Have you noticed your cat drooling? If so, is it something to worry about?

While a certain amount of drooling is common and considered normal – your cat may do this while relaxing or in a stressful situation, for a short time – excessive drooling could be an indication of a health problem.

If your cat is drooling a lot, you should consult your veterinarian. Excessive drooling in cats is often referred to as hypersalivation.

We tend to think of dogs drooling more often than cats; it’s not uncommon to see a dog drooling in the presence of tasty food, for example! Cats might drool because their anticipation of their next meal is overwhelming, but it’s less likely compared to a food-obsessed canine.

Normal causes for a cat drooling can vary – from being stressed out to super relaxed! These include:

Stress — such as during a car journey, or a visit to the vets

Relaxing — such as purring, sleeping or kneading

Fear — from loud and unexpected noises, such as fireworks

These are all typically harmless and temporary situations – though if your cat is, like many pets, scared of fireworks, you should manage that and try to minimize exposure to loud noises as much as possible. Read our tips to keeping your pet calm around fireworks here.

If you witness your cat drooling excessively and can’t put it down to some of those situations we’ve detailed here, a health issue could be the cause.

It might be difficult to understand the distinction between normal drooling and a cat drooling excessively. While most signs of drooling are associated with the mouth, many underlying issues will create multiple signs throughout the body.

All of these secondary signs should be noted, as they can make identifying the health problem easier. Some signs of excessive drooling in cats are as follows:

There are many causes of hypersalivation in cats – your cat drooling a lot. The cause could be directly linked to a problem in the mouth, or it might be a sign of an internal problem. If your cat is drooling excessively suddenly, it could be an indication of a serious issue.

As we’ve already covered, your cat might be drooling because of excitement, nervousness or simply being near to appealing food. In which case, there’s nothing to worry about. But, more serious causes can lead to excessive drooling in cats – including:

With lots of potential causes of excessive drooling in cats, your veterinarian is — as always — best placed to examine your pet and provide a diagnosis, which will help to identify the correct course of treatment to resolve the problem.

When taking your cat to the veterinarian, be sure to provide the cat’s full medical history to help sort out potential underlying causes of excessive drooling. The veterinarian will perform a complete physical and oral examination — be aware that the cat may need to be sedated for the oral examination to be successful.

All signs will be noted to see how they match with possible health problems. The veterinarian will look for obvious injuries, abscesses, foreign objects, or masses within the mouth.

Full blood work is likely to be recommended, including a complete blood count to help detect anemia or the presence of cancer, and a biochemical profile to find signs of metabolic disease.

Urinalysis can help to assess how well the kidneys are functioning. A bile acid blood test will indicate the function of the liver. Cultures of the urine may identify bacterial infections present in the body. X-rays or ultrasounds may be used to assess organ health or to locate tumors or lesions in the mouth or body. A biopsy may need to be collected from any masses found.

The best course of treatment for a cat drooling abnormally will be based on the underlying issue identified. Treatment is only necessary if a health problem is present. Some potential treatment pathways for common causes are as follows:

If your cat is foaming at the mouth, he or she may have been poisoned. If so, the stomach may need to be emptied, depending on the timing. Certain medications may be administered to counteract the effects of the poison and activated charcoal may be given to stop toxin absorption in the body.

Dental surgery may be necessary if abscesses or cavities are found. Singular or multiple tooth extractions may also be needed. Any wounds should be cleaned, and antibiotics may be prescribed to eliminate infection.

If malignant tumors have been found as a cause for your cat drooling excessively, surgical removal may be attempted. This is only possible in certain locations of tumor growth. Both radiation therapy and chemotherapy may be used to fight cancer on a microscopic level.

Many URIs are the result of viral infections, which have no curative treatment. Supportive care can greatly assist in recovery. This includes intravenous fluid administration, medications, humidifier use and appetite stimulants.

These complications may require ongoing care and medication application for the remainder of the cat’s life. Special diets may need to be followed to help alleviate these organ problems.

To remove a foreign body causing salivation, the cat may need to be sedated. Certain cases may require surgery.

Recovery from hypersalivation is, of course, achievable — though how long it takes for your cat to recover depends mainly on the treatment involved. The prognosis for recovery greatly depends on the type of health issue that has been diagnosed.

If surgery has been part of your cat’s treatment, recovery may take weeks — and you’ll need to follow all at-home care guidelines provided by the veterinarian. This will include monitoring your cat for signs of infection near the incision site.

Painkillers, medication or antibiotics may need to be administered daily. Your veterinarian will have you return for follow-up appointments to see how the surgery site is healing and to assess the overall health of the cat. 

Dental issues generally resolve with surgical repair, cleaning, and a good oral health routine. Recovery from being poisoned greatly depends on how quickly the poisoning was identified and what substance has been consumed.

Kidney and liver disease prognoses are guarded, and often require lifelong treatment. Most cats will typically recover from an upper respiratory infection.

If the underlying cause of the infection is a virus, it may stay in the cat’s system permanently. Cancer prognosis depends on how soon it is treated and how aggressive the cancer is. If your cat is suspected of having rabies, it will need to be quarantined. Vaccines to prevent rabies should be a part of your annual veterinary visit.