Horrible bad breath

So a couple of weeks ago, I posted about my kitten who had a fever a bad breath while teething. She got over the fever and was fine. However, today she has developed the bad breath again! Is she going to become fevered again? What is causing this? She didn't have bloodwork last time, just Clavamox. She just recently lost her two top canines, yesterday and today, and her breath smelled like normal cat food yesterday. Today it's smells like rotten meat, or something dead. Help!

Her two new teeth are both really red at the base on the gum, so I suspect it has to do with that? Could it be gingivitis? I am going to attempt to get another round of Clavamox. She doesn't have a fever yet but this is exactly how it went down when she cut her bottom canines a month ago!

What this sounds like to me at this point is juvenile stomatitis. Which can be a real pain in the you-know-what.

It is an auto-immune disease that cats get that causes their own bodies parts to seem foreign, like an intruder, just like when a cat gets an infection and the white blood cells get busy to knock it out, well cat's immune system does not recognize that the teeth belong there, and it causes all sorts of drama. Very sore, inflammation, mouth sores, loose teeth, bad breath, etc.

Cat has pain during eating so they will lose weight, just not good.

Many times owners end up having their teeth removed. It's fine and not the end of the world, I've had several cats come to my rescue and had to do this, but surely looking at a 5 month old kitten, it's not something you even want to think about doing at this point.

2 new teeth have red swollen gums? No other reason I know of that would cause this besides stomatitis. It's fairly common too unfortunately.

Something in their genes, nothing environmental or food, etc.

Here is a simple explanation. This is the link- http://www.animaldental.com.au/juvenileperiodontitis.html

Feline Juvenile Periodontitis

It doesn't look anything like that! Is that how it always looks? It's only red around the two teeth that just came in, not any previous teeth. She eats and drinks and plays the same as ever.

It may just be the fact that she is getting new teeth again, so had "teething halitosis" again:  Here's a quote from an article about cat teething:

What happens during teething?

Long before adult teeth erupt through the gums, they begin developing from tooth buds located in the upper and lower jaws. As the adult teeth develop and get bigger, they begin to press against the roots of the baby teeth, stimulating the kitten’s body to begin resorbing the tooth roots. The baby tooth roots then weaken and finally disappear, leaving only the crowns behind. As the adult teeth push through the gums, the crowns of the baby teeth fall out. You may even find these hollow shells of teeth on the floor or in your kitten’s bedding, but more often than not the teeth will fall out while the kitten is eating and he will swallow them with the rest of his food.

During the teething process, your kitten may drool, be reluctant to eat at times, and he may be irritable due to a tender mouth. Almost all kittens will have the urge to chew when they are teething. It is important that you do what you can to direct your kitten’s chewing towards acceptable objects and don't allow any chewing of people's shoes, clothes, or furniture. Avoid hard objects as they can damage the teeth.

You may also notice a characteristic breath odor, which is associated with teething. This odor is normal and will last as long as the kitten is teething.

http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pe...ained-deciduous-teeth-baby-teeth-in-cats/2247

jdean1120 said:

It doesn't look anything like that! Is that how it always looks? It's only red around the two teeth that just came in, not any previous teeth. She eats and drinks and plays the same as ever.

Click to expand...

It may just be her teething, but it shouldn't be as dramatic as what it sounds like.

I am not a vet and was mainly showing the info and pics for juvenile stomatitis, it doesn't necessarily mean that is what's happening, let's hope not.

That said, I have not seen any kittens who are teething go through a fever and the very red swollen gums myself. It does sound a bit extreme for teething.

@Red Top Rescue  that's the second time we were posting at the same time in the past few days !

At what age should the teething process be complete? My 7 mo old also has bad breath.

By 8 weeks old, kitten has all it's baby teeth.

Around 3-4 months the incisors erupt, followed by the canines, pre-molars and molars around 4-6 months. All the adult teeth should be in around 7 months of age. 

Is there any chance of his retained teeth falling out after 7 months, or are we looking at dental surgery for sure?

That is a question I don't know the answer to, sorry!