Why does my dog's breath smell like decay, and she's sneezing pus?

It's odd that it improved when the [Giardia](https://www.petcoach.co/dog/condition/giardia/) was treated. My first suspicion for the ongoing odor is that she may be licking at her anal glands or eating her own (or someone else's) poop. Ideally, have her examined by a veterinarian just to make sure there are no wounds, irritation, etc in her mouth or throat that maybe contributing. You r vet can also check her anal glands to see if they seem full or irritated which could lead t her having a tendency to lick at them a lot. If her anal glands are fine, and her mouth is fine, use a daily product for dental health. [CET products](https://us.virbac.com/cet-veggiedent-fr3sh-dental-chew-for-dogs) contain chlorhexadine which kills bad breath causing bacteria. [Water additives](https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/zymox-oratene-water-additive) are great too. I hope thats helpful for you. Thanks for asking PetCoach! Good luck!

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Fishy smelling breath can be from either dental disease or from GI disease. If she is having a hard time breathing, it could be either heart disease, primary lung disease (airway disoders, asthma, infection/pneumonia, etc.). She could also be breathing up from pain, especially if she has GI disease, this can make them have abnormal breathing as well. I would be fairly worried and would recommend bringing her to a vet right away. I would bring her to an emergency clinic if your vet isn't open. Best of luck with Luna, I hope she feels better soon!

If Tehya's teeth are fine, I would recommend getting blood work on her to make sure her kidneys are ok. Sometimes with kidney disease they can have a bad smell from their mouth. I would also discuss with your vet about potentially performing a dental procedure with x-rays to confirm there is no abscess we can see. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I recommend getting her seen by your vet for an oral exam. There may be some hidden oral disease you cannot see, she may have a tumor or polyp somewhere in her mouth or nasal passages, kidney disease can cause bad breath, there are a number of possibilities. You vet will do a thorough exam, possibly bloodwork and based on these results, be better able to tell you what is going on with your dog and how best to treat it.

Bad breath is usually due to teeth and gum disease. If Precious has not had dental treatment before, then this is definitely a possibly. Here is a link to some information about dental disease: https://www.petcoach.co/article/6-things-every-dog-owner-should-know-about-dental-care/ Heavy breathing and snoring noises could be related. This often happens with breeds of dogs that have short/smashed-appearing muzzles. It can happen due to various structural deformities such as small nostril size, or an elongated soft palate. If this is something that suddenly started, then I would be more worried about laryngeal paralysis, or a polyp causing her to have obstructed breathing. Given the multiple possibilities and the likely need for treatment, I recommend you have Precious examined by a veterinarian. They can quickly narrow-down the cause of the bad breath and snoring. I hope that helps and all is well with Precious.

Missy appears to have several areas of bone loss and exposed tooth roots. I suspect she has several diseased teeth and significant infection. Sometimes severe bone loss can results in deep ulcers and even fistulas. I recommend to discuss having Missy sedated to remove the diseased teeth and clean out any ulcers. Then give her mouth time to heal. It’s unlikely that this problem and the odor will go away with out the full treatment. Ulcer and bad teeth can cause discomfort. Not to mention if can lead to other diseases as well. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

You may want to have Rudy Sue examined by your vet - sometimes food or debris can accumulate near an extraction site or the sutures can break down. It’s also possible hat the bad breath is not a dental problem - dogs with chronic gastrointestinal issues can have halitosis. I have never heard reports of lung cancer causing halitosis and I think this would be much less likely.