My cat had to have all her teeth removed about a year or so ago due to constant dental issues. Her breath is still just horrible. The vet says she seems to be healthy. Does anyone have any ideas what could be causing it?
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Really , really bad breath
- Thread starter mishicats
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Have infections and polyps been ruled out?
I'm wondering if she has an infection in her mouth. I'd also get a second opinion.
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I feed her Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Chicken and Green Pea dry food and every morning I give her a small amount of chicken or turkey baby food.
Why are you feeding her kibble when she doesn't have any teeth? Cats really don't chew their food, but poor girl should at the very least be on a 100% wet food diet when she doesn't have any teeth at all. If she is trying to chew, she's probably scraping up her gums which could cause an infection (not to mention painful) and explain the foul odor.
When I worked at a very large animal clinic (now open 24 hours, with TWENTY vets!) there was an 18 year old yellow tabby named Grandpa who came in to board. I was pretty new there and hadn't met Grandpa yet. I was put in charge of dishing up the evening meals and helping with "deliveries". I had Grandpa's meal in front of me-- he ate Hill's c/d dry. So when I opened up Grandpa's compartment and saw him yawn at me with NO TEETH at all in his mouth, I double checked the menu to make sure I had the right food. Sure enough... Hill's c/d dry. I asked my partner if this was right-- she had been there for years and knew Grandpa very well. She said, "Yup, he eats dry. He won't touch wet at all. He hasn't had a tooth in his head since he was 10. So for 8 years this old toothless cat had been seemingly thriving on that dry food. He simply resisted any attempts to wean him over to wet, even though it really is better for kitties. Some cats are just such "crack heads" when it comes to their krunchers that they will just never change. I've seen many toothless cats like Grandpa who still insist on eating dry food, no matter what.
I wonder about the possibility of a soft tissue infection, or possibly retained roots... definitely worth a vet trip.
I don't subscribe to the notion that you can't at least partially convert any cat to wet or raw. It's mostly just owners that are convinced their cat wont eat wet or raw. Older cats take more work, but it's absolutely possible. I converted by oldest to mostly raw at 12.5 years old, and that wasn't (and still) isn't an easy job. Older cats really need that moisture more than anything.
Has any blood work been done to rule out internal issues that may be causing the bad breath?
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I feed her the dry food because that is what she likes. I have tried numerous times to get her to eat regular wet cat food. She just does not seem to like it. I have had to struggle just to get her to eat a little bit of warmed up baby food every day. She seems to be healthy other than the breath. Her eyes are clear and her fur is shiny, soft and beautiful.
I'd get a second opinion and blood work to rule out anything systemic. Maybe some dental x-rays to make sure there's nothing else going on in her mouth. I have a kitty who had a couple of teeth extracted a few months ago. She LOVES eating dry food. She eats wet as well, but not having as many teeth doesn't stop her from eating her dry food.
My little tortie, Rena, was rescued from an active meth house during a police raid, such an awful situation that it took six months of veterinary work and foster care before she could be put up for adoption by a local rescue group, so I knew she might have some grave health problems. Her breath was absolutely horrible from the moment I adopted her, so bad that my other cats would often look startled when they smelled her breath! It takes really bad breath to shock a cat! Rena had FORL lesions on some of her teeth and we spent months figuring out exactly what was wrong and then preparing her for surgery. She has had two dental surgeries, one in July of 2015, which removed two teeth and another in October of 2015, during which seven teeth were removed. These teeth were all FORL lesions teeth, which is such a painful condition. This condition normally effects cats over the age of five, and Rena was not even two years old when we dealt with this. Since recovering from the second surgery, she has eaten with gusto. Her breath is much better, but she may require future extractions.
I hate these oral conditions and if I were you, I would get a second opinion. There is some infection going on. I don't think any of us expect our cats to have breath that smells like a spring breeze, but when it's extremely severe, like Rena's bad breath was, there is a physical reason that the vet hasn't yet found. When you smell a normal cat's breath and then smell the breath of a cat with an infection or oral condition, it's very obvious that something is very wrong. The first thing that springs to mind is to ask if they took x-rays after your baby's dental surgery to be sure there were no roots or pieces of roots of teeth left in the gums before sewing up. My vet did that. Apparently, it's not an uncommon occurrence.
I hate these oral conditions and if I were you, I would get a second opinion. There is some infection going on. I don't think any of us expect our cats to have breath that smells like a spring breeze, but when it's extremely severe, like Rena's bad breath was, there is a physical reason that the vet hasn't yet found. When you smell a normal cat's breath and then smell the breath of a cat with an infection or oral condition, it's very obvious that something is very wrong. The first thing that springs to mind is to ask if they took x-rays after your baby's dental surgery to be sure there were no roots or pieces of roots of teeth left in the gums before sewing up. My vet did that. Apparently, it's not an uncommon occurrence.
Another possibility is the Bartonella bacterium, which can contribute (among other things) to mouth issues like tooth problems and bad breath. We learned about Bartonella when our cats had to have their teeth cleaned before they were even two: they had buildup on their teeth and their gums were inflamed. One cat, the one with worse teeth, also had bad breath. Their mouths look and smell much better after treatment for Bartonella. (We also brush their teeth so we're not sure which thing -- brushing or getting rid of Bartonella -- has been most helpful!)
Bartonella is the same bacterium that causes cat scratch fever. Here's a page about it and some of the ways it can present in cats. Not all vets seem to see a connection between Bartonella and mouth issues but our vet, who's a cat specialist, says she sees progress in the majority of cats she treats for Bartonella.
Bartonella is the same bacterium that causes cat scratch fever. Here's a page about it and some of the ways it can present in cats. Not all vets seem to see a connection between Bartonella and mouth issues but our vet, who's a cat specialist, says she sees progress in the majority of cats she treats for Bartonella.
One of my cats had horrific bad breath at one point. After ruling out an infection and any dental issues, the vet took an x-ray and discovered that she had gotten a blade of grass snuck up into her nasal cavity. Once it was removed she was fine.
