Emergency vet or wait until Saturday?

September 3, 2020 2:28 PM

Our 4-year old cat has pawed at his mouth periodically since earlier this year. We rushed him to the vet (post-COVID, so only he could go in), they checked him out, and said they couldn't find anything wrong. Last night he did it again, but for the first time his tongue stayed peeking out of his mouth and he was a little lethargic. Same today. We got the first vet appointment we could - Saturday at 11:30 a.m. - but I'm wondering if we should take him to an emergency vet. His breathing isn't labored and he used the litter pan. He hasn't had much to eat or drink, though, because he's been sleeping. He's drooling because his tongue is out.
posted by Wet Hen to Pets & Animals (8 answers total)

Is there a possibility he's chewing some houseplants that making his mouth numb or painful? Some plants are poisonous/toxic to cats. What plants do you have in the house, and does he spend any time near them?
posted by cosmicbandito at 2:48 PM on September 3, 2020 [4 favorites]

I am not a vet, and this response is based only on my experience with my own cats. I don't know if it's sound advice, and if you want to be safe I'd call the emergency vet and ask them their opinion. But of course taking him to an emergency vet is likely to be expensive, so I would be thinking about the following.

If his breathing is okay and he's eliminating okay it's probably not an immediate emergency, but the tongue sticking out and drooling is concerning. cosmicbandito's suggestion seems plausible. What might tip it to possible emergency for me is if he's dehydrated. An easy way to check this is to pinch a bit of his skin: if he's well hydrated, it should spring back into position, while if he's dehydrated it'll sort of stay pinched after you release it. If he's dehydrated, I would probably take him to the emergency vet so he can get fluids, if nothing else.

If you can try to assess if he feels feverish (the skin right in front of the ears is a good place to feel for that) that's another good thing to check. Cats run warm compared to humans but if you're used to petting your cat you might have a sense if he feels warmer than usual.

Hopefully it's just a minor infection or something that will pass quickly!
posted by biogeo at 3:13 PM on September 3, 2020 [3 favorites]

Recently I ran my cat to the vet for pawing at the mouth - they could find nothing wrong. It turned out that some of the seafood based wet food I'd been giving her had tiny fish bones in it that were irritating her. I switched brands.
posted by rdnnyc at 3:45 PM on September 3, 2020 [1 favorite]

Why is may cat drooling?

Tongue sticking out if often sign of some problem in the mouth. That's certainly what happened with my cat shortly after we adopted him off the street, and he turned out to have rotten teeth. This also impacted his eating as it was obviously painful for him to eat.
posted by biffa at 3:46 PM on September 3, 2020 [7 favorites]

My roommates’ cat had similar symptoms that turned out to be caused by rotten teeth. After a pull and a few days he was right back to normal.
posted by showbiz_liz at 3:51 PM on September 3, 2020 [4 favorites]

Could be poisoning by plant or a stuck bone. I would emergency vet
posted by evilmonk at 7:15 PM on September 3, 2020

i work in a clinic, and with cats especially, the danger is that's they'll dehydrate so quickly. since she hasn't been eating in several days, i'd be inclined to go to the ER - otherwise there's almost no telling when he could receive treatment
posted by megan_magnolia at 7:45 PM on September 3, 2020 [2 favorites]

I should say, if its a mouth infection they will likely try antibiotics first, with teeth pulling down the line if that doesn't take.
posted by biffa at 5:09 AM on September 4, 2020