to stay and rehab, but once he’s recovered from surgery, she’ll start the process for finding him an amazing furever home. She’s even attempting to leash train him!

Beniah’s story isn’t about us, but this team is an integral part of his story and illustrative of how we can all come together and if every person does something small, we can work together to make something big happen. $960 is a daunting bill for most people even for your own pet. But small donations add up and everyone who donates can be a part of something big for Beniah. Could you sacrifice your morning Starbucks so he doesn’t have to live in pain? No donation is too small.
When Beniah first went to a vet, my main concern was covenia and depo shots just to get him relief and get him eating. We also got necessary testing and bloodwork done to rule several things out. Thankfully, tested negative for FIV/FeLV. At ~7-8 years old with no clue about his past, Beniah is pretty healthy outside of the stomatitis - especially for being dumped outdoors in the Deep South.
At first, the shots were working and relieving his pain, but what he had going on was so severe and basically every 2 weeks, Dana had him at the vet for another round of shots so the drooling/ not eating came right back. Recently though, he was also beginning to associate food with pain which gets scary because cats cannot go that long without food.
In early March, Beniah visited my vet from when I lived in OS (cat whisperer vet) at Bienville Animal Medical Center in OS. He finally got a diagnosis of severe stomatitis and a referral to a dentistry specialist vet in Mobile, Duke Animal Clinic. He had his consult last week and is a candidate for full mouth extraction surgery (they usually leave the canines).
As I mentioned, I am familiar with severe stomatitis and the pain Beniah is enduring - he needs the same full mouth extraction as my cat, Stan Lee, had. Just because you can’t outwardly see it doesn’t mean it’s not that bad. Cat instinct is also to hide their pain as much aa possibile, so if they’re showing pain, it’s bad. Imagine your mouth inflamed and full of ulcers! The vet said the back of Beniah’s mouth looked like hamburger meat!
Stomatitis is - well you can go down a rabbit hole like I have - or as my vet explains it in every day terms, it’s a hyperimmune response where it’s almost like they’re allergic to their own teeth. Mild versions can be handled mostly with steroids/meds, vitamins, etc… When that stops working and if it progresses to the stage Beniah is at - full mouth extraction is the gold standard for providing them relief. The surgery needs to be done by someone skilled like Dr. Duke & include x-rays - you cannot leave a single tiny tooth fragment or root.
You can see how Beniah is drooling in one of the photos above. Imagine your mouth being so sore, you can’t eat and begin to associate food with pain. Yet, you’re starving - quite literally - but can’t stand the pain eating causes. I can’t even imagine!
But like I said, Beniah (or Bennie, as Lynda calls him) has good new and a life to look forward to. He is otherwise healthy and super sweet & friendly. He’s in foster care with an amazing Feral Feline Coalition of Oceans Springs foster and is a great candidate for adoption once he gets this life changing surgery. Lynda keeps sending me new pictures, so I am trying to edit some in and she’ll post some in the updates.
Judging by my cat, Stan Lee’s recovery, Beniah will feel like a new cat and will be able to eat normally and no longer be in constant pain! He will need a vigilant cat mom/dad to keep his mouth clean, regular vet visits, and may eventually need occasional steroids in the future. But he’ll have a future!
Because the truth is without the surgery, Beniah has no future. He’s come so far and I can’t wait to see him pain free!
Surgery is scheduled for Mon 4/15.
We need to raise $960 beforehand for his surgery.
I’ve added pictures above of his appointment card, estimate, and contact details for the specialist vet. Whether you can spare $5, $20 or more, it will all add up so Beniah can get this surgery and finally be pain free and go on to find his furever family!
There isn’t one specific nonprofit funding this. As you can see, it’s been a ragtag small group of us with connections to Fixin the Coast and Feral Feline Coalition (small MS Coast TNR nonprofits) just trying to help this poor kitty. And we’ve come to the point where we need to ask for small contributions to fund a life changing surgery for Beniah.
Every cent will go to help Beniah by paying for his surgery. If we are blessed enough to receive enough donations to cover Beniah’s surgery in full and receive anything extra, every additional penny will go to another MS gulf coast cat in need of surgery/vet care (there is no shortage of need. Our team member, Lori, is a key person in the area for organizing donations for community kitty vet care & knows where the greatest need is).
Thank you in advance from Beniah, me, and the other ladies trying our best to give Beniah his quality of life back!
Fundraising team (4)

Natasia Kenosky
Organizer
Ocean Springs, MS
Dana Hommerbocker
Team member
Lori Ehlers
Team member
Lynda Dilden
Team member