Chihuahua with BAD breath!?

Question

My 1 yr old chihuahua MiMi has HORRIBLE breath and I can't figure out why!?

I've changed her food, and it made no difference. She doesn't have any dental problems. She chews dental bones and Greenies regularly.

I bought breath spray at Petco made by Petrodex. It says it cleans gums and teeth, soothes irritated gums, fights bacteria that causes plaque and Helps control offensive bad breath. I've been spraying it liberally into her mouth almost everyday but it still isn't helping!

She hasn't always had bad breath, only for about 4-5 months. I also have a 4 month old chihuahua whose breath is fine, so I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with anything in the house.

My friends and family don't even want to hold her anymore because her breath is so bad! What can I do to control it?

bgolden28, I think it is totally unnecessary for you to tell me that my dogs breed is disgusting.

I don't tell you what kind of dog to own. And when you read that my question is about chihuahuas, why answer it if you hate them so much? Obviously because you just like to throw around all that hate you have.

Oh and for your information, neither of my dogs bark, EVER, and they are great with people and children. They are not hyper at all, and are very friendly and cuddly.

So, keep your rude opinions to yourself. If you don't like chihuahuas find a chihuahuas haters club to join instead of coming here to NOT answer my question.

Happy Holidays and God Bless

Answer 1

When your dog has bad breath, there is a natural inclination to run to the store to buy him some doggie breath mints. Please don’t--the problem most likely is coming from your dog's stomach or intestinal tract. First, make sure your dog's teeth have been cleaned in the past 6 months to a year. If you have taken care of that, then ask yourself the following questions:

1) Does your dog have intestinal issues such as gas, diarrhea or
constipation?

2) Does it seem sometimes that your dog has a stomach ache? or
acid in the stomach?

3) Does your dog eat grass a lot?

4) Is your dog scratching and itching? Does your dog have
allergies or hot spots? Click here to learn more about skin and
coat issues

If you answered YES to any of these questions and your dog gets regular teeth cleaning, then chances are your dog may have some digestive issues.

To stop bad breath, three products are critical:

Probiotic (helps restore good bacteria in the intestinal tract and mouth)

Digestzymes (helps your dog digest and absorb the nutrients in his food)

Vitamineral Green (wonderful enzymes and nutrients for the dog who loves to graze on grass)


Breath mints don't work---you need a powerful approach that targets your dog's digestive tract and overall wellbeing. A little preventative care now can help you avoid costly veterinary care in the future!


Bad breath can be common and does increase as dogs age but that doesn’t mean it is NORMAL. Bad breath in a dog is a sign that there may be something wrong. It is a symptom that needs to be addressed. Bad breath can be caused by a number of factors:
- Periodontal disease (bad teeth)
- Gingivitis (infection of the gums)
- Poor digestion
- Stomach or intestinal problems
- Kidney or liver disease
- Poor diet

Products such as Nupro and Digestzymes are highly recommended to help get your dog's bad breath under control quickly!!! Both of these products will help your pet digest her food better reducing gas and other potential digestive disorders. If you don't have time for a consultation, then please at least try these fabulous products---they are easy to use, all-natural and have successfully worked for many dogs with bad breath and digestive orders.
Stomach and digestive issues can contribute to bad dog breath. The mouth odor may be coming from food not being adequately digested and the presence of abnormal bacteria arising as a result. Digestive issues will increase as your pet ages as the number of enzymes present will decline with age. Your pet may experience gas, diarrhea and constipation as a result.

Be sure to get your pet's teeth cleaned at least once a year. Excess tartar build-up can lead to a breeding ground for bacteria and disease.

Answer 2

When was the last time the 'doc' saw her? If it has been awhile, I'd take her in again to have her looked at, since she may have develoed a cavity or abcess that wasn't noticible on her last visit. Was her breath bad when she saw him last? You say she "drinks like a fish". Does she have any problems with urinating frequently? Sometimes a diabetes can cause a blood sugar imbalance where a symptom is bad breath. Did the vet check for that? If it was bad when he last saw her, and that visit was recent, and the vet checked for diabetes, I can only recommend commercial doggy breath products. Keep brushing her teeth,as that is a good practice to prevent tooth decay and loss, and might be helping some with the breath problems. Good luck!

Answer 3

Bad breath cures are a dime a dozen really, they’re all over the place in terms of geography, content, price, and life philosophy. This is because lots of people have this problem and because usually they don’t know a lot and are easily deceived by gimmickry.

So how do you go out and find a bad breath cure that works but isn’t going to break your bank or risk your health. Well you should probably talk to your family doctor and or your dentist and get his or her advice. This is your best bet because these people have the background training that allows them to understand the pathophysiology around this common but very socially disturbing problem. They also have the training and knowledge required to safely use some of the effective options that are available that can really knock out your halitosis once and for all.

Let me try to give you some basics of bad breath. First the main issue is that the smell comes from bacteria that have colonized your oral cavity. In order to come up with an effective bad breath cure you have to either find a way to limit the colonization of these bacteria in your mouth or to limit the substrates that the bacteria use to create the foul smell. Oral hygiene is therefore an obvious start. So yes you have to brush your teeth regularly if you haven’t been.

Most people already do this so the next step is brushing your tongue as well as your teeth. This is because your tongue is actually the main breeding ground for this smelly bacteria and by brushing your tongue you are actually dislodging millions of bacteria and keeping the population at bay. Mouth rinsing helps too. This is another way that you can dislodge bacteria from all of the pits and crevices in your mouth and wash them down the drain. You can either rinse with water (which actually works better than most people give it credit) or some sort of antibacterial mouthwash that not only dislodges but also kills part of the population with each swish and gargle.

If you are already doing this regularly and have had no success with the bad breath than you need to go to the next level up. This is changing your diet. Bacteria love foods rich in carbohydrates especially simple sugars. This is what they use to both live and to create those noxious fumes so cutting them out of your diet tends to help. The other diet modification is to eat yogurt. This is something that not many people think of but can be really effective. You see yogurt contains a benign bacteria that doesn’t give off bad smells and can kick the bacteria out by out competing them for a place in your mouth.

http://blogmedicine4you.blogspot.com/2014/07/treating-halitosis-bad-breath.html

Answer 4

Are you sure she doesn't have plaque on her teeth? Even the back teeth. Because that will give them really bad breath. You may want to take her to a vet because there may be another problem that's causing it. Also, there is something you can put in her water that helps aid in bad breath. Its a blue liquid. You can find it at Walmart or Petsmart.

Answer 5

Even in humans it is posible to normally have bad breath or it is posible to have your insides be the source of the smell. There may be nothing that can be done,.. this may be fumes from her stumock working their way up... or even her intestients. And like I said,.. even Humans can have these problems.

There may be nothing that can be done about it. Sorry.

Only thing I can think of is clearing out her system and then giving her food that are easy to digest,.. if that doesn't work then the acids might be so strong they need more difficult things to work on all the time.

Answer 6

http://youtu.be/byV--AkiGFY
Bad breath, I had it for about 18 years, I'd already decided when I was going to end my life. I was Ms’ unpopular. I didn't think to read about it on the web until one day a person I didn't even know told me I had real bad breath and said he had it once too and told me to check online for a site called Oraltech Labs as it worked for him to cure his bad breath. I was thinking how nice he was as most people just hold their nose and walk away from me. Anyway I followed Oraltech Labs bad breath cure program and after a week I noticed my tongue started turning red and the bad taste was gone from my mouth. I started noticing people had stopped holding their nose and trying to get away from me. A few months later I bumped into that guy again. I told him I used his advice and thought it worked, he ask me to breath out in to his face while he smelt it and he's like smiling and said my breath is fresh now. I could have hugged him, I didn't tell him how I felt just a few months ago, but he and that program were a life saver to me. Don't let bad breath ruin your life like it tried to do to me. Another site I found useful is http://www.oraltechlabs.ph it shows you how to test your breath without leaving home. Best wishes!

Answer 7

Dogs are just like us we have to brush our teeth twice a day and so do they. Dog should have there teeth scraped one a year or every six months. Open her mouth and check if she has any plaque build up if so it's time for your dog to get her teeth scraped. You should really just start brushing her teeth, breath sprays just cover the problem. If the problem doesn't change in 2wks after brushing twice daily check with your vet. Hope this helped you out.

Answer 8

take her to the vet. she could have a bad tooth or just need a good cleaning. or you may need to get a tooth brush and some doggie toothpaste and brush her teeth. if you feed your dog wet food that gets stuck in the teeth (just like foods do for us too) and they have no way of making that go away (like we do by brushing) so they need your help. very commonly people that serve wet food to their pets don't think about that and end up pulling pet's teeth due to the teeth more or less rotting because of stuck on food.

Answer 9

Take her to a Vet that can check her teeth. She probably has a dead tooth, or a cavity. This is very common with small dogs, and stop giving her only soft food if that's what you do. The soft food does not come off of her teeth and causes the rot.

Answer 10

1. stop feeding her foods that may get stuck between the teeth
2. brush her teeth every night
3. give her one of those plastic toys that dogs chew on to fix their teeth
5. try flossing usually cavities cause the smell!!
4. if that doesnt work then check her gums she may have a doggy gum disease and figure it out with the vet.