Cat smelly breath

[catskittens]

hi,i have a 10yr old netured male cat that i have had since a kitten,health wise very healthy apart from urinary tract stones 4yrs ago so has a special diet but nothing else in 10yrs

Ive noticed his breath is getting a bit smelly its not really bad but when he yawns near me its like a meaty smell anyway any tips on making it better i have thought he may need his teeth cleaning but have no idea really what to do about it i dont want dental problems for him if i can help it

no insurance on him if relevant

thanks in advance

He'll need the vet for dental issues, you won't be able to solve them yourself.

If he has smelly breath it sounds like he already has dental problems. Cats are very prone to gingivitis. A trip to the vet is your only option.

He’ll need a vet, you can’t prevent dental problems at home.

Your cat will certainly have at least one bad tooth and/or gum disease. My old cat (19) had that, and he ended up having 2 teeth out. £350. I had to pay using the credit card.

thanks all looks like the vet in the new year

Don't leave this; it's far better to deal with a small dental problem now while he's young enough to be anaesthetised, than a big problem in five years time when he's not. Get all of his teeth overhauled now.

We had a recurring abscess in our 21year old - she was in a lot of pain every time it flared up but all we could do was treat the infection as there's no way she would have survived an operation.

If he already has bad breath he needs to be seen sooner rather than later as he's probably in a fair bit of pain.

Please don't leave him for two weeks.

Our cat developed sudden rotten breath a few years back and needed teeth out and a scale and polish. It cost a lot of money and wasn’t covered by our insurance! She generally has quite fishy/cat food breath but we always get her teeth checked at the booster appointment now.

Oh and she gets dental treats now instead of Dreamies - I think they’re called DentaBites or similar.