Help Nugget Heal: Support His Dental Surgery

I'm Charles, a guy who has a soft spot for cats. My girlfriend and I have several cats, all of whom were adopted from rescues or were cats we rescued ourselves.

The guy in this picture is Nugget. We found him in a McDonald's parking lot in the middle of nowhere near Coalinga, CA. He looked hungry, so we bought some chicken nuggets, tore them up into small pieces, and fed him. Then we were on our way back to L.A.

But I couldn't stop thinking about him over the rest of the trip and the next day, so two days later, we drove 180 miles back to the parking lot, spotted him immediately, and within a minute or two, he went into the animal trap.

The local shelter couldn't take him. We were told Fresno has a high kill rate, so Nugget came to live in a big dog kennel in our garage and, eventually, our den.

We are fostering him through Kitten Rescue's community foster program, but they can't really offer any financial help. And boy, does Nugget need it.

We took him to be neutered and, when he was under, the vet had a look at his mouth, which she declared a disaster area. He's missing several teeth, likely has a couple broken off below the gumline, and has a molar that's split in two. He's probably in constant pain from this.

We took him to a vet today for an oral consult, and it's going to cost a thousand dollars to have his remaining teeth extracted.

He's already cautiously warmed up to us a bit, allowing head scritches, neck and back stroking, and brushing, but I suspect his real personality will come out when his mouth isn't constantly aching. Despite living outside for what seems to be a considerable time, he seems to have been in contact with people at some point in his life since he is not a total feral. The goal is to get him ready for adoption into a forever home if he proves to be a housecat or find a working situation for him (like a barn cat) if he can't live indoors.

Nugget LOVES other cats; he coos and trills constantly when he sees any of our resident cats, so he seems to be friendly to other felines.

We could really use your help to get Nugget ready for his ultimate destination. Any amount will be graciously accepted.