Cat with *REALLY* stinky breath

My cat Schmitty has been drooling periodically. When he drools, he drools in large amounts. I am not exaggerating but his drool and his breath smell as bad as cat poo (in fact it smells very much like cat poo). After he drooled, my whole living room smelled really bad and the smell was so pungent that I wanted to throw up. The smell also takes forever to go away. (He drooled on my leather chair 3 weeks ago and the chair still smells)

He has no signs of sickness. He has skin allergy and has been on D/D rabbit and pea. He eats regularly and drinks regularly. Did anyone have a similar case?

I would take him to vet ASAP as he might have very bad gum/teeth problem.... one of the strays I care for had a horrible breath smell, it turned out to be a few rotten teeth...

I believe the early symptoms of kidney problems include bad breath, and it is sometimes caused by bad teeth. I agree that he needs to see a vet soon.

I'm another who votes for taking Schmitty to the vet. Excessive drooling and bad breath is an indication that something is wrong. Bad teeth and gums being my first thought, but there could be other things going on too.

You say he has no signs of sickness, but actually the drooling and odor IS a sign of sickness. Cats are masters at hiding illness and pain, so he could be very ill indeed and you'd never know it.

Dental problems cause other problems such as kidney disease and heart problems.

Please let us know what you find out after taking Schmitty to the vet, be sure your vet does blood work.

Yep, a trip to the vet is warranted. Let us know what you find out.

I agree - immediate vet visit is in order - please tell the desk all the symptoms so they can get you in quickly. Good luck,

Vet ASAP please update when you can

Holland has had stinky breath ever since I got her as a kitten. Right now she's at the vet's having teeth extracted due to stomatitis. I echo everyone else's advice to get your baby to the vet!

Excessive drooling and odor are both signs of a mouth problem. He really needs to see a vet sooner rather than later.

My skin allergy prone boy Stumpy started to drool excessively. Turns out he has an auto-immune disease that started in his skin and moved to his mouth. Over the course of a year we had to have all of his teeth extracted. He's doing remarkably well after a life time of problems.

A big thanks to you all. I have scheduled a vet visit for tomorrow afternoon. Will update once I get back!

That's great news! We'll all be watching for the update on Schmitty!

Bless you for making the appointment, and best wishes for an clear diagnosis and a successful treatment plan. Please let us know what they say.

Update? Luna has stomatitis, so I'd like to hear what's going on with your kitty!

Originally Posted by lsanders

Update? Luna has stomatitis, so I'd like to hear what's going on with your kitty!

Click to expand...

Just out of curiosity, did Luna have to get teeth extracted? My last three weeks with Holland have been a whirlwind... She lost a tooth, two days later I took her in for her annual checkup where her stomatitis was diagnosed, and yesterday she had most of her teeth removed. I'm glad I don't have to deal with dental problems from here on out (the upside to having no teeth?!?) but it's been a very emotional journey for me... At times I feel as though I've suffered more than my poor baby has!!

for a good vet visit!

Not yet. We have been fostering her from the shelter I volunteer at since August (we're going to adopt her, just haven't gotten around to it yet.) She's only a couple years old, which is really young for stomatitis and I noticed her breath in the first couple days we had her. Somehow I didn't notice it in the two years she was at the shelter, but whatever. Anyway, we've been taking her to the vet the shelter works with and she's been on prednisolone and now we're spraying chlorhexadrine into her mouth. I'm supposed to do it every day, but she HATES it and will make herself unfindable, so she gets it every other day. I know, it's not good, but when I would try to find her, she'd get really stressed out.

Being that she's so young and so intolerant of the medicine, I'm sure at some point she will end up getting teeth extracted :-(

Holland is about the same age - she'll be 2 in May. I was shocked to learn about her dental problems, at so young an age. Part of me is glad that now she's had her teeth extracted we won't have any more dental problems, but part of me is just still in shock that we had to do such an extreme procedure so soon in her life... I just want to cry when I notice her missing her teeth...

Don't worry, she doens't care about those missing teeth. All she cares about is how much better she feels.

Dental health is mostly genetic in cats. Home care can help prevent problems, but things like stomatitis and FORL can't be prevented, just treated when it shows up.

Yeah, Holland's vet told me that her stomatitis is hereditary. She's back to her little trouble-making self today... The only way you could tell she had major surgery just the other day is by the patch of shaved skin on one of her front legs.

So what do you feed her now? Just wet food? Do they still make soft dry food? I don't even know.

Just not looking forward to the inevitable.