This is my kitty Tango. He's from Hawaii where they had an abundance of cats in shelters, so they shipped him out! I adopted him in Portland, Oregon in March of 2022 when he was 3 or 4 years old. He has scarring on his corneas due to being bitten by tiny fire ants on Hawaii. He also seems to have lived a hard life with food scarcity when he was younger. Due to this, and what they call bad luck, he has to have all of his teeth removed!

Apparently he is "allergic" to his own teeth, and they are causing him significant inflammation and pain, so that it is hard for him to eat. They call it gingivostomatitis . Additionally, he is "resorbing" his teeth into his gums, which causes painful exposed nerves. Some cats develop these problems in middle age, and doctors don't know why. But they all seem to agree that the best treatment is full mouth tooth removal.

It seems cats don't really need teeth. They don't chew—they use teeth to tear food, then swallow it in chunks. All of the stories say that once the teeth are removed, and the constant pain from inflammation goes away, cats can become much more calm and loving. He's already a great guy! And I can see that, though he is in pain, he trusts me, and he is doing his best to self-soothe through this ordeal.

So far I have paid over $2,000 to remove the six worst of his teeth. During his young life he had lost another 7 teeth. The vet says that most likely they were partially resorbed, and then broke off when he bit something hard like a bone. This leaves 17 teeth, most of them upper teeth, which have longer roots and can have complications during removal.

I have been quoted $2,880 - $4,600 to remove the rest of the teeth. I can only afford about $3,000 of that, so I put together this GoFundMe to cover the balance. There is no financing at the vet, and I will need to pay in full on the day of his surgery, which is March 2, 2026.

More info about Tango's dental issues:

https://www.vet.cornell.edu/departments-centers-and-institutes/cornell-feline-health-center/health-information/feline-health-topics/gingivostomatitis

https://www.vet.cornell.edu/departments-centers-and-institutes/cornell-feline-health-center/health-information/feline-health-topics/tooth-resorption