My cat has putrid smelling breath?

Question

I have a 9 year old neutered male indoor cat and lately his breath smells really bad. If I had to describe it I would say it smells like rotting tuna fish.

He goes to the vet for his yearly examination and my vet says it is quite normal for older cats to have a lot of tooth decay.

I feed him dry food in hopes that the crunching and munching action will act as a tooth cleaner. I looked in his mouth but, I didn't really see anything too horrible. He has a little plaque build up, nothing too bad.

Should I bring him back to the vet to rule out any other health problems? Or should I maybe try buying one of those pet toothbrushes and toothpaste and try that? Anyone else had a similar situation with their older cat?

Any advice would be welcomed. I love cuddling with my kitty but, I don't know for how much longer I can take his breath!

Answer 1

Call up the vet

Answer 2

i would first check for rotting tuna fish behind the garbage can.

Answer 3

You need to get your cat to a better vet if your vet has not offered treatment for the tooth decay or investigated possible other causes of bad breath (kidney disease, foreign object, oral abscess or infection).  Assuming it is a dental problem, if caught early on the teeth can be descaled under anaesthetic (likewise a foreign object can be removed under anaesthetic), hopefully preventing the need to have them extracted.  If your cat's breath is that bad it means his teeth are bad enough to need descaling and some may need extraction.  A course of antibiotics will be required to clear up any infection resulting from an oral health problem.

Even without plaque build up the teeth may be rotting and he may have gingivitis (look for reddened gums).

It's a fallacy that dry food will keep a cat's teeth clean.  The kibble size simply doesn't provide the same sort of abrasive action as slicing through prey.  If his teeth are bad his mouth will be painful and he won't be happy crunching dry food in that condition.

9 years is on the young side for a kidney problem.  Usually this would cause a urine-like smell on the breath as products normally excreted into the urine end up excreted through the skin.  An oral haelth probelm causes a more general "dustbin odour".

Answer 4

You DEFINITELY need to get your cat back to the vet.  Bad breath can be the sign of many things - a bad tooth, gum disease, kidney disease and even cancer.  

If it's as bad as you describe why would you want to mask it with a minty smell while your cat continues to get sicker and sicker?

And FYI dry food does NOTHING to "clean the teeth".  Cats tend to swallow their food whole and most of it has little contact with the teeth - http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?ac...

Answer 5

I have an 8 year old neutered male and he has exactly the same problem. If he yawns or licks himself then I can smell it from about a meter away and its really gross. He probably wouldn't like the idea of you cleaning his teeth (i know my cat wouldn't) but I suppose you could try it. There are cat fresh breath mints that you can buy at a good pet store. I have never tried them so I don't know if they work or not.

Maybe you should, as you said,  take him back to the vet just to rule out any underlying problems such as:

-Gingivitis (inflammation of the gums)

-Abscessed tooth or teeth

-Bone or hair stuck in mouth

-Oral ulceration

-Foreign bodies in the mouth (such as plant material or grass awns)

-Oral neoplasia (tumors of the mouth)

-Lung diseases, such as lung cancer

-Severe kidney disease

Your vet may also have some other suggestions as to what could help with the fish breath.

Good Luck with your Kitty Cat

Answer 6

I'd try brushing his teeth with just a toothbrush or special pet toothpaste, not human toothpaste. also see if you can find some of the little treats for cats that help clean their teeth.

Answer 7

My cat does too but she is only 5 months old and I think it's her food. Maybe try checking to see what his food smells like. But if that's not it then definalty take him to the vet

Answer 8

Go 2 your local vet n get the special paste n brush and brush them regularly we do with our kitty..