Over the last few weeks, we have been discussing problems associated with the lips in particular. Let’s begin today with maladies that occur within the mouth.
General symptoms
How do you know that there is an ailment in the mouth? The first sign that may intimate that there is a problem is that the animal would go off its food (inappetence). Other signs would be increased salivation (drooling), shaking of the head, scratching the mouth or rubbing the lips on objects. These latter symptoms are often associated with any of numerous inflammatory conditions in the mouth.
One very prominent symptom of an ailment of the oral cavity is bad breath. You may see in the literature (even in popular pet books written for the layman) references being made to “Halitosis” or “Foetor ex ore”. Well, they all mean the same thing: an obnoxious odour emanating from the