Question:
I'm currently pet-sitting my friend's longhaired mixed-breed male cat. I have only been watching him since last night, but I have noticed this strange smell emanating from him. It's sort of like a cross between mothballs and bad breath, and seems to get worse if he's chatting or cleaning himself, so I would suppose it is coming from his mouth. He also has extremely (!) watery eyes, to the point where tears run down his face. My friend, who just adopted him about a month ago, said his eyes have done that from the start although a smell problem was not mentioned. He seems perfectly happy and content -- he doesn't swipe at his eyes or anything and he purrs a lot.

This may have nothing or everything to do with it, but my cat, a small female tabby, hates him. Everytime he comes within three feet of her, she hisses and growls. Could the smell be somehow related to that?! Some sort of adrenaline reaction?

Any thoughts on what is causing this and what I can do to solve it would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Oh yeah -- I forgot to mention this point: I'm sitting approximately 4 1/2 feet away from him right now and can quite plainly smell that weird stench! It's that powerful!

Answer:
If your friend hasn't taken this cat to the vet yet, I really advise her to do so.

It could have dental problems or an illness. It could even have kidney malfunction. This smell is NOT normal.

If it hasn't been to the vet, you should also keep your cat away from it for now.

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