Drooling
by Sarah
(cambridge)
My cat is drooling from the nose and mouth and he is unusually drowsy and not eating or drinking =(
RESPONSE:
First you have to identify the cause of the drooling. Most healthy cats don’t drool except in certain circumstances such as when they are purring while being petted, or when they are scared, like when they know they are going to get an injection or be given medicine.
Other causes can be foreign items in the mouth such as a small bone or string around the tongue, mouth infections or ulcers, gum disease or abscessed teeth, salivary gland cyst, bee stings, heat stroke or poisons such as insecticides or household chemicals, and of course…rabies. Other disorders originating elsewhere like the stomach or intestines can cause excessive drooling as will kidney disease etc.
Remember that cats lick their fur so even a household cleaning product that the cat touches or steps in will be ingested as the cat cleans itself. Houseplants can also cause burning to occur to the lining of the mouth. These can cause lethargy and/or vomiting.
However, drooling accompanied by watering of the eyes and loss of appetite is likely due to a feline viral respiratory infection but cats can also have excessive salivation from feline herpes virus (rhinotracheitis virus) or calicivirus. These are serious conditions that should be attended to by a veterinarian.
If your cat was simply drooling without other symptoms the reasons might be less critical, but your cat has loss of fluids from both the mouth and nose, and is also drowsy and not eating or drinking. Not eating or drinking is dangerous for cats because they can get fatty liver disease in a relatively short time… it can be set off by the lack of food and water.
I strongly suggest that you get your cat to a vet immediately in order to not only diagnose your cat’s serious problem but to halt any further progression of infection or disease. I wish you luck in resolving your cat’s condition.
the color of a cats' palate
Do different breeds of cats have different color palates? I think i had a black Chantilly (it was a rescue) and his palate was black and pink.
RESPONSE:
Yes, certain breeds were bred to have certain color characteristics and even an alley cat can have varied palate color because somewhere in the past, an ancestor had the trait. Some orange cats can have too much melanin in their mouth tissue and they can have speckled palates (like freckles). My black cat, Max, has a mottled looking palate…sort of like a pinto horse but with the colors of black and pink.
palap in cats nose
by Susan Langford
(Rochester, New York)
Her vet diagnoised her cat with it, but doesn't do that kind of surgery. How important is it to have it done?
RESPONSE:
Whether to find a veterinarian who performs this type of surgery is important depends upon the severity and size of the polyps. Although they are usually small and non-cancerous they can grow in the ears and the back of the mouth also. There is no definitive answer as to why these growths happen, but it is guessed that inflammation of the upper respiratory tissues via bacterial or viral infections may be involved. However, they don’t respond to antibiotic therapy.
The nasal polyps cause nasal congestion, drippy nose and decreased nasal airflow, noisy breathing and sneezing. Moreover, oftentimes the polyps also exist in the ears and throat causing pressure on the eyes. You only mentioned the nasal polyps so I’m assuming that your vet only found those. If the polyps continue to grow they can reduce the sense of smell, which in turn will decrease the cat’s appetite… without the scent of the food to encourage eating. For more information on how the cat nose functions see Cat Nose
Occasionally a single small polyp is cured by a nasal spray and drops containing corticosteroids but the most effective treatment for nasal polyps is surgical removal. Unfortunately, they sometimes grow back again a few years after surgery if the entire base under the skin wasn’t completely removed.
My suggestion is to phone the vet that diagnosed the cat and request a referral to a veterinarian that does this specific type of surgery. I’m surprised that this information wasn’t already offered by the vet. During that call ask the vet if the polyp is a type that can just be watched, sort of a "wait and see" if it grows, or if surgical removal is mandatory.
Unknown cat mouth infection
by Konica
(Pune, Maharashtra, India)
I have more than one cat, and one of my cats started developing this, and after a period of time, it started spreading to other cats. Initially, they experienced a loss of appetite, lethargy and weight loss, and sudden dehydration. No Veterinarian is able to identify the cause or the form of this disease. A few days later the cats suddenly start developing dilated pupils, severe hunger, irritation and wild behavior, and then stop responding to calls or touch. I have lost two of my cats to this disease and it is spreading. Please help.
RESPONSE:
Please remember that I am not a veterinarian. However, two things come to mind. Stomatitis is known to cause strange behavior in cats mainly because of the pain but it is more associated with gingivitis. It is a painful condition whereby the tissues of the mouth become red and ulcerated. The other possibility is jaw and oral cancer which is also known as squamous cell carcinoma. It is a strain of the same type of skin cancer caused by sun damage. Unfortunately, most of the cases are discovered in the late stages which are when cats start to show changes in appearance and swells or bleeds. The survival rate is a little as 5 percent so it is imperative that early detection occurs. A few of the symptoms are drooling, trouble eating, bad breath and weight loss.
I wish I could help you further. Perhaps try phoning a few of the universities that do research work on cat disease and see if they can offer a possibility to you. A major one is Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. You said that no veterinarians seem to know so perhaps research departments are the way to pursue it.
I wish you and your cats well.
palaps in cats nose
by SUSAN LANGFORD
(ROCHESTER,NY)
I've already tried the antibiotics and it's true they didn't work. Where do you get the nose drops, I'll try anything, her nose is getting bigger and it's pink. It's breaking my heart to hear her having trouble breathing and sneezing all the time. My vet gave me the name of a surgeon, they want $1000. There is no way I can afford that much. Do you know of any place that helps with vet bills. I live in Rochester, New York.
RESPONSE:
You may have seen by my recent responses that I'm currently in Europe and internet access is spotty. My research materials are at home so I can only offer a temporary possible help to try. I can't even research online because the internet when I can get it is $.75 a minute...with the slow speeds it costs a lot to even read email.
I return to the USA Sept.10th and shortly thereafter I will send you an email because you gave me your email address. I hopefully will have some better answers for you. In the meantime, it won't hurt your cat to use the "baby strength" AFRIN. One drop a day for 3 days, skip a couple of days and repeat.
By then I'll be back and will be able to look up the corticosteroid spray & drops that can help. The problem with corticosteroids such as prednisone are that they lower your cat's immune system's ability to fight off other infections...but the benefits are significant when you have a cat suffering as your cat is.
I will also try to look up resources that help with bills for cat surgery.
Did you ask your vet if the polyp type can be watched or if it's a fast growing type??
Try the AFRIN and when I return I'll contact you directly with more information.
Hang in there...and remember you can always use a saline solution to help clear the nasal passage on a temporary basis. I'll email you after Sept.10
Toung disconnection
by Renee Toussel
(West Palm Beach, Fl)
Hi My cat had a growth on the underside of his tongue. It apparently burst and the toung is now disconnected. We had it surgically repaired but unfortunately he isn't getting better. He has now stopped eating. Our Vet says he has never seen this happen. We are so very worried for our baby. Do you have any advice? I'm afraid he is starving to death. Please anything you can tell me would be helpful.
Renee in West Palm Beach
RESPONSE:
Renee, unfortunately, I’m not a veterinarian and I have not run into a cat tongue problem such as yours. I feel so sorry for you and also your baby. Even though your vet doesn’t appear worried, I’m still not going to just say to relax. A cat not eating is leading to an emergency situation if you can’t resolve it. The fact that your cat isn’t eating tells me something serious is wrong. If your current vet isn’t working with you to solve the problem, then I’d get another vet.
Cats that don’t eat for several days can come down with hepatic lipidosis, known commonly as “fatty liver disease”. Typically, when a body is starving it automatically takes fat from its reserves to the liver to be converted into lipoproteins for energy. However, cat’s bodies aren’t designed to convert a lot of fat, so when a cat is in starvation mode, the fat that is released to the liver isn’t processed correctly. This results in a fatty liver with lower functioning levels. If not treated promptly it can lead to numerous complications and eventually death. Remember that cats have a high need for proteins and a lack of protein or inability to process proteins rapidly develops into malnutrition.
Along with getting your cat to eat, you have to consider what is causing the lack of interest in food. It sounds like your cat has had quite a trauma with its tongue. Perhaps your cat is in pain and that has forced the lack of interest in food. If we humans had such an experience, the tongue would be painful and it would hurt to eat. Unlike cats, we could skip food without anything but a little weight loss until the tongue felt a bit better. You can’t give your cat aspirin or Tylenol…they are deadly to cats. See Cat Medicine, but your vet (either this one or a new vet) could give you something like Onsior (which should be available now) to help ease the pain. This would be short term while your baby heals and adapts to the tongue that aside from being painful, must feel really strange after being disconnected.
A few years ago, one of my cats stopped eating because she was so stressed over a new cat entering the household. After a couple of days I knew it could wreak havoc with her liver health so I bought a small syringe that is used to hand feed kittens and sick cats. They are available in most pet stores. I used a concentrated liquid cat food called KMR. KMR also has taurine in it which is a necessity for cats.
I’d fill the syringe and while gently holding her, I’d talk soothingly while slowly getting the tip of the syringe into the side of her mouth. They clamp their teeth down so you might have to slide it a little more toward the rear of the mouth. Keep talking soothingly to help establish trust and alleviate some of the fear. Slowly push the syringe so that a trickle of the liquid food is swallowed…and repeat the process until the syringe is empty. Be careful not to do too much at a time because if it doesn’t get swallowed it could be breathed into a lung which is dangerous. I wasn’t successful in the first attempt because she fought me, so I abandoned that attempt and reassured her by still talking soothingly. I waited a half hour and the next time she was more accepting. After a couple of days of this special attention she resumed eating on her own and we had averted an emergency with her liver having problems.
You have not only the non-eating problem but also the pain factor to deal with. When you love your cat its difficult to watch them in a distressed situation. My only advice right now is to:
- Get pain medication from your vet (or a new vet)
- Try getting food into your cat even if it means hand feeding it
- If feeding by hand fails, get a vet who will force feed or do an intravenous induction of nutrients.
Here is a link to the KMR available at Entirely Pets.
It is also available at Petco.com
I truly hope that your baby gets well and that you can help with the pain (I’m assuming there is pain). Food will help avoid “fatty liver disease” and add to the well-being of your cat. I hope that a few readers may have comments to shed more light on what they may have experienced in similar situations. Good Luck to you both.
yellow stain around cat's nose and snout
by Andjela
(Serbia)
Hello,
Could you please tell me how to clean cat’s nose. I don‘t know how to remove yellow stain that appeared around his nose and snout.
I tried with, clean water, than with acidi borici 3%, but it doesn’t help.
Thank you so much, and I really appreciate if you help me.
Best regards,
Angie
ANSWER:
It sounds like you tried a couple of things that might have worked but it also appears that the stains are being stubborn. Ingredients such as Corn Starch, Peroxide, Boric Acid Powder, Baby Powder and Witch Hazel have had some success with these fur stains. The mixtures are similar but vary a bit. As a precaution, try to keep the mixtures out of the cat’s eyes. Here are a few of the possible solutions:
- Combine some corn starch and peroxide until it is a paste and put it on with a small brush. Leave it on for about 8 hours and then remove it with warm water. Don’t do this frequently because it will make the fur dry.
- Mix equal parts of corn starch and Boracic Acid Powder with water until you have a paste. Apply this to the stained fur and let it dry. Brush it off and wipe the face with a clean towel.
- “No More Tears” baby shampoo…shampoo the area, rinse and let dry.
- Club Soda that still has bubbles in it…gently apply enough soda with a cotton ball or cloth. Let it remain damp for 10 minutes and then rinse. Repeat this if needed.
- Make a paste of equal parts Boric Acid Powder and Baby Powder that is mixed together with Milk of Magnesia until it is smooth and then put in a couple of drops of 10% peroxide. Put it on the area with a small, soft brush like a toothbrush and after it dries, brush it off. You can cover the container and keep this mixture for a week to redo if needed.
- Into a cup of boiling water, add one tablespoon of Boracic Acid, and stir well. Then add a tablespoon of Witch Hazel. After this has cooled, you can put some on a cotton ball to lightly mop the face to maintain a “no yellow” appearance.
I hope that one of these mixtures will work. You have a beautiful cat and removing the stains will make you happier when that beauty is simply your cat’s natural fur colors.
Having trouble finding what you need? Cat Health Index & Site Map
OR
Do you have a question to ask?...Questions
OR
Do you have a cat story to share?...Simply click here to go to that page!
Copyright@2010-2020 All rights reserved.Cat-health-detective.com
This website is information only. Consult a veterinarian for medical assistance
"Like Us" on Facebook
or...
"Like Us" here
