Wet cat mouth. Why do cats salivate

Salivation is caused by excess saliva dripping from the animal's mouth. Saliva is constantly produced by the salivary glands. Excessive production or secretion of saliva is called hypersalivation (or ptyalism). Oral problems and disorders of the central nervous system are the most common causes of ptyalism and subsequent drooling. It happens that the normal production of saliva may seem excessive in animals with an anatomical abnormality that allows saliva to drip from the mouth. This condition is called false ptyalism. There are many causes of drooling in cats, often harmless, but sometimes very serious.

Normally healthy cats don't drool. However, some pets drool when they are stroked and caressed or about to be fed. The sight or smell of certain foods can make these cats salivate if they find the food extremely appealing and tempting.

Other pets drool when they are very nervous. When a cat feels tense, she will start to over-groom herself, as this helps to calm down. Such licking can contribute to increased salivation.

Also, some cats will start to salivate when they know they are going to be given an unpleasant tasting drug or injected (this is psychological). Well, saliva necessarily begins to flow if the cat is given a bitter and tasteless medicine. For example, no-shpa tablets always cause profuse salivation, as well as deworming drugs.

Some cats suffer from motion sickness (which can cause them to salivate when traveling). Foaming at the mouth may be present in a cat that feels nauseous or vomits (particularly due to the accumulation of hairballs in the stomach).

All of these causes lead to drooling, which is usually mild and short-lived. But if your cat is drooling or foaming at the mouth for no apparent reason, if the saliva persists for more than an hour and a half, or if there are other symptoms, then it's time to call the veterinarian. If salivation is not normal and typical for your cat, and suddenly it starts, this may be a sign that something is wrong with the pet.

Causes of drooling in cats can be:

· Poisoning;

· Infection or damage to the salivary glands, salivary gland cyst;

· Dental problems (gum disease, dental abscess, etc.);

· Foreign object in the mouth;

· Leukemia;

· heart attack;

· Abscess;

· (if, in addition to salivation, the animal behaves inappropriately);

· Pseudo-madness ( false frenzy);

· ( , ), especially if salivation is accompanied by watery eyes and runny nose, sneezing, fever, loss of appetite;

· Heat stroke (hyperthermia);

· oral cavity;

· Portosystemic shunt (liver shunt);

· ;

· Poisoning from certain poisons (such as insecticides, flea sprays, or arsenic);

· Eating certain types of lizards and toads;

· Wasp or bee sting (if the cat tries to hunt and eat these insects);

· Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract (inflammation of the esophagus, tumor of the esophagus, hiatal hernia, bloating, stomach ulcer);

· Nausea;

· Botulism;

· Tetanus.

Diagnostics

As you can see, there are many different reasons for excessive salivation. When contacting the veterinarian, you will need to provide as much detail as possible about your cat's health, including vaccinations, medications used, possible exposure to toxins, and other symptoms associated with salivation. Your doctor will need to distinguish between drooling caused by difficulty swallowing and drooling from nausea accompanied by smacking and vomiting. It is also necessary to perform a complete physical and neurological examination of your cat, with particular attention to the mouth and neck. Diagnostic tools may include x-rays and ultrasound to determine if there is a problem in the structure of the liver or in any other internal organs. If an immune disorder is suspected, your veterinarian may also want to biopsy tissue and cells.

Treatment

Your veterinarian will treat the underlying cause of ptyalism once it has been identified and diagnosed. Depending on the cause of the salivation, your veterinarian will want to monitor and examine your cat as often as necessary to make sure the treatment is effective.

Increased salivation before eating is normal. Even if the cat is not hungry, smelling the smell of yummy, she may well salivate.

A lot of saliva is also released if the cat has eaten something tasteless: a bitter pill, spicy or simply tasteless food - this is how the animal's body reflexively tries to get rid of food that is of poor quality, in its opinion.

During licking, salivation also intensifies. And, if you interrupt the washing process, then the cat will drool. Increased salivation accompanies the process of getting rid of hairballs that have accumulated in the stomach.

Stress often causes a temporary shutdown of the salivary glands. If the negative impact was short-term, then in the process of adapting to a stressful situation, the salivary glands at the first moment may secrete more saliva than usual. That is why, after experiences, cats begin to lick themselves intensely. Another cause of excess salivation during stress is nausea.

Many wonder why a cat drools from its mouth when it is caressed. At the same time, an already unnecessary sucking reflex is triggered: experiencing pleasant emotions, the animal recalls its early childhood, when the mother cat fed and licked her kitten. And the sucking reflex enhances the secretory function of the salivary glands. By the way, there is a pattern: the less the kitten sucked its mother, the more in adulthood the cat drools during the moments of caresses.

When is drooling a cause for concern?

Usually, natural reflex reactions are short-lived, disappear on their own and are not accompanied by other symptoms. But if a cat drools from the mouth for a long time or immediately very strongly, similar to foam, accompanied by some strange symptoms, an urgent diagnosis is needed. The cause of increased salivation can be various infectious diseases, pathologies of the digestive system, poisoning and injuries of the pharynx and oral cavity, dental problems.

Hypersalivation or ptyalimz requires urgent diagnosis, since some diseases are dangerous not only for the animal, but also for others.

infectious diseases

The causes of ptyalism in infectious diseases are multidimensional:

• nausea;
• sores and other problems with the oral mucosa;
• rhinitis or;
• damage to the nervous system.

This symptom should be taken very carefully, because sometimes, with atypical infections, hypersalivation is the only symptom. However, most often, hypersalivation in infections complements the characteristic clinical picture - and among other symptoms, fever, symptoms of dehydration and intoxication, and others typical of a particular disease are most common. Moreover, with some diseases, the cat drools at those stages when the treatment is already late.

poisoning

As a rule, any poisoning is accompanied by an increase in the work of the salivary glands - this is a kind of protective reaction of the body to a harmful substance. If there is a suspicion of poisoning, a visit to the doctor is required immediately, because sometimes minutes go by. Each chemical substance has its own symptomatic complex. However, without experience, it is difficult to independently determine the cause of poisoning and even distinguish poisoning from an infectious disease - the main symptoms (,) are similar, and time can be lost.

Injuries

Any injury to the pharynx and oral cavity will be accompanied by increased salivation - this is also a protective reaction, since saliva has bactericidal and wound healing properties. Sometimes minor injuries of the oral cavity do not require serious treatment - the action of saliva is enough. But the help of a doctor is still required, since the cause of the injury may be a foreign object that must be removed.

dental problems

The cat is salivating from the mouth even because of the usual caries, which is also accompanied by damage to the oral mucosa. By themselves, dental problems do not pose a serious danger. But neglected caries and other dental diseases can lead to their loss: for a cat, this is a serious problem, since she will not be able to eat normally.

Internal illnesses

Most often, hypersalivation is a consequence of nausea and is more characteristic of diseases of the digestive tract. However, it can be a symptom of other pathologies: kidney disease, tumors. But even if the owner is aware of the diagnosis, a symptom of which may be hypersalivation, it still does not hurt to clarify the diagnosis. Why? It is possible that the cat drools more strongly for another reason.

Saliva is always in the cat's mouth, but it starts to flow out if it no longer fits in the cavity. This happens for two main reasons - when saliva is produced more than usual, and when it is not swallowed. In this case, saliva can drain in drops, strands, or roll in the form of foam.

When You Shouldn't Worry

A cat can drool if she senses very tasty food. This is a completely normal reaction. After all, this is how the body prepares for the digestion of food.

Salivation also happens when something very tasteless gets on the cat's tongue. Many owners have experienced this phenomenon when they gave their cat deworming pills. In this case, the animal can pour foam from saliva into all surrounding objects.

Also, the separation of saliva occurs before the burping of a woolen ball, which is perceived by the stomach as a foreign object. To avoid this, you need to give the cat malt paste.

Nausea with drooling is also found in cats that are seasick. Such animals need special preparation for the trip. There are also cats that salivate from pleasure. The owner can determine this when he sees regular drooling in the absence of any bad manifestations.

Excessive production of saliva in painful conditions

Then there are the worse reasons. Increased salivation accompanies in cats gagging. The reason for this can be both poisoning and manifestations of internal diseases. Nausea and vomiting accompany gastritis and gastroenteritis, as well as pathologies of the kidneys and liver. In these cases, other symptoms are also visible - refusal of food and water, lethargy. Sometimes the temperature is raised.

Pain sensations are visible in cats not only by dilated pupils, but also, often, by saliva flowing from the corners of the mouth. Typical signs of feline pancreatitis are refusal to eat, nausea, salivation, and the desire to lie down on a cold floor.

Diseases of the oral cavity(for example, stomatitis or tartar) are often accompanied by increased salivation. In order to detect this cause, it is enough to open the cat's mouth (with gloves so as not to exchange bacteria).

A fish bone stuck in the teeth also causes a copious flow of saliva, which stops when the cause is removed.

Various pathologies of the salivary glands, such as a cyst or injury, lead to an incessant flow of saliva. In this case, the liquid may have a reddish or yellowish tint, an unpleasant odor, or may not differ from ordinary saliva.

There is also a group of oncological diseases, manifested by profuse salivation. In this case, masses of tissue may be detected in the oral cavity, but they may not be visible. Most of these cases in cats are associated with decreased appetite or unusual thinness.

Infectious Cat Diseases That Make Them Slobbery

A host of feline infections can cause increased salivation. These are infections of the stomach and intestines, upper respiratory tract, and oral cavity. In this case, the owner may also notice coughing or vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, the desire of the cat to hide in a corner.

Eg, calicivirus cats causes ulcers on the tongue and gums. At the same time, saliva flows from the mouth almost continuously.

Rabies is one of the most terrible diseases common to humans and animals. Unfortunately, in a cat, rabies is not always accompanied by reference signs. It happens that in an animal only salivation is noticeable. Rabies should be suspected in any cat bitten by someone unknown who has not previously been vaccinated. It is clear that a home vaccinated Tuzik does not transmit this terrible virus with saliva. Country cats are especially often infected with rabies.

It should be remembered that infectious rhinotracheitis and feline calicivirosis, as well as panleukopenia and rabies, are vaccinated in any veterinary clinic. The rest of the infectious diseases remain in the fate of the animal's immunity.

What are the reasons why a cat may not swallow saliva?

If the cat cannot swallow saliva, which is produced by the salivary glands in normal quantities, then the saliva hangs in strands at the corners of the mouth or merges into such " waterfalls". The voice may become hoarse, and breathing heavy and wheezing.

All conditions leading to impaired swallowing of saliva are urgent, that is, they require the immediate intervention of a competent veterinarian or paramedic. These conditions include: edema of the larynx, edema of the esophagus, heat stroke, a foreign object in the throat or larynx, tetanus.

There is neither time nor opportunity to determine what specific type of lesion a cat has. However, you need to remember what preceded this state. This information is very useful to the veterinarian.

Spasm and swelling of the larynx often occur when a cat is bitten by poisonous insects. This can happen if, for example, a cat played with a bee and swallowed it while still alive. The captive can finally sting the cat right in the throat.

Mechanical trauma to the larynx (strike, puncture) can cause such severe swelling that the cat's voice will simply disappear.

Heatstroke happens to cats that don't have shelter or access to water on a very hot day. In urban areas, heat stroke overtakes cats forgotten in the car.

A foreign body in the pharynx can be any object that the cat chooses to play with. In excitement, the animal may not even notice how some kind of piece of wood has ended up across its throat.

Tetanus rare in cats. This is due to the fact that more and more owners are turning to hospitals due to injuries. After all, as you know, tetanus develops in cases where the body has stale wounds infected with tetanus bacilli. Treatment of fresh wounds is sufficient to prevent tetanus in cats. If an infection is suspected, the doctor may also suggest administering tetanus toxoid to the animal. This is a small injection subcutaneously.

So what to do if the cat is drooling?

First of all, you need to calm down and mobilize. After all, salivation does not start out of the blue. You need to remember if the cat is vaccinated, if anyone bit her. If there are any signs of a poor general condition, and salivation has lasted for more than a quarter of an hour, then the animal should be immediately shown to the doctor.

A good owner is obliged to carefully monitor the health of his pet. Common phenomena can be signs of illness or injury. Such things include excessive salivation, so you need to be careful and know some of the nuances in advance in order to understand why the cat is drooling, is it safe and how to deal with this problem.

What is salivation norms

There are times when it is normal for a cat to salivate. Saliva is an important fluid in the body that performs a number of functions: protects teeth, gums and oral mucosa from damage, facilitates chewing food by lubricating or gluing it, facilitates swallowing, has a bactericidal effect, and much more. That is why, in some cases, copious amounts of saliva should not cause you concern, namely:

• when the animal sees the food or smells it;
• during feeding;
• while chewing food;
• when she is stroked, and your pet enjoys;
• current drooling in a cat can be observed when taking tasteless and bitter drugs (for example, but-shpa or medicines for worms);
• with strong nervous experiences.

The amount of saliva produced usually only rises slightly if the cat is in good health. Usually, saliva can be seen a little on the hair around the mouth, but if the process lasts longer than 10-15 minutes and there is much more saliva, you should start to worry.

The process of salivation or drooling is called salivation., therefore, if you notice any anomalies regarding this phenomenon and decide to consult a doctor, do not be afraid if he diagnoses hypersalivation or ptyalism. These scary words just mean that the cat is drooling from its mouth in more quantities than it should.

Causes of excessive salivation

Before treating your pet, you should figure out why the cat is drooling, in other words, find the irritant and find out why this happens. The reasons why a cat has hung salivation can be very different - ranging from any lesions in the mouth or digestive tract to viral diseases.

1. Most often this is due to the accumulation of wool in the stomach. Cats are very clean animals, they take care of themselves and often lick themselves.
2. Already during licking, more saliva may be released than usual, and along with it, wool enters the esophagus, and over time a lump of quite impressive size may collect. And what's with the saliva? It's simple - you need to burp it, and it is difficult to do this without additional saliva.
3. The next most popular cause is poisoning. If you know your cat well, then you should know that they love to eat what they "caught". Unfortunately, their "trophies" are not always useful and safe, and often cause profuse salivation.
4. Cats often drool when they have allergies. If for some reason you decide to change the food for your pet, and during the adaptation there is a large amount of saliva, nausea or vomiting, these are signs of an allergy or poisoning.
5. A foreign body in the throat or esophagus can also cause a large amount of saliva to be released.
6. If the cat has any mechanical damage in the oral cavity, neoplasms or sores are present there, cheeks or lips are injured, teeth hurt or enamel is damaged.
7. Viral and oncological diseases.

One of the worst causes of excessive salivation is rabies. Hypersalivation is a symptom of this disease. In addition, the animal may be afraid of the light, be aggressive, or vice versa - overly affectionate, appetite changes, and so on. Rabies is incurable, but it is quite difficult for a cat living in an apartment to catch it, especially since today vaccinations are regularly given to prevent the development of this disease.

Symptoms and signs

Hanging salivation is accompanied by a number of other physiological changes that are not so difficult to notice:

• at various viral diseases or diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, there is a loss of appetite. That is, if your cat has no desire to eat, but at the same time saliva is secreted in a sufficiently large amount, you should be alert, consult a doctor and take action;
• if your pet dental problems, oral cavity or digestive system, he may refuse solid food, which he used to eat with great pleasure. Food may fall out of the mouth, the animal may hold its head in an unusual position;
• behavior may change. Like a person, a cat may experience some discomfort during an illness, and as a result, be irritable and aggressive;
• vomiting or nausea;
• it is difficult for a cat to swallow;
• bad breath may appear;
• if the cat is in pain or any discomfort in the oral cavity, she will often rub her muzzle;
• a variety of neurological symptoms may appear.

So, we figured out why a cat has bad breath and drooling, what are the symptoms and what it can lead to. It remains only to figure out what to do to cure your pet.

Treatment

If you see that a cat is drooling from its mouth in a very large amount, you should immediately contact your veterinarian. Only he can correctly diagnose. There are many reasons for excessive salivation listed above, and depending on them, treatment is prescribed.

A professional will conduct a complete examination, including the oral cavity, and will be able to tell you exactly why your cat is salivating so much and what to do about it. If some foreign object gets into the mouth, pharynx or esophagus, the doctor will be able to quickly remove it, which is very difficult to do at home.

If the cause of a large amount of saliva is any disease, the specialist will prescribe treatment and give recommendations on how to achieve a speedy recovery for your pet.

Here are some tips that you need to know and if possible, if you want to, as soon as possible return to normal saliva production in your pet:

• the very first thing, it is necessary to hide in a place inaccessible to the cat all substances, medicines and preparations dangerous to her health;
• give more liquid so that the animal's metabolism is activated and there is no dehydration;
• foods in the cat's diet should be introduced gradually, it is necessary to start only with liquid food;
• in order not to aggravate the situation and avoid its recurrence, carefully monitor what you feed the cat: she should not be given bony fish or food, where there may be small hard pieces;
• if there is any damage in the oral cavity, then it must be treated in a timely manner with disinfectants;
• When treating your pet's fur for fleas and ticks, put a bandage around the cat's neck to prevent the cat from licking off the preparation from the fur.

If salivation decreases, the amount of saliva gradually returns to normal, then all the doctor's recommendations are being followed, and your pet is on the mend.

Outcome

Drooling in a cat is a fairly common phenomenon, but fortunately, its causes are very rarely life-threatening. Most often this happens due to the carelessness of the owners and the curiosity of the animals themselves. But, if you are still faced with the problem of salivation, quick and qualified help from a specialist will help resolve all issues. All that is required from the owner is to be attentive and take care of his cat. During the period of illness, she needs your love in the same way as conventional treatment, it will not cost you anything, but it will help the animal a lot.

In domestic cats, as well as in other mammals, the process of salivation is physiological.

When is salivation in cats a normal variant?

The secretion of saliva in the oral cavity in healthy animals increases in the following cases:

• before feeding
• when smelling an attractive food smell,
• while eating.

At the same time, you will not see how a cat drools from its mouth. Normally, this process occurs inside, in the cat's mouth.

Can a cat drool with pleasure when petting it?

It is not uncommon for a cat to notice a slight amount of salivation when petted. When the animal is in the mood for affection and purrs, salivation from pleasure may increase slightly. But, nevertheless, it will be limited to a slightly wet pug near the mouth.

If the cat drools more abundantly - so much that it can be seen with the naked eye - and for a long time - more than 10-15 minutes - then it's not at all a pleasure!

How to understand that a cat has increased salivation?

If you see that your pet has a wet muzzle and neck, the hair on the chest falls off with wet icicles, the cat often swallows, rubs its muzzle against the furniture, constantly washes itself, after sleeping wet spots remain on its bedding, it means that your animal has excessive salivation.

Causes of excessive salivation that are not associated with diseases

Consider the causes of excessive saliva in cats and cats:

Accumulation of hairballs in the stomach

Cats are very clean and regularly take care of their toilet, that is, they lick themselves. In the process of licking, wool can get into the oral cavity, esophagus and, further, into the stomach. Over time, an impressive woolen ball is recruited there, which requires to be burped.

Why is the cat drooling at this moment? The fact is that spitting up a hairball is not always easy. Therefore, in the process of preparing for this moment, salivation intensifies in cats.

Poisoning

Another cause of excessive salivation in cats and cats is poisoning. You have probably noticed more than once that pets are very fond of eating what they think they are hunting for.

Inappropriate food

And it can be flies, and cockroaches, and a piece of food that is not suitable for cats, and pills for people that have fallen from the master's table, and even rats, mice and birds on the street if your pet walks freely.

Medications

Also, a cat can get poisoned by licking wool treated with a flea drug, or react to medication, for example, an anthelmintic drug.

Household chemicals

Chemical poisoning in a cat can be caused by any item of household chemicals: washing powder, dishwashing detergent or floor detergent - everything that is stored in easy access for a curious animal.

The animal may simply taste it, it may inhale fumes or suspended matter in the air, or it may decide that the floor or home furniture, after special cleaning, from the cat's point of view, has become dirty and smelly, and they must be licked.

poisonous plants

Houseplants can also cause cat poisoning. The juice of some of them is poisonous. It is known, for example, that if a mammal cub of any kind appeared in your house, whether it be a crawling baby, a puppy or a kitten, you need to get rid of dieffenbachia.

And if you notice that the kitten is drooling, and the leaves or flowers are eaten from the plant, it is likely that he was poisoned by them.

To understand that the cause of salivation was poisoning, monitoring of other manifestations of the disease will help: the matter will not be limited only to excessive salivation, the cat will be lethargic, he will show vomiting, diarrhea, fever.

Allergy

For some reason, you changed your pet's food. Temporarily or permanently, but it happened. This may also explain why the cat is drooling. Difficult adaptation to a new diet, possible nausea or vomiting, excessive salivation are indicators of either poisoning or an allergic reaction.

Foreign body in the throat or esophagus

If you feed your cat food from your table, he may swallow fish or chicken bones. Or, having played, inadvertently swallow something small and hard, for example, part of a toy.

A foreign object irritates the mucous membrane of the pharynx or esophagus, causes pain, the pet tries to cough up and induce vomiting. In this case, the cat is salivating from his mouth, he does not eat anything, he drinks a lot and sits with his head bowed.

Similar reactions can be observed if a foreign object gets stuck in the cat's mouth: it sticks into soft tissues or gets stuck between the teeth.

Salivation will stop, either when the pet burps the foreign body, or if it pushes further into the stomach.

Diseases that cause excessive salivation in cats

Rabies

Along with some cancers, this is the worst possible diagnosis, as it is fatal and incurable.

In modern conditions, it is very difficult for an urban domestic cat to catch rabies. First, there is vaccination against viral diseases, including rabies. Secondly, rabies is contagious, which means that it can only be transmitted from an infected animal, which is unlikely at home.

In addition to increased salivation, rabies in a cat is accompanied by changes in behavior: it becomes unusually aggressive or, conversely, affectionate; demonstrates strange and unusual manifestations of appetite - eats without stopping or practically loses it. The animal manifests hydrophobia, convulsions occur.

In this case, the only way out is to take the cat to the veterinarian to be euthanized.

Other viral diseases

Fever, problems with the gastrointestinal tract, coughing, sneezing, discharge from the nose and eyes in addition to excessive salivation are all symptoms of viral diseases.

Only a veterinarian can determine their true nature by ordering a laboratory study of swabs from the pharynx, nose, eyes and ears.

Dental diseases

If the cat drools and smells from the mouth, he chews slowly and carefully, does not allow himself to be stroked on the head, this may be a consequence of a disease of the teeth and / or gums.

You should contact your veterinarian to examine your pet's mouth for cavities, plaque or calculus, gingivitis, and other dental problems.

Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract

Gastritis, exacerbation of ulcers, colitis, dysfunction of the gallbladder or spleen in a cat - all this may be accompanied by excessive salivation.

Worms or helminthiasis

Diabetes

This disease provokes thirst. The animal begins to drink a lot, excess fluid is excreted through increased salivation and urination.

Tumors

The development of oncological diseases in the gastrointestinal tract, oral cavity, excretory system, blood or brain of a cat can also be accompanied by excessive salivation.

In addition to the diseases listed above, excessive salivation is possible if the pet has developed:

• heart attack,
• botulism,
• tetanus,
• chronic renal failure.

What to do if a cat or cat is drooling?

If you find that your pet is drooling heavily and the salivation does not stop for a long time, please do not put off a visit to the veterinarian!

It is very good if the cause turns out to be insignificant and easily eliminated, but even it needs to be established accurately. This can only be done by a specialist, a veterinarian. He will prescribe the necessary studies, and then explain in detail how to treat your pet!