What's wrong with my cat?

[MaePedwarGolau]

Before you say vet, I am trying to get her seen ASAP but everyone has said they have no appointments and I'm housebound so I'm reliant on someone else taking her. I'm not even sure if this is an emergency, but it's very distressing to both the cat and myself.

In the last couple of hours I've noticed that every time my cat licks herself, it's like her tongue gets stuck out of her mouth. Her tongue shakes, her jaw shakes and she shakes her head. Most of the time it's just for a few seconds but it's almost every single time she tries to groom herself. One time it lasted long enough that she was severely distressed and clawing at her tongue. I don't know how to help her.

Apart from this she's behaving normally - eating, drinking, going to the toilet etc

Does anyone have any idea what might be wrong with her? How worried should I be?

I'm sorry but I have never heard of this before. A quick google suggests it could be some kind of tooth or gum disease or simply that she is trying to get a bad taste out of her mouth but don't take my word for it.

My ragdoll used to struggle to groom herself and get upset at the fact she had a mouthful of floofs, is your car very fluffy?

If she has only been doing it for a couple of hours then try not to panic, I know it is really easy to panic when your fur baby is distressed but it's a good sign that all her other behaviour is normal.

Can you look into her mouth to see if there is anything that looks obviously wrong?

Has she had an injury and displaced her jaw?

could she have rolled into something that tastes horrible? (potentially harmful?)

My cat used to do this after she had her thyroid medicine, presumably because it tasted nasty.

Hope you get it sorted x

Is she an outdoor cat? All sorts of bitter things she could roll in, someone spilling screen wash when topping up their car or garden treatments as people start to Potter in the milder weather.

Have you tried the RSPCA if they have a vet service nearby? One of their volunteers maybe happy to do a house call and pick up your cat if you explain your situation.

Thanks everyone for your replies. I've managed to get an appointment for 5pm. BIL is going to take her.

She's very short haired. She's an indoor cat. She did have a flea treatment on Monday but it's the same stuff I've been using for years. I guess it's possible she could have licked that, but it's been a few days. She's doing the same thing no matter which part of her body she licks. No injuries that I know of, but I guess I don't see what she gets up to at night.

Thanks again everyone, I will update later when she's been seen.

If you can, try to film it so the vet can see what she does. It's easier that trying to describe it!

How did it go at the vets OP?

She's had some blood tests and they've made an appointment for next week. No answers yet but the vet didn't seem overly concerned. So I guess all I can do now is watch and wait.

I hope the blood tests come back fine.

Is she still behaving the same way today?