Our pets are the best buddies we have especially when our human friends don’t want to keep us company. However, sometimes cuddling or going close to your pet may not be a pleasant idea because of how it smells.
If your cat or dog suddenly developed a bad odor, chances are that it is a sign of a serious health problem and you must find a solution to it immediately.
Nevertheless there are cases where a bad smell might just mean that your pet needs to have a bath. So it is important that you are able to differentiate the smells and give your dog or cat a bath when it needs one or visit the vet when the need be.
A lot of people complain about how their dog or cat starts to smell all of a sudden and the smell sticks for weeks even when they give the pet a bath or even groom them severally.
Well if this is the case, there are certain things you need to put into consideration:
1. Is your pet scooting?
Both cats and dogs have enough socks that may become infected or impacted if not properly emptied. This may cause pain, scooting, odour, and itching. in severe cases you’ll be noticed abscesses and rupture.
Learn to identify the symptoms of anal sac problems so that you can help your pet whenever you notice them.
2. Was your pet sprayed by a skunk?
skunks may be very smelly little guys but trust me they are animals that mind their own business except when they are bothered.
However, when your own suspecting curious animal close to a skunk it would be provoked to spray in defence.
If your bet has been sprayed by a skunk you may be bothered about the possibility of it leading to a medical problem and how to get rid of the smell you can get details on all of this in our article about first aid for pets sprayed by a skunk.
3. Your dog’s paws smell like corn chips. why is that?
Frito feet is one problem that dog owners usually complain about it is usually described as a dog feet that smells like old popcorn or corn chips.
To know if this is a smell that should attract medical attention or if there is something else you can do about it check out our article on why does my dog feet smell like popcorn.
4. Why does your dog have bad odour around it’s eyes?
Problems of a bad odour around a dog’s eyes is a very common one and also it is one that requires daily care and attention If you must get rid of the smell. Sometimes it is caused by excessive tearing and dryness.
However, you can discover more about treatment methods for this condition in our article about excessive tearing in dogs.
5. Bad breath
A lot of pet owners pay attention to grooming their pets and bathing them but they do not pay such attention to the animal’s oral health and that is a big problem.
Training your pet to become comfortable with having its mouth brushed regularly is a bold step in the right direction to helping your pet achieve a strong and healthy set of teeth and gums.
As your pet grows older it will begin to experience different kinds of oral sicknesses such as dental tatters and gum disease which can lead to bad breath.
You may want to overlook the smell, but if you’re concerned about your pet’s health genuinely it is important that you know such a condition can affect your pet’s heart, kidney, and liver.
Visit your vet immediately you begin to notice your cat or dog has bad breath.
6. Ear infections
Because our animals play a lot, they can easily get injuries in their ears and these injuries can become infected if not properly treated once noticed.
Ear infections are known as otitis externa and they are characterized by local swelling itchy ears pain and sometimes discharge of smelly liquid from your animals ears.
The nature of the liquid and the smell that comes out of your animals ear will depend largely on the cause of the infection.
7. Hot spots
As a pet owner you must be familiar with hotspots because your dogs or cats may have this one time or another. for those who are not conversant with what a hotspot is it is a localized area of skin infection and inflammation. The infection may be either deep or superficial.
This skin condition can either be caused or made worse by your pet’s activity of licking scratching and biting. The good news, however, is that you can cure this condition but first of all you need to identify the activity or agent that causes it.
Once you have found the underlying cause you can break the cycle of continued skin inflammation or trauma and be on a journey from long-term to a successful long-term treatment.
8. Bad grooming habits
Some pet owners are too lazy to groom their pets.
You may have forgotten this but grooming is not restricted to cutting overgrown fur or hair, and trimming long nails it also includes giving your pet a bath regularly and making sure their oral health is your priority sometimes when your pet properly cares for you can avoid health challenges and even cases of bad odor.
9. Skin disease, scratching, and hair loss
When a pet begins to smell some of the most common questions you begin to hear include questions about scratching hair loss and skin diseases. Scratching each analogies flea and hair loss are some of the issues that can lead to offensive smell in animals.
Most of the above symptoms of different kinds of parasitic or health problems in pets. When your dog breeding to scratch, chew, or bite specific areas it is because the animal is trying to get rid of a parasite but such activities can lead to secondary problems that may cause bad odor.
Whenever you notice a clean and well-groomed pet begins to smell, book an appointment with your vet and begin treatment immediately to avoid more complex issues.