Mystery of copious drooling

[Chaotic45]

DCat is 3, in previously great health.

This morning I noticed he was drooling loads. Called the vet and managed to get an appt this afternoon. He has soaked several large patches on the duvet, his chest and paws are wet. Every now and again drops of drool fall from his mouth. I honesty am unsure how one cat can produce so much drool.

He isn't himself, hadn't eaten before vet appointment today.

Vet has examined him and can't find anything wrong. He's checked mouth, gums, tummy, temperature. Apparently he's not dehydrated. He's wondering if DCat feels really sick for some reason so has given DCat an strong anti nausea injection and said to watch out for any other worrying signs, and take him back if there is no improvement.

As soon as I got him home he was keen to eat some dreamies and had a little of his ordinary food and a cuddle. He is still drooling though and keeps running and hiding each time his mouth drips.

I wondered if anyone had experience of this or good ideas?

This can sometimes indicate poisoning. Has your cat walked on a wet floor with disinfectant, or been outside where that could have been present?

@BitterAndOnlySlightlyTwisted he has free reign outside so yes it's possible he's come into contact with something poisonous 😢.

He's less likely to have picked up something inside I think, I can't think that I've cleaned or left anything out that might cause harm.

I think and hope that the vet thinks that due to his temperature being ok, and tummy feeling ok (soft he called it) , he hasn't been horribly poisoned. He did though say something might be making him feel very sick....

He's so very precious to me 😢.

The only experience I have of a cat drooling profusely is through fear. Could something have frightened him?

@Chevronsoup thank you for your suggestion. I dint think I that's what has happened. He looks uncomfortable but not frightened and has been sitting on the bed and on my knee- I think he would be hiding if he was afraid.

My DCat had a day of drooling once. He completely soaked the upholstery on a dining room chair. I wondered if he had a cold and was blocked up. The next morning he was better....so we didn't get to the vets. It hasn't happened since.

Any new flowers or plants in the house he could have chewed? Any scented items - candles, diffusers etc?

Has he been making biscuits and drooling at the same time?

When mine did this he had a tumour in his mouth but obviously not that if he's been checked.

When mine did that, it was because she had burnt the top layer off her tongue. However, your vet would have noticed that! Cue, one expensive weekend at the vets on IV fluids, painkillers and probably antibiotics! However, she got tangled up in the IV line every 10 minutes, so she came home for syringe feeding!

I threw all my household plants out and put all cleaning fluids in the garage, after that! We also had to look under all the furniture for old batteries.

My fat boy had the drooling thing a few months ago. He couldn’t stop drooling and wouldn’t eat anything. Vets gave him the anti nausea jab but he still wouldn’t eat at all the next day, although the drooling had stopped. Took him back for blood tests which came up with nothing. I was getting really worried, when he went to the litter tray did the most horrific poop and then almost immediately started eating again.

Milk is a good absorber of poisons. It may make him sick but it would take it out of the system

I'm back with a update. Dcat is much much better!

He managed to eat shortly after getting back from the vet. The drooling continued into the evening and he mostly chose to hide under beds or chairs- a give away sign of not feeling well in his case.

But at one point he enjoyed a cuddle with my son and sat on the bed with me for a short while.

This morning I woke up to him in my face protesting about his cat flap being locked. He then used the litter tray and spent a good 5 minutes loudly and carefully burying his poo .

Drooling has stopped and he seems almost back to his old self. It's a complete mystery.

I'm feeling more mindful of the cleaning products that I'm using, and also hand gel.

DP and I have been using dettol spray liberally on all our work kit, and we I use hand gel quite a bit as it's tricky to wash my hands in my job. I really hope none of this has affected Dcat.

Glad to hear your Dcat is better OP! I do think it could have been the Dettol as it is highly toxic to cats - its the phenol chloroxylenol in it. We discovered similar when we used it to clean a wound on one of our cats some years ago - she licked it off and was very nauseous and drooly for the remainder of the day!

Mine drools all the time. Always has. No idea why. Vet says he is fine

@Burm that's really interesting thank you.

@Paranoidmarvin, Dcat does drool quite frequently when purring or having a cuddle. I think it's a reflex for some cats when in their 'happy place'. But last week he was drooling really really heavily- soaking sheets and several hand towels.

We thought our Dcat had been poisoned... turned out he'd eaten a bee from a neighbours hive

Any possibility of calicivirus,?

We had this with one of our cats- he was obsessed with a vase of tulips and ended up hyper salivating - the tulips are poisonous to cats

My only experience of a cat suddenly having excessive drooling was calicivirus. It didn't end well.

Glad your kitty is looking much better, OP.