Why does my cat's breath stink of rotten meat? When should you go to the doctor if your cat’s breath stinks of rotten meat?

Why does my cat's breath smell like rotten meat?

I would like to immediately reassure cat owners who are concerned about the bad breath of their cat, your cat is absolutely healthy. And the unpleasant smell is due to the fact that the diet of the cat breed is almost 100% meat and fish products. Yes, it is rare to meet a vegetarian cat. If there are any, it is either because the owners are poor or because the cat is homeless and did not find any other food in the trash cans.

Why does my cat's breath smell like rotten meat? Meat and fish, entering the cat’s stomach, are digested by gastric juices, but this process is long and the smell of hydrogen sulfide, or rotten eggs, appears due to the breakdown of protein products. Should I worry about this if the cat is healthy and leads a normal life?

Signs of a healthy cat may include the following:

The cat willingly eats regular food.
The cat's fur is shiny and soft to the touch.
He plays and readily responds to affection.
The cat sleeps no more than usual.

All these signs do not apply to cats during the period of sexual heat. When a cat wants a cat or a cat wants a cat, you can forget about the adequacy of pets. If such a cat has the opportunity to go outside, then you can hardly wait for him to come home in the next three days. On active days, cats do not care about such little things as an empty and hungry stomach and matted, dirty fur.

If your cat is healthy, has a shiny coat, and eats willingly, bad cat breath can be considered normal.

Small infant kittens do not have bad breath. This is facilitated by feeding on milk from the mother cat.

Kittens smell better than adult cats

Prevention measures

In order to maintain the health of the pet and not face such a problem as an unpleasant, pungent odor from the cat, owners should follow a number of recommendations:

Maintain cleanliness. Regular cleaning of the litter box, washing and replacing covers on the cat's bedding will prevent even the faintest cat odor from spreading throughout the room.
Bathe your cat as the need arises, taking into account age, lifestyle, and coat type.
Take care of the cleanliness of the coat, comb it regularly, inspect the ears, nose, mouth, promptly clearing them of dirt.

Selection of food and proper feeding. No less important than maintaining hygiene standards is proper feeding of the cat. When using ready-made feeds, it is necessary to give preference to high-quality, good products. The use of low-quality industrial feed for a long time often causes an unpleasant odor from the cat’s fur, feces, and also from the oral cavity.

It is completely necessary to exclude foods such as salt, sugar, spices, smoked meats, sweets, and flour products from your pet’s diet.

Feeding such forbidden delicacies often provokes food allergies, damage to the sebaceous and skin glands, leading to the appearance of a foul odor.

When should you go to the doctor if your cat’s breath stinks of rotten meat?

If your cat is lethargic, eats little or not at all, and his breath smells like rotten meat, you need to take your pet to the veterinary clinic. The cause of ill health may be:

Cat stomach diseases.
Cat intestinal diseases.
Diseases of the teeth and oral cavity.
Poisoning from poor quality products.
Chemical poisoning.
Worms, fleas and other parasites.

Unless you are a doctor, you will not be able to determine the cause of your cat’s ill health. At home, you can fight worms and fleas and treat mild food poisoning, but only a doctor can cure severe food poisoning and other diseases.

A sick cat and the same one after recovery

Signs of an unhealthy cat:

The cat eats very little or not at all.
A sick cat's fur is dull and matted.
The cat does not engage in regular games and does not respond to affection.
He sleeps a lot and sits still.
His stool is unnaturally loose.
Lumps can be felt under the skin.

All these signs should not appear at the same time. In order to suspect that a cat is ill, you need 2-3 signs to appear at once. The most basic sign of ill health is the cat’s lack of normal appetite for 2-3 days and low physical activity. Not to be confused with a lack of appetite in a cat who wants to mate with a cat. Such a cat is quite active physically, and sometimes even too active.

Diagnosis of halitosis.

Self-diagnosis.

Smelling your own breath is difficult due to the adaptation of the olfactory receptors, although many halitosis sufferers can smell it in others.

Sometimes people experience an unpleasant taste in their mouth, but this is not always accompanied by halitosis. Usually people reliably learn about the presence of halitosis from their loved ones or from their doctor.

Special diagnostics.

It is required if the possible causes of halitosis, especially in the mouth, have been eliminated.

2.1. Halitometer

This is a device that determines the amount of hydrogen sulfide in exhaled air. Other odorous agents, such as mercaptan, are not detected by this device.

2.2. Digital gas chromatograph

measures the molecular level of major halitosogenic substances.

The cat's breath stinks of rotten meat: disease prevention

Protecting domestic cats from fleas and worms is the prevention of many diseases. Even if your pet does not leave the apartment, periodically check its fur for fleas. If the cat goes outside freely, use flea collars or drops. Worms can appear in cats from contact with other animals, contact with contaminated food or soil. Why is infection with worms dangerous? By multiplying in large numbers in the body, worms can cause inflammation of the cat’s intestines, the smell of rotten meat from the cat’s mouth, intestinal blockage and even the death of the pet.

It is important to prevent infection with worms by deworming regularly every three months. Every veterinary pharmacy will offer you affordable deworming products for cats.

Fleas, especially during infancy, can cause poor growth and poor appetite in kittens. Sometimes, the health of infected kittens is so poor that their lives are in danger. Small kittens can be washed with flea shampoo; aggressive flea products should not be used.

Usually they fight fleas first, and then worms. The break between these procedures, due to the aggressive effect on the cat’s body, is at least a week. If there is a suspicion of a large number of worms and the cat is not eating well, deworming is first done.

How to determine a possible disease by the nature of the smell

Having noticed a bad odor from the pet's mouth, the owner can try to find the cause of the problem. Its feature will tell you where the sore spot is:

Nephrological diseases are indicated by an ammonia or rotten smell. These include kidney failure and bladder stones. The affected organ is not able to remove toxins, and nitrogenous substances accumulate in the tissues of the animal.
A rotting smell indicates gastritis or a stomach ulcer, as well as a tumor of the esophagus or tongue. The same symptom occurs with intestinal dysbiosis or parasites.
In case of liver diseases, a fruity, sweet aroma is felt.
Halitosis, characterized by the smell of acetone or fermented apples, indicates diabetes mellitus.
Tartar and inflammation of the subgingival tissue in the mouth manifests itself with the smell of spoiled meat or fish.
Some owners feel like there is a “trash can” in the cat’s mouth. Thickening of secretions in the salivary sacs with the formation of edema manifests itself in a similar way.

Of course, it is impossible to determine the diagnosis only by the type of stench. There are other important symptoms that you should pay attention to before taking your pet to a specialist for examination.

Can cats brush their teeth?

The formulation of the question itself looks somewhat funny. Of course, in the wild you will not meet a tiger with a toothbrush in its paws. And if he does have one, it will be more likely to chew it up. Cats are not particularly different in their habits from their wild counterparts. And only restless cat owners can subject them to an unpleasant procedure. Agree, wrapping a cat in a sheet and brushing its teeth with the help of another person, while it screams, scratches and tries to escape, is not an activity for faint-hearted owners, or faint-hearted cats. Although you can find cute videos on the Internet where a cat willingly bites a toothbrush. I wonder what the cat’s owners used to smear such a brush with?

The main causes of the problem:

Changing teeth;
Feed;
Bone or thread;
Viruses;
Tartar;
Diseases;
Tumor;
Systemic diseases;
Poor oral hygiene.

These are the main options, but there may be other reasons associated with diseases of the internal organs. Now let's look at the details of each of them.

Treatment

As a result of the diagnosis, having learned why the cat has an unpleasant smell from the oral cavity, the veterinarian prescribes the necessary treatment. It is based on what problem was discovered.

If a kitten has been diagnosed with diseases of the digestive organs, then it is necessary to reconsider the food that the pet is fed. Food should not only consist of soft options (pates, porridges). It is better to replace cheap dry food with high-quality food high in vitamins and minerals.
When the veterinarian discovers helminths during diagnosis, he will prescribe the necessary anthelmintics.
When a cat is diagnosed with kidney disease, medications are prescribed to help restore this organ.
When a kitten is diagnosed with dental problems, its caries will be treated and plaque will be removed.
When diabetes is detected in cats, medical therapy is prescribed, which will not only help get rid of the stench, but also cope with the underlying problem.

What does a kitten's mouth normally smell like?

The cat tribe is exceptionally neat. Constant concern for the cleanliness of your body is the result of the desire to eliminate any strong odors that may attract the attention of enemies and potential victims. All mammals have a physiological odor, but due to their small size and metabolic characteristics, healthy cats, and especially kittens, have practically no smell. Only by carefully sniffing can you discern a faint, specific odor that cannot cause disgust.

How to brush your cat's teeth at home

When you get yourself a tailed pet, you need to understand that this is not a toy, it needs the necessary care. This includes brushing your teeth, and this needs to be done regularly. This is especially important when the animal has a foul odor coming from its mouth. In order to brush your cat’s teeth, you don’t have to buy a special toothpaste; you can also use the regular children’s version.

It happens that animals do not allow you to approach with a brush, then it can be replaced with natural fabric of medium hardness. The brush or cloth is soaked in water, then dipped in the paste (this can be replaced with baking soda). After the pet is fixed in the required position, you need to begin the procedure. Pets' teeth are brushed in the same order as people's: from top to bottom, from side to side. This method of sanitation is necessary for your pet, so you need to teach him to brush his teeth from childhood.

Proper cat care and regular consultations with a veterinarian will help avoid the question of why the cat’s mouth smells far from fresh.

Source

Salivary glands

In the mouth, saliva constantly coats the mucous membrane, thereby protecting it from damage. During the eating period, more saliva is produced in order to safely swallow food. If there is little saliva, then injuries may occur when eating.

If there is little saliva, then dry food will injure the gums and tongue, which will lead to inflammation. If, on the contrary, there is an excess of saliva, the chin will begin to become inflamed in those places where saliva will constantly flow from the baby’s mouth. All this will lead to the development of microorganisms and the kitten’s breath may stink.

Lack of hygiene

Of course, kittens do not brush their teeth, and if they are fed properly and kept in clean conditions, this is not required. All you need is a preventive examination by a veterinarian from time to time. So that if a disease appears, it can be cured at the initial stage. It’s bad when the disease is in development.

If an animal has an abnormal bite since birth and eats soft food, then it is recommended to brush its teeth.

Feed or spoiled food

Pets love to explore the kitchen and trash can for food. As a result, the cat may find the remains of old sausage or fish there. This situation can not only cause a terrible smell, but also provoke other diseases . In addition, missing food can cause a number of other serious problems. Therefore, carefully remove spoiled food. Sometimes low-quality prepared dry food can also cause an unpleasant odor.

Veterinarians recommend feeding the animal the same food and not constantly changing manufacturers. Also choose the optimal food in terms of price/quality ratio. If you combine different foods, an imbalance in the diet occurs.