Cat Drooling

[5DH]

46 hours ago, after dinner on Wednesday, our 3 year old indoor-only cat started spontaneously drooling.

We gave it overnight and woke up Thursday and there were drops and pools of drool all over the house so we took him to the vet for an exam. The vet found nothing that would indicate the symptoms, even did an oral exam and comprehensive blood panel and found no issues. Vet said that it doesn't sound like he's nauseated, but gave us some Cerenia just in case, which we have been giving him. The Cerenia is definitely not impacting the drooling, could be helping him sleep a bit. Other than seeming very slightly mopey, probably because he's not sleeping well (the drool wakes him up after a while), he seems 100% fine: eating, drinking, litter box, "hunting" birds from the window, even playing a bit.

The vet said to give it 48 hours and probably after that go to the ER to get more thorough work done. But... this is the same vet that told me to take my other cat to the ER when all he had was a kitty cold from encountering another kitten we adopted from a PetCo who came with a virus - that was a long an expensive night.

Vet said he had some plaque and tartar build-up but it was mild and certainly nothing that would cause this issue, and said the next steps could be a dental cleaning and X-Rays to see if there was some underlying oral issue.

Just wondering has anyone experienced this before? The fact that he started drooling minutes after we ate dinner - a dinner where I accidentally spilled a dozen black peppercorns on the floor (although we swear we got them) - really makes me think he just licked something. We have never seen him drool before and for a tooth issue coming on so suddenly seems odd. I'm not sure I need to be rushing to the ER, do you think it's OK to give him longer than 48 hours to try to resolve on its own? Any ideas?

 

[Margot Lane]

My cat drooled when I used a cleaning product with lavender. Turns out lavender oil is not good for kitties. Stopped drooling when I tossed the product.

 

[5DH]

My cat drooled when I used a cleaning product with lavender. Turns out lavender oil is not good for kitties. Stopped drooling when I tossed the product.

We haven't changed a thing that I can think of. Same litter, same food, same treats. He's a bit of a goat and has been known to eat a dustball, clump of fur, stray leaf... so I'm hoping it just was a one-off and ends in a few days.

 

[Kris107]

I'm not a vet in any way... but since he's acting 100% fine otherwise, I think you could probably just closely monitor him. Drooling, obviously, isn't normal, but hopefully it resolves soon! Keep any eye out for any other symptoms - gait, activity, input/output, changes in behavior, etc.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Cleaning products, or any other thing like plants, treated furniture or rugs, etc. that are new to the house could be the culprit. But, it sounds like you are saying he is drooling off and on and mostly when sleeping? If that is true, it could be congestion/sinus issues most often associated with allergies like pollen and/or dust for example. Once up and about the congestion clears (literally drains into the stomach oftentimes) and he is back to his old non-drooling self. Not an ER visit, IMO, since everything else seems status quo. But, you do need to keep an eye on him as mentioned above to see if you can glean any more possible causes from observing him.

 

[Alldara]

Dis they do any bloodwork ?

 

[5DH]

Dis they do any bloodwork ?

Yes. All looked fine including white and red blood cell.

 

[5DH]

I'm not a vet in any way... but since he's acting 100% fine otherwise, I think you could probably just closely monitor him. Drooling, obviously, isn't normal, but hopefully it resolves soon! Keep any eye out for any other symptoms - gait, activity, input/output, changes in behavior, etc.

Ok. Only change is he seems to be wanting to rest a lot the last day: under our bed or in his carrier. He usually sprints to our automatic feeder when the food drops but hasn’t always done it recently. Still eating I feel like he’d just rather stay resting… but I wouldn’t go so far as to say he’s lethargic. I saw him pounce on his older brother and played with me with a toy for a while. Would be more concerned if he was hiding in a corner and never came out… whole thing is just weird.

 

[5DH]

But, it sounds like you are saying he is drooling off and on and mostly when sleeping?

It does seem off and on and seems to build up when he’s sleeping where he will eventually wake up and have some drool to clear out. But I’ve seen him drip while sitting up or walking around too.

 

[FeebysOwner]

As you know, the drooling isn't normal. Given his other behavioral changes, the 'total picture' appears health related. I still wander about the allergy aspect, possible congestion, drainage, etc. Because it is off and on, him getting into something or being exposed to something that is an irritant to him can't be ruled out, so keep your eyes out on what he does, where he goes, especially if it is out of the ordinary.

I'd probably pursue the dental x-rays to see if something shows up there that can't be seen just by looking in his mouth.

 

[5DH]

Bit of an update to share for those who come across this post in the future: we woke up and the drooling had gotten 90% better (about 60 hours after first onset).

I hypothesized that the Cerenia was not only having NO effect since he wasn't nauseated to begin with, but that the other symptoms he was exhibiting (decreased appetite, low energy) were not related to the drooling but in fact side effects of the Cerenia - I researched the medication and saw a lot of reports of these side effects. With the vet's approval we stopped the Cerenia. It'll probably take more time to leave his system - it's a 24 hour dose and we're only +3 hours over the 24 hour marker - but already seeing a slight uptick in energy and appetite. Vet said there's no emergency and we can wait a couple more days to see how he does. But I haven't seen any drool in like 5 hours so I've got my fingers crossed that he's on the mend and it was just something environmental that triggered hypersalivation. I'll be sure to update if anything new develops.

Thanks for all of the support and ideas!