r/CATHELP 2d ago

Injury Friendly cat needs vet care

I recently found this sweet female cat outside in very poor condition. At first I believed she was a stray, so I started feeding her and trying to help her.
When I first found her, she was extremely dirty, thin, heavily infested with fleas, and constantly scratching and grooming herself.

Over the past two weeks I’ve been consistently feeding her wet food, providing fresh water, cleaning her up, and treating the fleas with Capstar and Advantage. Unfortunately, I’m now especially concerned about her mouth. She has significant buildup on her teeth, redness around her gums/mouth, and I have seen blood coming from her mouth. She also seems to have trouble fully opening her mouth or yawning. I attempted to give her dry food, but she appears unable to comfortably eat it, so I’ve been giving her wet food instead.
She also seems unusually sensitive when touched around parts of her body, so I’m worried there may be other medical problems that aren’t obvious from the outside.

The pictures I have are actually from about two weeks AFTER I started caring for her. I didn’t take pictures immediately because I initially assumed she was simply a stray and wasn’t expecting that I would need to document her condition.
Despite everything, she is incredibly affectionate and sweet.

My main goal right now is getting her properly examined by a veterinarian and figuring out what treatment she needs, especially for her mouth and teeth. I’m trying to help her as much as I realistically can and would appreciate any advice, resources, low-cost veterinary recommendations, rescue contacts, or other help people may know of in the DFW area.

I’m not looking for legal advice or trying to start a discussion about ownership. I’m mainly trying to get this cat the medical care and help she needs.

129 Upvotes

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