A cat sticking out its tongue is so rare that many pet lovers took the sight of a cat sticking out its tongue as its highlight moment and laugh at this action.
If your cat sticks out his tongue a lot, he or she is either stupid, forced by the environment, or has a medical condition that causes pathological tongue sticking out.
Non-pathological Cause:
Flehmen response is the most common reasons why cat sticks out its tongue.
Animals typically engage in the cleft smell response when exploring new worlds so they can better detect smells, substances or chemical signals in the air. Not only cats, but horses, dogs, camels, etc., often make this gesture.
The cat sticks out its tongue, picks up information in the air, and then pulls it back and starts analyzing complex information. This information is sent to the vomeronasal organ, which is located right behind the cat’s upper teeth. It looks like a proliferation, but it’s normal, so pet lovers don’t have to worry too much.
Cats’ vomeronasal organs are used to sense other cats’ pheromones, including information about communication and mating, as well as their surroundings.
It’s interesting that sometimes the information in the air is so complex that cats can’t analyze it, they get stressed and forget to put their tongue back in, like you chewing on your pen while you’re doing math until your pen’s butt breaks and you don’t realize your subconscious is doing it!
Cats also stick their tongues out when they’re sleeping comfortably, just as some people forget to close their mouth and sleep with it open after a good night’s sleep after exhaustion.
Cats also need to dissipate heat during the hot summer months, and the only ways they can do so are pads for their feet and their tongues. (Shaving a cat does nothing to dissipate heat, makes it “look” cool, and actually increases the risk of skin infections and parasites.)
Cats stick out their tongues to help cool down their bodies when foot pads aren’t enough to cool them down quickly, a phenomenon that usually occurs when the weather is too hot or after strenuous exercise.
You need to keep your cat hydrated and in a cool environment, or they may develop heat stroke.
In cats, heat stroke is usually accompanied by loss of balance and vomiting. Meanwhile, because the furry cat is better insulated, although the skin can not expel heat from the body, the long hair will be a great challenge to the ability of the tongue and foot pads to expel heat, and they are more difficult in summer, and are more prone to the symptoms of heat stroke.
Many owners have probably noticed that their cats stick out their tongues every time they take a car, boat or plane ride. Congratulations! Your cat suffers from motion sickness, the same way some people get motion sickness.
For these cats, it’s time to cut back on the use of public transportation, as anyone who gets motion sick will know.
When cats repeatedly stick their tongues out of the cat’s mouth, alarm bells are ringing. Your cat may be suffering from illness.
Oral Health Problems
When there is an inflammation in a cat’s mouth that causes severe pain, cats can make the pain worse by sticking their tongue in, so they stick it out.
70% of cats will have oral problems by the age of 3 or so. Checking your cat’s mouth regularly can help detect problems as early as possible. Most of the cats with oral problems that we receive online are mild, and they return to normal within 1-2 weeks under the guidance of veterinary medicine.
Oral problems, most often due to poor oral care, can lead to the formation of dental stones over time, allowing bacteria to grow and cause gum infections and other soft tissue infections in the mouth.
When the disease progresses, drool and bad smell may occur in the mouth. Because domestic cats have much better hygiene than stray cats, severe feline stomatitis is relatively rare in domestic cats.
Intoxication
Cats’ curious nature leads them to try all kinds of new things, including inedible items like laundry detergent. When cats eat toxic food, will always stick out their tongue, accompanied by drooling, vomiting, breathing difficulties and other symptoms, at this time to be immediately sent to the pet hospital for emergency treatment.
In addition, some free-range cats may ingest animals that eat toxic substances, such as rats that eat rat poison and birds that eat poison by mistake. This situation will also cause cats to stick out their tongues, which is also one of the risks of free-range cats.
Post time: Jan-06-2022