Stinky Breath..concern or no?

[Atari's Mommy]

My F3 will be 5 months in about a week. Yesterday he started making a grinding noise and was gagging. I figured there was a tooth falling out and sure enough... the left upper premolar (I think) is loose and the upper right was turned inward impinging his pallet. I tried to use my pinky to move it away from his pallet and it fell out. There was a little blood but nothing crazy. I am a little concerned because he has slept allllllll day today. Has not played once. This is not normal for him at all. Im scared he's sick or something... I remember a vet tech saying something about possible infection with teeth issues. His breath is also REALLY stinky. I have read there are many different causes of bad breath but there were some serious things mentioned about liver issues and other serious life threatening things. Am I just being paranoid or does anyone feel I have good reason to be concerned? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Sondra

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

I think the stinky breath can be a sign a kitten is teething, which it seems your F3 is...

I also find that when any of my kittens/cats are going through a growth phase they sleep a lot, I know it is easy to slip into paranoid mode (I'm really good at it) but I'd just keep an eye on him. Is he eating and drinking etc...

 

[Atari's Mommy]

He has been eating and drinking. But today, not as much because he has slept so much! He did eat some wet this morning and very little this evening. Not sure about the dry though. Last night I mixed a little water in with the dry to soften it for him but usually he has no problem chowin down the dry. Should I avoid dry right now? I did read people suggest keeping the dry away. But whewww is his breath stinky! He is laying with me and just yawned ...almost knocked me out haha.

 

[Atari's Mommy]

I am going away in about two weeks so will not be able to take him to a vet if need be. Also do not want to leave him since he is still so young and I have put so much into training him... So I am actually renting an RV just to take him with me. He 's so spoiled I just have to make sure he is ok... I would drive myself crazy worrying about him!

 

[wetcats]

I could be really off base here, but just a thought; is any of the food he is getting fish based? Talk about stinky breath....

 

[Sunny]

If I skip brushing for a day or two I can totally tell a difference. I spend a lot of time in close contact with my fur family so if they lick my forehead, I nuzzle them after a bath or am downwind from bath time I can pick up on their oral health very quickly. A few days brushing gets them back to odorless, what can I say my sense of smell and hearing are very acute! I started brushing my F3 girl at 6mo right away and she is quite energetic shall we say when it's brush time. I think I need a bigger brush from her wanting to devour the poor brush head. It may seem like a pain in the ass to gently brush each side for 1 minute or allow them to chew on the bristles, because it is. But its killing bacteria, bacteria leads to infection, infection to health issues in older cats. Never too young to start a habit like brushing! Also working out their kitten teeth on tough toys and brush heads will help the process along.

 

[Atari's Mommy]

wetcats... I only feed him food containing fish once a week because I heard too much is not good. Sunny.... I bought a toothbrush, finger brush and chicken toothpaste. A vet tech told me not to brush until his adult teeth are in. But I am trying to get into a routine. He hangs with me every time I brush so I figure I can get him into it also. He has been having loose baby teeth lately and since I here him grinding, Ive taken two or three out for him. He is not crazy about me messing inside his mouth. He will let me for a quick minute but as far as brushing, he is a little squiggler! I cant actually give him a good thorough brush. Maybe in time.... ? Any tricks for bushing?