Every cat I’ve ever known (past kittenhood) has garbage-drippings, sewage-effluent, oh-my-God-what-died-in-there stink breath. Worse yet is the concentrated stuff: cat drool should be classified as toxic waste, as anyone who lives with one of the many cats who drool when happy can attest – you have to scrub to get that stuff off.
Every cat I’ve ever known also cleans itself with cat spit (usually its own).
And yet every cat I’ve ever known, at least while it was healthy and hadn’t just walked out of a dumpster or a neglected litterbox, has sweet-smelling fur. How is this possible? I’ve heard people give vague explanations involving enzymes, ionization, etc., but nothing specific or persuasive.
Gotta agree with **Finagle **here. Cat only smells especially heinous when she’s just eaten and decides to lick her chops right in front of my face. Otherwise there’s just a kind of “breath” smell.
She does eat lots of dry kibble, which helps to scrub plaque off the teeth. It sounds like the cats you’ve known haven’t had particularly clean teeth.
But all the cats I’ve known HAVE had not only dry kibble but also plaque-reducing additive in their water.
It’s a whole other thread, but wet cat food is Kryptonite to me – it icks me out even knowing an opened can is in the fridge, let alone in the sink or (GAH!!) in my hand. Worse than vomit or poo. WAY worse!
So our cats are the only ones with stank-breath and decent teeth?
Dunno what to say, emily. Maybe the plaque reducing water thingy is actually making more plaque, so you’ll buy more of it? It’s a conspiracy, I tells ya!
Seriously, no idea. Only cats I’ve had with stank-breath did have bad teeth, and it cleared up once the teeth were cleaned properly.
I just stuck my nose right up in my Lunabrat’s face and took a good whiff, but didn’t smell anything. The look of bafflement that crossed her face when I did it was worth it, though.
I have four cats and only one has stinky breath. His teeth are clean, dry food only and the vet finds nothing wrong with him. He just has a stinky mouth.
I have been giving my cats the Feline Greenies treats, it has helped a tiny bit.
Well duh, they’re cats. Isn’t that part of the definition?
FWIW, our cats get their teeth vet-cleaned twice a year and do not eat particularly smelly food. The "kittens " (now a year and a half old) eat Science Diet Indoor Adult kibble, while the older cat gets some kind of Urinary Health kibble.
I might depend on when you sniff their breath. I imagine mine would give me the look Marlitharn’s cat did if I tried that.
I don’t think I’ve ever noticed that my cat’s fur smells like anything but cat. Now I have something new and puzzling to do to the kids when I get home. Any guidelines as to which region of the beast contains this ‘sweet’ smell? I figure I know where NOT to sniff.
I should clarify that I am not trying to find out why their breath stinks, but rather why their fur smells nice when their breath stinks.
No, but the kittens are littermates.
Each of our cats smells a little bit different. mr.emilyforce requires regular sniffs of kitten belly fur as part of every cats’ payment for food & lodging, while I favor the backs of their furry little necks.
Both of my cats have morning breath all day long. The vet tells me there is nothing wrong with them and their teeth are clean. She did say that kittens often have worse breath than adult cats though. My two furbabies are 9 and 10 months old, so, officially still kittens.
I’ve personally never had cats with stinky breath until these two. They are not related to each other so it’s not like they have some sort of smelly kitty gene or anything.
