Potential abscessed tooth?

My cat Frankie (15 years old) just started swiping at his mouth on the right side and appearing like he’s attempting to bring something up, licking his lips and sort of dry retching without any noise or any bile. When I looked into his mouth, I could see an irritated spot on his gums quite far back but couldn’t get in far enough to see much else. He’s still eating and drinking normally. I have a vet appointment for Wednesday (today is Friday) which is the soonest my vet could fit us in, but do I need to take him in sooner? I’m not sure what to do for him but it does seem to be bothering him.

Hello - it sounds s though there are two problems here - the retching / vomitting and the change to the tooth.   I hear you thinking of ways in which the two are linked, but it is also possible that your cat has pancreatitis and that the change to the tooth is a side issue.  It is hard for me to guage the urgency online - sone cats with pancreatitis can retch every day for years, where as othrs might have a more serious / fast developing problem.   If you tjink that a problem is more urgent and would like a case's priority to be reassessed / triaged, always call the vets receptionist and let them know.

There is a huge range of underlying diseases that meet what you are describing for Frankie.  They can range from simply having a loose tooth or something caught that is irritating the throat, to a cold or more severe infectious disease, to pancreatitis or liver disease or cancer.  It's great that you have an appointment and always a good idea to ask to be triaged, especially if Frankie's immediate well being appears to deteriorate.

Triage = a quick assessment to see how urgent a patient's condition is.