Health & Medical

My cat stopped eating for two days before I noticed the smell. Not a dramatic thing, just a bowl that stayed full and a cat, Biscuit, who turned away from chicken she normally begged for. Cats are good at hiding illness, and I'd have missed it entirely if a sour, almost rotten odour hadn't drifted from her mouth when she yawned. That smell sent us to the vet, and the culprit was a tooth-root abscess, a problem far more common and more painful than most owners realise.

An abscess at the root forms when bacteria get into the tooth, usually through a crack, a deep cavity, or advanced gum disease. The root sits in the jawbone, and as infection builds, pus collects and has nowhere to go. Sometimes it bursts out near the eye or under the chin, leaving a weepy lump; sometimes it stays hidden and just hurts. Either way the cat is in quiet, constant pain long before we see a sign.

Why cats hide it so well

Survival instinct makes sick cats act normal until they can't. A reduced appetite, a preference for soft food, drooling, pawing at the face, or sudden grumpiness about being touched near the head are the clues most owners actually get. Biscuit had started eating only the gravy off her food and leaving the chunks, which I'd written off as fussiness. In hindsight it was her telling me the chewing hurt.

The smell is the giveaway that pushed me to act. An infected root produces a foul odour that lingers, and once you've caught it you don't mistake it for ordinary cat breath again. Any sudden bad breath in a cat that normally doesn't reek is worth a look, not a air freshener.

The vet confirmed it with an exam and an X-ray, because the damaged root doesn't always show from the outside. Treatment was extracting the tooth under anaesthetic and a short course of antibiotics, and the change in Biscuit was immediate. Within a day she was at the bowl, and the relief on her face was almost comical. I'd carried on for two days assuming she was being difficult, and she'd been hurting the whole time.

Prevention is mostly dental. Regular checks, and for many cats a discussion with the vet about professional cleaning under anaesthetic when the tartar builds. Brushing is ideal but rarely practical with a cat who views the toothbrush as a personal enemy, so dental diets or approved chews can help slow the buildup. The key is not waiting for the smell.

After the extraction, the aftercare mattered as much as the surgery. Biscuit wore a cone for a few days, ate soft food, and got her mouth checked to be sure the socket healed cleanly. The vet stressed finishing the antibiotics even though she felt better fast, because a half-treated dental infection comes back angry. Within a week she was crunching kibble again, and the relief in her face was its own reward for the sleepless nights I'd spent worrying about whether she'd eat at all.

The broader lesson is about cats and food. A cat that stops eating is always a signal, not a preference, and two days is already long enough to act, because their livers struggle when they go without fuel. Pair a dropped appetite with any odd smell, drooling, or pawing at the face, and a dental problem jumps near the top of the list. I no longer wait and hope; I look in the mouth, gently, and call the vet if anything seems off, because the cost of a checkup is nothing next to the cost of a cat that won't eat.

Long term, I got serious about Biscuit's teeth in a way I never had before. A dental check at each annual visit, a discussion about professional cleaning under anaesthetic given her age, and a daily attempt at brushing that meets with varying success. The truth is most cats won't tolerate a toothbrush gracefully, so we use an approved dental gel and a diet that slows tartar, and we accept that the vet's scale is the real defence. The abscess taught me that the mouth is where a lot of silent suffering hides, and it's worth the effort to look.

One more practical point: don't assume bad breath in a cat is normal. People laugh about 'tuna breath' and let it go, but a sudden foul odour is one of the few obvious clues a stoic animal gives us. Trust your nose; it's often the first and only warning you'll get before the eating stops and the real trouble begins.

If your cat's eating drops and there's any whiff of infection from the mouth, don't wait a week hoping it passes. A tooth-root abscess won't settle on its own, and the sooner it's drained and treated, the sooner your cat goes back to being a normal, hungry, mildly judgemental housemate.