Why is my senior cat drooling thick, sticky, foul-smelling saliva?

Question

Peanut has viscous foul saliva. No apparent oral issues other than missing teeth. She is approx 14. For past 3 months eats wet, grain free food and eats well. Is alert and active. Prior to this was eating dry food, losing weight and hair was dull with many Matt's. She has medium to long hair. On wet food weight has stabilized and hair is much improved. Still drooling the nasty saliva. Her extremities have sticky hard clumps and her face around her mouth is syrupy and brown. I add probiotics. Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Female | spayed | 6 lbs

Dr. B. DVM, DACVIM (Oncology) · Accepted Answer

Typically excess salivation is either caused by nausea or pain (oral or abdominal), although this is not an all inclusive list. There can still be oral disease present, especially if these missing teeth were not removed but fell out. Cats can get resorptive lesions of their teeth which can be really painful and the changes can be hard for owners to detect. They can also get lesions in their mouth (stomatitis, a mass, ulcers, etc.) that an owner may not see. Additionally diseases of other body systems may cause drooling (kidneys, gi, etc ). I would recommend your kitty seeing a vet for a thourough oral exam and blood work to start. A good oral exam will likely require sedation and perhaps dental xrays. Additional testing may be recommended based on the case. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Why is my senior cat drooling thick, sticky, foul-smelling saliva?

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