My cat is smacking jaws, won't eat, drooling, and has bad breath. Why?

Hi and thanks for your request. These signs could be due to severe gum inflammation and even infections, with abscesses building up on the dental roots (so sometimes not completely visible. These signs are quite concerning and another check up would be needed as antibiotics may be best given. Multiple dental extractions and cleaning are recommended in these cases. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

Hi. It sounds like Oliver has some severe dental disease. He most likely has gingivitis and possibly a painful, loose, or resorptive lesions on some teeth. Dental disease in cats can cause pain and discomfort.  This could impact quality of life. In some cases, the dental disease can cause a cat to stop eating. For dental disease, besides brushing teeth with pet toothpaste daily,  your veterinarian will recommend removing plaque and mineral buildup by scaling and polishing the teeth. Teeth will try to be saved wherever possible. In extreme cases, extraction of teeth might be needed.  Unfortunately a veterinarian will need to be involved. Look in to carecredit.com credit at carecredit.com as a possibility for a payment plan.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Rocco. Excessive drooling can be the result of nausea, mouth pain or a bad taste in the mouth. I will typically treat with anti-nausea medication to see if it helps. If not, make sure that he is not eating anything that he shouldn't (plants, etc). Finally, I will anesthetize the patient for a thorough oral exam, dental radiographs and clean the teeth. I hope this information helps!

Poor Jada Leigh! it sounds like she has a few things going on at the moment. The foul smelling saliva, only eating soft food, and acting like it hurts to swallow are indications of a dental problem. She could have a loose or broken tooth, could have severe gingivitis, or could have a tooth root abscess. As for the yellow mucus in her eyes, that can be a sign of an eye infection. The eye is such a delicate and important structure that any problem with it should be considered an emergency. That's because leaving it untreated can lead to vision loss. I would take her into a vet right for both her dental problems and her eye problems. She needs veterinary care now because the dental problems will be very painful to her (and you cannot give her pain meds at home as human ones are toxic to cats and are fatal if given), and eye problems need to be treated promptly. Please take her into a vet now so that she can have her problems examined, diagnosed, and treated. Good luck, I hope this helps!

I would recommend that Meeyao be examined by a vet. The symptoms you have described could have many causes, including periodontal disease, stomatitis caused by an autoimmune disease or a virus such as FIV, a tumor in the mouth, a nasopharyngeal polyp, trauma to the inside of the mouth, or ulcers in the mouth secondary to kidney failure. Most of these are incredibly painful, and it is important to diagnose the cause so that the most appropriate treatment can be selected.

Typically excess salivation is either caused by nausea or pain (oral or abdominal), although this is not an all inclusive list. There can still be oral disease present, especially if these missing teeth were not removed but fell out. Cats can get resorptive lesions of their teeth which can be really painful and the changes can be hard for owners to detect. They can also get lesions in their mouth (stomatitis, a mass, ulcers, etc.) that an owner may not see. Additionally diseases of other body systems may cause drooling (kidneys, gi, etc ). I would recommend your kitty seeing a vet for a thourough oral exam and blood work to start. A good oral exam will likely require sedation and perhaps dental xrays. Additional testing may be recommended based on the case. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Cats can develop something called gingivostomatitis as well as feline oral resoptive lesions. These are both very painful and require antibiotics and sometimes steroids as well as dental procedures to correct. Also if there's any possibility she chewed something like electric cord or plant that can calls the signs as well. I recommend Dusk be checked out by a veterinarian as soon as possible. This is to prevent her from becoming dehydrated and malnourished from not eating. Do not give her any human medications as they are very toxic to cats and I'll make the situation worse.