Elderly diabetic Tom with very stinky breath

[Cato9lives]

My much loved 14 yr old ginger Tom has diabetes. He is very thin and getting frail. In the past month I have noticed he has horrendous sulphurous breath. I’m guessing he has gingivitis or something similar. He will still eat biscuits reluctantly so have started giving him more wet food. I have read that the only cure is teeth cleaning under general anaesthetic but I think he is too old and weak for this. Can anyone offer any advice? Is there anything else that can be done for this? I’m reluctant to pay £55 for yet another vet consultation if there’s little they can do. Anyone have any experience in this area? Thanks in advance :)

Is his diabetes being managed? I used to give mine injections.

Was also going to say that it could be diabetes related. Has he had a glucose curve recently?

My 13 year old boy has diabetes, no smell other than stinky fish breath after eating wet food. It could be a dental issue amongst other things including diabetes. What are his gums like, are they red or swollen?

I’d advise going to your vet. If your cat is getting thin and frail then it might be that his diabetes isn’t controlled or that he has something else going on. 14 isn’t actually hugely geriatric nowadays for cats.

In a stable diabetic 14 year old, it absolutely is feasible to perform a general anaesthetic to address dental disease (but your vet will carry out a full healthcheck and likely blood tests to assess if there are any other issues they need to be aware of). Anaesthesia does carry some risks but this has to be weighed against potentially painful dental disease. It’s worth noting that most animals having treatment (such as general anaesthesia for dentistry) are old, because old age is when things go wrong.

Might be worth getting his kidney function looked at. Bad breath can be a symptom of kidney issues.

Thanks for all responses. He goes to the vets regularly. His diabetes is under control, and he did have kidney issues but they appear to have cleared up now according to his last blood test (two weeks ago). He’s just got over a bout of pancreatitis. I am aware that 14 isn’t decrepit as I have previously had cats that lived to 18.

I’m really just wondering if anyone has had the same issue with an older, weakened cat, and if so what they did about it and what the outcome was? I have spent literally thousands in vet bills for him over the years but am struggling financially at the moment, hence wanting to avoid further vet visits if at all possible :(

I'm so sorry this doesn't sound good. My DBoyCat had this when he had aggressive kidney cancer. I do hope it's not that but he does need a check up.

If I had a thin, frail, teenaged diabetic cat and was financially struggling, unless the cat was insured I would euthanase as soon as the cat showed signs of struggling to eat or started vomiting. If cat was happy I'd keep on trucking and explain to the vets at checkup time that I was cash strapped and the next "thing" that happened would be euth.

Diabetics are a money pit ,but also delicate and trying to cut a lot of corners with them to save £ usually doesn't end well. Teeth ditto. Diabetics often have not-good teeth, and periodontal disease destabilises diabetes in a vicious circle. Perio dz is bad for kidneys anyway, but especially in animals with another risk factor like diabetes.
And teeth are expensive and proper exam and treatment under GA is the only way of really addressing them.

VOHC approved dental chews help to maintain healthy teeth, but they won't do anything for unhealthy teeth, and most of the action happens at or just below the gumline.

I give owners the money pit talk (in kinder terms) at diabetes diagnosis and let them know they can stop the bus at any point if they want. Diabetes has so many variables and "moving parts" if you like, and magnifies other problems, like urinary tract or teeth problems.
Some diabetics just sail along happily on minimum input but most like to throw expensive curveballs at us from time to time, sometimes one after the other.

Honestly, if I had a diabetic cat who was very thin, frail and struggling to eat, I would be giving him a week of love and affection and having him put to sleep.

I don't necessarily believe it's in an animals' best interests to be kept going with medication for years - if he was otherwise fit and well it would be different, but a cat who is underweight and struggling to eat is unlikely to survive anaesthetic and is probably in a fair amount of pain.

I'm sorry, it is really shit, but I think you do have to look at quality of life as well as age.