My mother's refusing to take our family cat to the vet

I'm a 19-year-old student who still lives at home. We've had two male cats for around 10 years now, and in 2019 we got a dog. The rescue we got our dog from required our family to take our existing pets (the cats) to the vet before we could get approved for the adoption, and our family vet identified severe tooth decay/damage in both cats. It wouldn't have gotten as bad as it has if my mom had been taking the cats to the vet for check-ups, but she doesn't believe in them. The vet told her she would need to have our older of the two cats sedated to have his teeth cleaned, and my mom agreed to it - so the vet recommended us to the rescue - and then never followed through.

We can tell that both cats have a little trouble chewing, and the oldest one has gums that are constantly swollen and inflamed. He eats a little, but not very much these days. When I point these things out to my mother, she says, "Then maybe we'll need to have him put down soon." He's only 10/11 years old right now, and is otherwise in good health, but she's refusing to spend the money or time it takes to fix the issue.

I don't have the money or resources to help this cat, and every time I try to advocate for him to my mother she just says that treating his teeth isn't worth the money and that we'll just have him euthanized when he stops eating. I've tried to explain to her that he's likely in excruciating pain most of the time (and that cats are notorious for hiding pain), but she won't listen to me.

Communicating with her or other household issues will get me nowhere. I've met the vet she goes to and I actually suspect she would put an otherwise healthy - albeit somewhat older - animal down just because the owner requested it. I'm wracked with guilt every time I see this cat because I can tell he's in pain, even though he's not my cat/responsibility. Does anyone have any ideas as far as things to do if my mom starts seriously considering euthanasia? I'm at a loss

submitted by /u/nastygoblinman
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/lzfdeo/my_mothers_refusing_to_take_our_family_cat_to_the/