Increasingly worsening breath?

white cat lover · Feb 4, 2007

Damita's breath is awful!

She was at the vet & her teeth were examined on Jan 29th. He said they looked fine, tartar build-up was not bad enough that he wanted to do a dental cleaning yet, but he wanted to see her again in 6 months for a re-evaluation of her teeth(because she is 6 1/2 years old). Her breath was bad then, but OK. She was just sitting in my lap bathing herself & it smells just rotten!!!

Can her breath get this bad in a week? Could there be something else besides her teeth/tartar build-up causing rotten breath?

She is due to see the vet next Tue. again, so we can discuss it then....just wanted some other opinions!

arlyn · Feb 4, 2007

I don't thinbk her teeth could have gone bad in a week, but she could be developing an oral abcess.

Def bring up her dragonbreath at her visit, maybe ask for some dental x-rays to be safe.

kitte · Feb 4, 2007

also some other health problems can cause dragonbreath in a cat... definitely seek vet advice when you go in next time...

livedeeply · Feb 4, 2007

My kitty's breath has smelled really funky and rotten since her jaundice started, from her liver. Keep an eye out for that!

Could certainly just be an old food particle or something innocent, though.

gayef · Feb 4, 2007

A bad-breath odor is sometimes indicative of infection in the gums more so than tartar buildup on the teeth. What did the gumline look like? Was there any redness right where the teeth meet the gums? If so, I would get her on an pre-operative course of antibiotics and get that dental scheduled now.

sharky · Feb 4, 2007

What the others have said ...

BUt isnt she on RX food??? I know some foods cause horrible breathe

tikicat · Feb 5, 2007

Bad breath is usually caused by one of two things. A rotten tooth or infected gums is one thing which it sounds like you ruled out. The second thing is food swallowed whole that sits in the stomach creating putrification which passes through the stomach and intestinal walls, into the blood stream and directly out the lungs which is most common in canines but can be found in cats as well.

I would watch how your cat eats. Secondly, I would examine what you cat eats. Dry foods take a lot longer to pass through the system and will sit longer in the system. I would look at feeding a high quality wet or raw foods diet high in usable, quality whole meat such as fish and chicken. This will break down in the system quicker and should reduce the bad breath unless teh vet missed something in your cats mouth.

white cat lover · Feb 5, 2007

Originally Posted by TikiCat

Bad breath is usually caused by one of two things. A rotten tooth or infected gums is one thing which it sounds like you ruled out. The second thing is food swallowed whole that sits in the stomach creating putrification which passes through the stomach and intestinal walls, into the blood stream and directly out the lungs which is most common in canines but can be found in cats as well.
I would watch how your cat eats. Secondly, I would examine what you cat eats. Dry foods take a lot longer to pass through the system and will sit longer in the system. I would look at feeding a high quality wet or raw foods diet high in usable, quality whole meat such as fish and chicken. This will break down in the system quicker and should reduce the bad breath unless teh vet missed something in your cats mouth.

This is very interesting information! The SD d/d she is eating smells foul...somewhat like her breath smelled to me last night. She is getting only canned food..... However, she seems to be showing symptoms of an allergic reaction to the d/d now....

Originally Posted by sharky

What the others have said ...

BUt isnt she on RX food??? I know some foods cause horrible breathe

Science Diet d/d...and I think that stuff smells rotten....I really hope that is the cause!

Originally Posted by gayef

A bad-breath odor is sometimes indicative of infection in the gums more so than tartar buildup on the teeth. What did the gumline look like? Was there any redness right where the teeth meet the gums? If so, I would get her on an pre-operative course of antibiotics and get that dental scheduled now.

That is what throws me, Gaye. The vet looked at her teeth & while, yes, there was build-up, the gums were not red & she had pretty good teeth for her age & health!

persi & alley · Feb 6, 2007

Originally Posted by white cat lover

Damita's breath is awful!

Click to expand...

She was at the vet & her teeth were examined on Jan 29th. He said they looked fine, tartar build-up was not bad enough that he wanted to do a dental cleaning yet, but he wanted to see her again in 6 months for a re-evaluation of her teeth(because she is 6 1/2 years old). Her breath was bad then, but OK. She was just sitting in my lap bathing herself & it smells just rotten!!!

Can her breath get this bad in a week? Could there be something else besides her teeth/tartar build-up causing rotten breath?

She is due to see the vet next Tue. again, so we can discuss it then....just wanted some other opinions!

It seems like everytime I turn the TV on lately you see this gargling dog. Anyway, although it is the cutest add (but like the talking gecko it is getting old), it tries to blame the food the dog is eating. But I had a people dentist once tell me the main cause of bad breath in people are their teeth condition. I would suppose things are basically the same for people and cats (and gargling dogs).

panther pride · Feb 10, 2007

I would brush her teeth more often and change her diet. Most vets get pressured by companies to sell food that really is no better then the stuff at the supermarket. Try Innova evo/eagle pack,ect. If they are saying its the best food on TV or in the vets ofice its probably overrated..http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima...lies/agree.gif

sharky · Feb 10, 2007

Originally Posted by Panther pride

I would brush her teeth more often and change her diet. Most vets get pressured by companies to sell food that really is no better then the stuff at the supermarket. Try Innova evo/eagle pack,ect. If they are saying its the best food on TV or in the vets ofice its probably overrated..http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima...lies/agree.gif

brushing is a great idea... In this case the RX was for a reason and I do beleive a diet is changing to raw

pat · Feb 10, 2007

Not necessarily the case, but there are various health conditions that can cause bad breath...if nothing is found re oral abcess, gum issues, and it doesn't change with a diet change (if you do one), I'd have a full set of labs drawn - check glucose levels, kidney function etc.

momofmany · Feb 10, 2007

My vet could guess CRF by smelling their breath (followed up by blood work). I'm not suggesting it is that, but there are other health issues that cause foul breath. As Pat and Alix suggested, get a full set of blood work done to rule out other causes.

white cat lover · Feb 10, 2007

Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

Not necessarily the case, but there are various health conditions that can cause bad breath...if nothing is found re oral abcess, gum issues, and it doesn't change with a diet change (if you do one), I'd have a full set of labs drawn - check glucose levels, kidney function etc.

Full bloodwork was done on Jan 29, 2007. That was only like 2 weeks ago? With all the problems she's having right now, I think I'm switching her to raw Sunday eve after I get the pre-made stuff, then making a vet appt. Mon am. The vet wanted to see her again anyways.

We've done full bloodwork-up, FIV/FeLV test, a urinarlysis 3x, physical exams 3 times. The vet is basically clueless about Damita. We'll see if he's still stupmed this time we visit!

pat · Feb 10, 2007

Well at the least, lets blame it on tortitude! Torties live for drama!

white cat lover · Feb 10, 2007

Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

Well at the least, lets blame it on tortitude! Torties live for drama!

You have a point there Pat! I honestly just want her to be healthy for once in her life.

That's all I strive for & with her only bieng 7 years old, I sure hope I can make that happen!

mzjazz2u · Feb 10, 2007

Not to alarm you but....Does she have known kidney problems? Usually cats in kidney failure can have very nasty breath.

white cat lover · Feb 11, 2007

Originally Posted by mzjazz2u

Not to alarm you but....Does she have known kidney problems? Usually cats in kidney failure can have very nasty breath.

I would think that the bloodwork & urinalysis would've showed kidney problems. If I am remembering correctly, he said after every urinalysis that her kidney function looked good!

mzjazz2u · Feb 11, 2007

Originally Posted by white cat lover

I would think that the bloodwork & urinalysis would've showed kidney problems. If I am remembering correctly, he said after every urinalysis that her kidney function looked good!

Yeah.... I couldn't remember if you previously mentioned kidney function or not. I'm sure there are other things that can cause bad breath. I was just throwing out there the only one besides plaque buildup that I could think of. I'll be waiting to hear what your vet says on next visit.

white cat lover · Feb 11, 2007

Originally Posted by mzjazz2u

Yeah.... I couldn't remember if you previously mentioned kidney function or not. I'm sure there are other things that can cause bad breath. I was just throwing out there the only one besides plaque buildup that I could think of. I'll be waiting to hear what your vet says on next visit.

I'm calling the vet tomorrow morning. There was a "log" on the floor tonight when I got home(I've been gone since noon). It smelled like poop to me! I honestly can't tell if it was poop or vomit, but I'm worried.

Increasingly worsening breath?

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