our new cat, Ianto, is gorgeous and very affectionate, but he has terrible bad breath.

He eats little and often and seems to like tinned food (but not beef flavour so far) and go-cat biscuit things.

Is it normal for a cat to have bad breath (I mean really bad :gag: ) and can we do anything about it ?

How old is Ianto? Is he otherwise healthy?

he is a rescue cat, so we are not exactly sure, but the vet thinks he is 8 (although we think he is younger as he has more kitten-ish behaviour, such as chasing his tail).

He seems healthy, although if he was a human I'd describe him as suffering from his food repeating on him.

If he's 8 (or anything like that sort of age) then there's every likelihood that he's got either tooth decay or a bad case of tartar if he hasn't been on a decent diet or had his teeth looked after properly.

If his breath smells of cat food then it may not be his teeth, but if it just generally smells then it's most likely due to him needing a trip to the dentists, which is not an emergency visit but will probably need sorting out some time over the next few months.

You could try using some of the enzymic toothpaste gel or PlaqueOff to see if that improves things at all, but the only way for most cats to see the dentist is when they are anaesthetised I'm afraid.

Sounds very much like dental decay/ tarter build up. Getting more and more common in cats and younger and younger. I think a trip to the vets is needed to check it out. Whilst Logic Gel and Plaque Off and similar dental products claim to tackle plaque build up, the most effective way of removing it is a dental. Some vets will offer a free dental check and tell you if further work is required.

ah, thanks for this, I'll get him checked out.

My namesake, Mojo used to have breath that could drop a man at 100 paces, she now has very few teeth.
It was tarter build up, probably due to the fact that the biscuit is a dirty word in her language and she would never eat anything that wasn't sqishy.

Sometimes it's just genetics - our Norwegian forest cat has a condition that wiped out most of her teeth at less than 3 yrs - she now has the sum total of 5 teeth in all but manages so much better than she did when shehad more- and altho the dental work was expensive, it was worth it to relieve the pain she was in. Now got something similar with our Maine Coon (aged 4) and the Oriental (aged 4) so it's going to be an expensive few months

our cat has v.bad breath too sometimes and it makes her smell from washing etc.. and last time we took her to the vets (for something unrelated) he said she's got a lot of tartar and gingivitus (SP?) i've bought so dental treats but she won't blooming wat them. I hate taking her to the vets as she doesn't handle stress or the car well at all. Anthing else i could try?

Gingivitis is an infection of the gums, often caused by an immune reaction to plaque bacteria. No treat is going to sort that out I'm afraid. Treatments for gingivitis are very limited, but basically boil down to steroids or similar medication to stop the immune reaction or anaesthetic and a dental, which may result in a number of teeth being removed.

that's about your lot wondertec- just as Medusa says.

umm, she has a rubbish immune system and gets ill at the slightest bit of stress, i'm sure they saw me coming at the cat shelter!
Nevermind, hopefully she'll perk up a bit and ill keep trying the treats mixed in with her normal dry food.

Our vets has suggested you can mix Hills Science Plan oral Care in with your cats regualr dried food (it's expensive if you use it on its own) - the biscuits are bigger and slightly harder so they dont break into pieces when chewed - they take a bit more effort to break and the abrasive action helps to remove tarter build-up on teeth. Helly tells me Royal Canin do a similar product but much cheaper than Hills so I'm contemplating trying that with our lot- anything that helps to keep it under control. Ive also just bought a pack of Plaque Off to try, so will keep you posted

Most people make the assumption that bad breath is gingivitis or plaque related - and whilst these conditions are quite common, it's important to note that it's not always the case - therefore a check-up at the vets is always recommended.

There are many reasons why cats can develop bad breath. Kidney disease, mouth cancers and Diabetes being examples.

I recently came across this (http://www.cathealth.com/badbreath.htm)information.

Hope you both got sorted anyway.

hi,iv'e had persian cats for years and sad to say lost a few to kidney problems.They still eat food probably the same quantity as before but manage to lose wight.Also the signs are drinking lots of water more than usual,and very bad breath,real smelly.it appears it's long haired cats not just persains that are prone to this disease,of course it could just be bad teeth defo worth visit to vets to just make sure.good luck.

Ianto had to have 6 teeth removed and although it must have been traumatic he seemed so much happier when we got him home. That was quite a few months ago now and he seems to manage fine with dried and wet food, but is a lot more drooley than he used to be ... you don't want to be in same room when he wakes up and shakes his head :hihi: