Raw Diet: Bad Breath

[hopps]

Hi eveyrone,

So Chloe has been on a raw diet since she was maybe 10 weeks old. She's currently 5 months old and she is having some FUNKY breath. I took her to the vet and the vet says Chloe is a happy and super healthy cat. A very healthy cat. I'm not sure what to do about this? She'll groom herself and she'll kind of smell like saliva and it's just not pleasant, not to mention the occasionally smelly poops. The poops are sometimes runny.... Is it a kitten thing? I'm really considering mixing in Honest Kitchen "Grace" with her raw diet as she did not have any odors with that food.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Smelly and sometimes runny poops is definitely NOT something that should be happening on raw.  My raw eater has slightly bad breath too, but he also has mild to molerate tartar build-up, which is probably what is causing it.  
 

What exactly are you feeding her now?   Homemade raw or a commercial product?  For either answer, can you describe her meals?

 

[hopps]

 
Smelly and sometimes runny poops is definitely NOT something that should be happening on raw.  My raw eater has slightly bad breath too, but he also has mild to molerate tartar build-up, which is probably what is causing it.  
 

What exactly are you feeding her now?   Homemade raw or a commercial product?  For either answer, can you describe her meals?

I'm feeding her a home made raw. She was doing great on it but she'll have the occasional runny poops. She is currently eating chicken thighs, pork kidney, chicken/pork liver and chicken wings. So she gets about a 1/3 chicken wing for bones everyday, and portions of organs and muscle meat. I follow the 80% muscle meat, 5% liver, 5% other organs 10% bone ratio. 

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

hmmm.  Well, I've never fed Frankenprey, but as long as that chicken wing provides the necessary 10% bone, (that's why I haven't tried it, I never could figure out how to figure out the bone percentage

, so I use a powdered calcium supplement on boneless frankenprey

) 

Now I'm doubly concerned, because chewing on wings should mean her teeth should be great, no tartar build up, so it seems to me that something is going on in her digestive tract.  Do you give her probiotics? 

Hoping some of the more experience raw feeders will give their two cents on this. 

 

[hopps]

 
hmmm.  Well, I've never fed Frankenprey, but as long as that chicken wing provides the necessary 10% bone, (that's why I haven't tried it, I never could figure out how to figure out the bone percentage

, so I use a powdered calcium supplement on boneless frankenprey

) 

Now I'm doubly concerned, because chewing on wings should mean her teeth should be great, no tartar build up, so it seems to me that something is going on in her digestive tract.  Do you give her probiotics? 

Hoping some of the more experience raw feeders will give their two cents on this. 

No probiotics. I had the vet check her teeth and inside her mouth and she said Chloe was perfectly healthy. I just checked her teeth again and I don't really see any build up. Some people told me she might be getting runny poops and stuff because kittens are like that but I don't know how that works...

 

[cprcheetah]

If she's around 5 months old she should be losing the last of her kitten teeth, that can cause the bad breath.  I had a min pin on raw and she had bad breath, I added probiotics and that helped a lot.

 

[ritz]

Yeah, I would give her probiotics and see if that helps--it won't hurt.
Ritz has been on frankenprey for over two years and she's never had bad breath or stinky poop--though sometimes her urine smells (because it's concentrated, said the vet). That said, she has a predisposition to gingivitus and tartar build up--she gets her second dental the end of March.

 

[hopps]

I see, I'll definitely try the probiotics. Is this a good probiotic? 

 

[ritz]

Yes, in my opinion is a good product--I'd buy it. You might want to half the dosage at first--50 billion is a lot.

 

[lamiatron]

OMG she's TEETHING!!!

same thing happened to my kitty. I don't feed raw....but all of a sudden he had some real stank breath for a couple weeks. 

I took him to the Vet and they told me they needed to do blood tests and blah blah blah and i was like really?? can't you just look at his teeth and gums and tell if he's teething or its a gums isseus? (didnt get the tests done and never went back to that vet)

couple weeks later Charlie had NEW canines he a tiger now! not really but yea.. lol

 

[hopps]

Yes, in my opinion is a good product--I'd buy it. You might want to half the dosage at first--50 billion is a lot.

Gotcha, thanks!

 
OMG she's TEETHING!!!

same thing happened to my kitty. I don't feed raw....but all of a sudden he had some real stank breath for a couple weeks. 

I took him to the Vet and they told me they needed to do blood tests and blah blah blah and i was like really?? can't you just look at his teeth and gums and tell if he's teething or its a gums isseus? (didnt get the tests done and never went back to that vet)

couple weeks later Charlie had NEW canines he a tiger now! not really but yea.. lol

Ohhh ok that makes a lot of sense! I was worried because she didn't smell at all until recently! Thanks

 

[burm guy]

If your baby was older, I would suggest getting an xray to look at what is happening under the gums - BUT, I would just say it was part of kitty teething. Runny stools are something you should indeed watch out for - and a high quality probiotic (I would say minimum 10billion CFU + 10 or more strains of bacteria) would be an excellent thing to add to the daily meals. Probiotics can sort out the stomach issues, as well make the breath fresher (because the good bacteria also live in the mouth).

 

[irinasak]

Has she been dewormed? I just talked last week to a vet tech that one of my cats has bad breath and he said could be a lot of things, most easy to address are parasites and tartar build-up, and as she was checked for tartar, maybe she needs to be dewormed?