Bad Breath, Chin Acne, and Eye Gums

Hello everyone.

I have three domestic shorthair cats, and they are all about 2 and half years old. I feed them raw food which are freshly delivered from farm. I serve food and water with stainless steel bowls. I make sure to brush their teeth every night. However, they still have the problem of bad breath, chin acnes, and eye gums. 

I have taken them to the local vet, but since I'm in a small town, the vets here are so low-educated. When I talked about the acne issue to me vet, she prescribed me a box of wipes, for DOG! Furthermore, EXPIRED! And I have discussed about the breath and gum issue, too, and she told me it was totally normal. But I knew it shouldn't be. Anyway, from then I don't trust that vet hospital anymore. But that is basically the only vet hospital that could count in my town.

So here I am. Looking for some help. I know those issues are not fatal, but surly are disturbing me and my cats. I searched online, and most of the solutions are altering the food. Since I am feeding them raw food, I don't know what else could be changed into. I feel so lost. If you know anything about these tiny but annoying issues in cat, please talk to me. Thank you all so much.

Bad breath indicates poor dental health. The first thing most people will recommend is a trip to the vet to have the teeth checked but you've already done that and the vet wasn't helpful. Many vets don't know how to do proper oral exams anyways because they aren't taught in vet school. Is there another vet hospital in the next town over that you could go to? A vet really should check your cat's teeth and if there are no major issues that need treatment right away, such as resorptive lesions or gingivitis, then you can do home care on your cat's teeth. Pet stores sell pet toothpastes and other dental care items. Home dental care won't help much if there are dental issues that need to be resolved first.

Chin acne is thought to be caused by an allergic reaction to plastic bowls but it can also happen because cat's can't wash under their chins so it gets pretty dirty there. Is it just black specks or little red bumps? Red bumps usually need a prescription ointment to help clear up. The vet can prescribe one or try Human acne cleaning pads such as Stridex. Black specks are more easily treated by washing under the chin daily. Plain water is fine. Pet grooming wipes are fine, too. Some people use unscented plain no lotion baby wipes.

I'm not sure what "eye gum" is? Do you mean the pupils or corneas? Third eyelid? Or the gums in the mouth?

Thank you so much LTS3 for replying me.

My cats' bad breath would get milder if I have brushed their teeth the night before, but would get worse right after they eat. I don't know if that's normal or not. As you said, I should probably take them to a better vet hospital, but the nearest general hospital for pet is two-hour drive distance from where I live. And as long as I know, the charge there is pretty high. As a student, I'm really not sure if I could afford the bill. I don't know if bad breath could be a definite symptom of bad oral health or not, but so far their teeth are brightly white, and the gums all look fine. 

And about the chin acnes, there are exactly look like what you said. And it looks hurt when I touching the red bump, because they kinda refusing me to wipe their chins. But I will try some unscented baby wipes. Thanks for the useful tip!

And I'm sorry I didn't make my point clear. When I said eye gums, I meant eye gunks. I've heard that short-nose cats usually have this kind of problem, but it doesn't make any sense on domestic shorthairs. My cats all have mild hair loss around the corner of their eyes due to the constant secretion. I need to help wiping them more than third times a day. I have tried eye rinse, however, didn't work well. Their eye sight and eyeballs look all fine, though. 

Anyway, there are always those tiny issues keep bothering me, and sadly I haven't found any working solutions. I would really appreciate it if you could help Thanks again!

My cats breath is AWFUL and I feed him Natures Variety Instinct Raw Boost. It was freeze dried pieces of raw meat in it. The food is really good for him but it definitely makes his breath stink. Thats probably why your babies have bad breath. My cat is only 10 months old and he has been eating that food since I got him. It has all healthy stuff in it and his teeth are totally fine so I know he doesn't have bad oral hygiene. I really think its the raw food we feed them. I wouldn't worry about that. It is annoying but I don't want to switch his food.

I won't switch their food...because one of my cat had a major illness caused by prescription food (god I hate the commercial food and the vet who prescribed it to my cat so much!) If it was raw food that's causing the bad breath, I guess all I could do is keep brushing their teeth, right? But it is a relief to know their oral health is okay Thanks!

I agree with cat foods. Its really hard to find a good one. Stick with it.. My cat had severe diarrhea when he was a baby for no reason. The vet couldn't figure it out. As soon as i switched him to the raw diet, his diarrhea stopped thank god! .. I'll take the bad breath over diarrhea any day! lol