Death by Bad Cat Breath

I love my cats. I truly do. They bring great joy into my day by always being loving although not always kind. They do always listen to my rants until they are tired of listening, at which point they walk away and leave me babbling to myself. My daughter has always said that the cats get treated better than she does.

I am lucky enough to be allowed to share a home with three cats: Whitman, a 14 year old Havana Brown, Cooper, a terrible-two year old butterscotch tabby who we adopted through a rescue organization, and Miss Maggie Moo, a 2 year old black and white who showed up on our doorstep one cold December night and asked if there was any room at the Inn. Miss Maggie is sometimes known as the Prickly Princess because she gets her tail out of joint at the slightest of things.

Whitman spent a good part of his life as a show kitty. He traveled around the country, sometimes by plane, sometimes by car, many week-ends to be put on display as a very rare breed of cat. His official show name is GP Indykats Whitman Sampler which seemed appropriate 14 years ago when I delivered him as he was the color of a nice, rich chocolate.

Whitman has always been a healthy boy. He received all of the appropriate vaccinations and had blood tests for all of the appropriate things cats need to be tested for. Every few years he had his teeth cleaned. All in all, as his slave, I pride myself on being a responsible pet owner.

On any given moment when someone is sitting or sleeping on the couch, Whitman is a loving fixture, curled up snug as a bug, and always a welcome cuddler. There was only one thing that would have us pushing him off the couch and that was his breath. PHEWWWWW!

Now most cats aren't into licking people but Whitman is a rare cat indeed. He loves giving kisses and when he did, the smell of his breath could knock you over. I tried to attribute it to all the places his tongue had been and the cat food he ate. But WOW, it was killer breath. And that is something everyone needs to pay attention to.

Not long ago, Whitman was due for a check-up. And as the vet drew blood and inspected Whitman from tail to nose, she mentioned that we needed to schedule an appointment to pull an infected tooth. She held open his mouth and I could see that one of his large molars was looking particularly nasty. So the appointment was scheduled.

The morning of the appointment, of course Whitman had to give me kisses which I withstood without complaint because I knew the day was not going to be pleasant for my boy. I had no idea just how rough the day was going to be. Not long after I dropped him off I received a phone call from the vets office.

Now, I have to admit that my heart dropped when I saw the call was from the Cat Car Clinic .It had only been 30 minutes since I dropped him off and the fact that they were calling me did not bode well. Whitman is my baby and I was afraid that he had succumbed when they gave him the anesthetic.

With a heavy heart, I picked up the phone. It was the vet and she indicated that Whitman was safely under anesthesia. WHEW! I exhaled. She then indicated that by using some special device to check the nerves and roots of each tooth she found that Whitman had five bad teeth and all needed to be extracted. The vet asked if I had ever noticed any other teeth falling out because Whitman had several more missing.

FIVE! How could that be? I am a responsible pet owner. I don't look in his mouth every day but surely I would have noticed that he was feeling poorly with five bad teeth. I fed him dry food just to help keep some of the tartar from building up. I felt like a horrible human being. My poor 14 year old cat was going to come home with five less teeth. Would he be able to eat missing all those teeth. I should be caned!

Let's talk about that bad breath. Gum disease is apparently a very common problem in older cats. And bacteria is the culprit. Bacteria mixes with the food and saliva and begins building up as plaque between the teeth and around the gumline. If that is not cleaned off at regular intervals, a cat is susceptible to periodontal disease or infection under the gumline and down into the bony structure of the teeth. That infection can cause abcesses or even cause the bones to separate from the jaw. The pockets of pus that form under the gum pull the gum away from the teeth giving rise to more bacteria to settle in. Periodontal disease is irreversible and requires medical treatment. Poor Whitman's mouth was a mess and those teeth had to come out so we could get the infection cleared up with a round of antibiotics.

Unfortunately, periodontal disease does not just affect the mouth. The resulting infection can weaken the immune system allowing bacteria to travel to other parts of the body resulting in kidney problems, liver problems or problems with the heart. You could also see behavioral changes. In Whitman's case, he was lethargic which I mistakenly thought was just due to old age.

Fortunately, periodonal disease is preventable by:

• Making sure your cat visits your veterinarian on a regular basis for routine teeth cleanings
• Providing daily teeth hygiene and inspections
• Proper nutrition

Whitman made a full recovery after his trip to the vet. He was not a happy camper for about three days and ignored me upon his ordeal at the vets. The antibiotics and pain pills I had to stuff down his throat three times a day was an insult to his dignity as was the $850 dollar vet bill to mine. However it was worth every penny to see Whitman frisky and more active once more.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Bad breath can be killer breath. Don't ignore it.