Stinky Kitten breath

My little Fini has the most horrible stinky breath!!! We adopted him in August from a shelter, it wasn't bad at all. The past couple weeks, its been terrible! He has been seen by the vet at the shelter, for his neuter, general check up and vaccinations and then I had him checked by our own vet. He is eating fine, actually he is a little pig and I worry he will end up over weight if I don't keep an eye on it when he is older. He is currently about 6 months. Could teething cause this rotten breath? It is nasty ,when he plays and chews on my other cat, her fur smells...YUCK!  I picked him up for a cuddle this morning and one of his little teeth fell out on me. I checked his gums and I could see the tiny spot with a little blood on it, and sure enough on the other side, it looks like he recently lost one there. I hope when this teething business is over , the stinky breath leaves with it. He seems healthy enough, playing and running like a lunatic He has a beautiful shiny coat and is growing like crazy. Has anyone else experienced yucky kitten breath? He is my 5th cat,but only 3rd kitten and I never noticed it on the other two.

Hi.  I had this with my current boy Mouse.  I would describe his breath as 'meaty' from about 4 1/2 months but didn't think much about it and like you assumed it was just him and teething: until he started to be a bit fussy when he was eating his favourite fish snacks one day and that was after about 2 months. You are very sensible to ask about it now.  Please take your little Fini back to the vet now and ask them to have a good look.  

By the time I took Mouse to the vet when he went off his snacks and I checked his gums and saw how red they were he must have been in extreme pain. When the vet inspected his mouth properly, in addition to the raw gums he had a sore on his tongue, one at the angle of his jaw, and tonsillitis.  I felt SO bad for not realizing he was sick (and still do).  After a couple of rounds of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory pain relief he thankfully got back to good health and a daily routine for tooth cleaning and special diet were started. 

It sounds like Fini has gingivitis and it can develop in to stomatitis (sores in the mouth), and deeper infections at the roots of the teeth.  Many cats will get some gingivitis when they are teething but they shouldn't have bad breath. If the gums are red they are sore, and there is a risk of more infection and damage to Fini's health. You need to ensure it is managed quickly, and observe closely to ensure it is not a long term condition for Fini that will need careful management, and minimize the risk of Fini loosing any (or all) of his teeth from a young age.

Please do not panic, there are many scary stories - both on this site and many others, but Mouse had severe gingivitis and stomatitis for several months, it is a long term thing for him but it is currently well managed with diet and a strict daily tooth care routine which he enjoys!  He still has all his teeth at 2 1/2, and I hope he will keep them in to a good number of pensioner years. He is a happy, very bouncy cat that loves to chew!   

I have a appointment for my other cat Midnight on Friday, I'll try to get Fini seen then too. Since I wrote this post he has lost 3 more teeth!!! I was poking around in his mouth, looking to see if anything looked red, sore, angry looking. One fell out when I touched it, I was a little shocked..lol. if this is just a matter of soft gums and wobbly loose teeth, hopefully it will start clearing up by Friday. Either way I'll get him looked at then.
Thanks for the response

One of my cats was like that when she was a kitten.  When I first got her and for quite awhile after I was taking her to a vet clinic that was general practice and I don't think they knew much about cats.  When my other cat was sick and couldn't get a good diagnoses I took him to a very good cats only clinic.  After we got him straightened out I took Alice in for a checkup and she had bad gingivitis. She ended up losing five teeth when she got her dental.  I know there is a genetic component to dental problems and I think she had problems from the beginning.  The poor baby probably had a sore mouth from the beginning.

Here is an effort to show you a picture of his gums. He did not appreciate this picture but when I was done, he stayed there bin my lap, content as can be! He is a funny little guy!

Very impressive photo!      and well done for keeping all fingers intact in the process (I hope).  Well earned cuddles after that picture. 

Fini's teeth look nice and clean and without plaque building up on them yet. The rims of his gums around his teeth don't look too inflamed but I still think you should take him to the vet when you go.  The bad breath, and saliva that leaves a smell on fur and skin is not a sign of good health.   

Mouse had the meaty breath several weeks before his gums looked sore. His  gums and teeth looked pretty good even while he was teething:  I had a good close look one day as his adult  canine teeth came through a full 2 days before he lost the baby ones and he looked hilarious - a little vampire kitty!    Then  all of a sudden a few weeks later the rims around his teeth were red raw and the rest you know.  The stinky breath can be caused by other things like digestive issues but mouth infections are probably most likely at Fini's age.  

Hopefully it's nothing serious. The vet clinic I go to does dentistry, so hopefully they will get a good look. Should I be brushing his teeth/ gums? If so, what should I use? Or am I best to leave it until he sees the vet.
He actually wasn't to bothered by me poking at his mouth,he was more annoyed he couldn't swipe at my face..lol. He loves to pull my glasses off

When my cat was young the vet said she had a malformation which caused food to get stuck above her front teeth. We got sent home with dental rinse to be applied daily. After a while I noticed that her gums were still a little red, so she got a round of antibiotics. It cleared up and we've been managing with the dental rinse since.

MichelleMurphy said:

Hopefully it's nothing serious. The vet clinic I go to does dentistry, so hopefully they will get a good look. Should I be brushing his teeth/ gums? If so, what should I use? Or am I best to leave it until he sees the vet.
He actually wasn't to bothered by me poking at his mouth,he was more annoyed he couldn't swipe at my face..lol. He loves to pull my glasses off

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His mouth is sore just now with those kitten teeth coming out, and other teeth pushing through.  I probably wouldn't start brushing right now but you could try getting Fini used to you putting something in his mouth and rubbing his teeth gently.  Rather than buying expensive animal toothpaste immediately you might prefer pet dental wipes- you can usually buy them in pet stores. You just wrap them round your finger and gently rub around your cat's mouth.  They usually have bicarb and a couple of other ingredients in them, I think they are better than the stuff you put in water as the cat isn't ingesting the chemicals and, most importantly is getting used to you touching his/her mouth, gums and teeth - stage one of a introducing a brushing routine.   Never use 'human' toothpaste or products as they are harmful to cats. I get Mouse's toothpaste from the vet and although it is pricey it lasts about 3 months using twice a day.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I am a bit of a worry wart. Honestly, since I lost my cat Skippy to cancer in May I am picking all my other pets apart! It's hard to get past that fear that it will happen again. But I will keep a close eye on them, bring them to the vet if I need to and make sure we don't miss our check ups. I also started weighing them all on a somewhat regular basis.
I will look for some dental wipes. I'm going to have lots of questions for my vet