This is Darlene. She’s only four years old. She is a TNR rescue. She has been diagnosed with acute stomatitis. Stomatitis is a condition where the cat has an extreme allergic reaction to the bacteria on their teeth. So much so that the gums begin to recede and bleed, and are inflamed, and the body begins to push the teeth out. It is an excruciatingly painful process. No amount of dental cleanings or brushing can fully cure this condition. It is an autoimmune disease.The way that this is cured is by full dental extraction of all teeth. The only ones they leave are the top four in the front and the four on the bottom because these are biting teeth and they are not generally affected. At her current stage of this disease, all of her teeth are inflamed and bleeding, and the gaps between the roots are beginning to show below what’s left of her gum line. So I do have to make a decision kind of soon.

I am a senior on a limited income and there’s no way I can pay the $2300 surgery to extract all of her teeth in order to cure this. The opposite of this means that she would have to be euthanized to put her out of her misery.

And so I’m just throwing this out there to the world if anybody wants to donate to a little rescue kitty, it would be very much appreciated. Her housemate Gerald would be absolutely beside himself without her. They have spent the last 2 1/2 years running and playing and snuggling together. They came from the same rescue out of a feral cat colony. They are inseparable indoor cats. I don’t know what to do. I cannot imagine putting down such a young cat, but I literally can’t afford healthcare for myself, let alone this kind of dental extraction surgery. I am absolutely destroyed.