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Last week when taking my shift at Petco to look after the shelter cats housed there, I met the strangest feline. He was a real sweetheart; he adored being petted and wanted to climb onto my shoulders. But he drooled. As I held him a puddle grew on my shoulder.
I would have been concerned for this cat’s health except that the shelter’s feline coordinator left a note saying that he was fine, drooling was just something he did. Still, I found the experience so odd I decided to research drooling cats.
Cats actually drool for a number of reasons, though most of them are negative. Some of those negative instances are tame, though, and not life threatening.
If you’ve ever noticed a damp carrier after transporting your cat to the vet, you might have a nervous drooler or a cat with motion sickness. Felines that drool when scared might also do so when they know something unpleasant is about to happen to them, such as getting their nails clipped or bath time.
If the drooling persists past the conclusion of whatever fear you think may have caused it, and goes on for an hour or two, then your cat might have a problem. Several serious health problems with your cat might cause it to drool. It might have ingested something it shouldn’t, such as a flea treatment applied to its coat or a toxic household cleaning item.
Even a solid object swallowed by your cat could cause drooling. If the item, such as string or a cat toy, is caught somewhere in the cat’s esophagus or elsewhere it could induce drooling. The item needn’t have been swallowed recently; the cat might have eaten it days or even weeks ago and because it’s still stuck, it’s irritating the cat enough to cause drooling.
Just because the cat is drooling over something it has ingested doesn’t necessarily mean the cat has poisoned itself and will soon die; irritants like some household plants might bother a feline enough to cause vomiting and drooling, but the feline’s life isn’t in danger. Sometimes drooling can even be a symptom of a dental problem, indicating anything like a broken tooth, gum disease, abscessed teeth, or periodontal issues.
Of course, there’s always worry over the dreaded rabies when you see your cat drool. However, if you keep up with your pet’s rabies vaccinations you should be O.K.; don’t even start thinking rabies unless your cat displays erratic behavior in addition to its drooling.
In any of these instances, when the drooling has gone on for an hour or more with no obvious uninterrupted cause, it’s time to call the vet. The vet will be able to determine which of these or other possible problems (such as bee stings, etc.) led to the drooling.
Now, what about the friendly drooling cat with whose story I opened the article? He’s an example of the rare happy drooling cat. Some cats are just so overjoyed to receive love and attention that they can’t help but drool.
Even these cats, however, only drool when being petted. If I stopped holding or petting the Petco cat, even for a moment, the drooling stopped. So if you have a cat who is normally a happy drooler, but you notice it salivating for an extended period when it isn’t receiving attention, then you still might have a problem for which you need to call the vet.
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*(This image by firepile is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
