Imagine your beloved pet coming up to you to cuddle like it does every day, but lately you’ve been noticing your pet has bad breath that is getting worse and worse. With our furry friends, there could be multiple causes for this bad breath. These include teeth problems, kidney dysfunction, diabetes, and foreign bodies in the mouth.
Dental disease is the most common, and dirty teeth is one of the main things that the vet will be looking for when looking in your pet’s mouth. Other things to be checked out are the pet’s hydration status, and the color of its gums. If the pet’s teeth are covered in chunks of calculus, the solution requires much more than brushing. Nowadays, pet owners are more aware that their pet’s teeth need to be scaled and polished just as a human’s would.
Oral foreign bodies can cause infections, like a bone embedded in the roof of a dog’s mouth. Metabolic disorders can occur when the pet’s kidneys are not working properly; thus, toxins in the blood can cause ulcerations in the mouth that cause bad breath. Remember that any mouth ulcerations or inflamed gums can give your pet bad breath, including viral diseases in cats. Diabetes can give a your pet’s breath a certain “ketotic” odor that your vet should recognize.
All in all, brushing and buying tartar control treats for Fido may not always be enough, so remember the possibilities!