Protruding tongue and big appetite

kristin23

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Dec 8, 2004
Messages
47
Purraise
1
Again, I'm new to cats. My 7 month old kitten Gus's tongue frequently protrudes from him mouth when it's closed. Is this normal? A family member works with people with developmental problems and says that in humans protruding tongues can indicate weak muscles in the tongue. The little guy eats like it's going out of style, so I'm guessing that tongue gets plenty of work-out. This leads me to my other question. I read that it was best to allow kittens to eat as much as they want for their first year. Gus is always eating. His sister Liz has a healthy appetite, but nowhere near Gus. We keep their food and water just outside the kitchen and whenever anyone is near it, he wails for food. He was neutered two weeks ago, so I could understand if it was a possible increased appetite as a result of the procedure, but he's always done this. Is it normal? They were abandoned street kitties first, and before I found them they had presumably gone through some tough times without enough nourishment. Could this be some psychological residual effect, or nothing more than one cat who really, really, really likes to eat?

Oops. I forgot one other thing: he purrs all the time. All a person has to do is look in his general direction and his motor starts going. The vet looked at his eyes the other day and told me that he seems to have allergies, and I'm in the process of figuring out what that might be. My brother mentioned that he heard that frequent purring can sometimes be a sign that something is wrong with a cat. I'm wondering that if that's the truth, could his purring be related to allergies. I don't have a clue. I'm sorry I always seem to have questions, but this isn't my area. If anyone wants to know anything about Shaw's thoughts on Shakespeare, I'm your girl
, but this isn't my territory.

Kristin
 

jen

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 27, 2001
Messages
8,501
Purraise
3,009
Location
Hudson, OH
Originally Posted by Kristin23

Again, I'm new to cats. My 7 month old kitten Gus's tongue frequently protrudes from him mouth when it's closed. Is this normal? A family member works with people with developmental problems and says that in humans protruding tongues can indicate weak muscles in the tongue. The little guy eats like it's going out of style, so I'm guessing that tongue gets plenty of work-out. This leads me to my other question. I read that it was best to allow kittens to eat as much as they want for their first year. Gus is always eating. His sister Liz has a healthy appetite, but nowhere near Gus. We keep their food and water just outside the kitchen and whenever anyone is near it, he wails for food. He was neutered two weeks ago, so I could understand if it was a possible increased appetite as a result of the procedure, but he's always done this. Is it normal? They were abandoned street kitties first, and before I found them they had presumably gone through some tough times without enough nourishment. Could this be some psychological residual effect, or nothing more than one cat who really, really, really likes to eat?

Oops. I forgot one other thing: he purrs all the time. All a person has to do is look in his general direction and his motor starts going. The vet looked at his eyes the other day and told me that he seems to have allergies, and I'm in the process of figuring out what that might be. My brother mentioned that he heard that frequent purring can sometimes be a sign that something is wrong with a cat. I'm wondering that if that's the truth, could his purring be related to allergies. I don't have a clue. I'm sorry I always seem to have questions, but this isn't my area. If anyone wants to know anything about Shaw's thoughts on Shakespeare, I'm your girl
, but this isn't my territory.

Kristin
Well, my cats sometimes have their tongues sticking out a little like after they are cleaning themselves and they stop and look around and their tongue is out for a bit. I assume this is what you might mean, if your cat is panting or something, that could be more serious. Cats really don't pant, my persian does when he is riding in the car cuz he gets so nervous.

About kittens eating, I always heard that kittens should have access to food all the time. Look at the back of the box or can of food and see what it says a kitten should have and if he is eating like double that, then regulate it a little better. But cats often seem like they eat a lot but they like to have little snacks throughout the day.

About purring a lot relating to allergies. I have never heard of this before but I am no expert. I have a kitten that purrs a lot but I don't think he has allergies. Does your kitten sneeze a lot and have runny eyes and nose? I think that would be more of an indicator then purring. That seems like an odd thing for a vet to say but I don't know all the details.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

kristin23

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Dec 8, 2004
Messages
47
Purraise
1
Thanks. My vet didn't say anything was indicative of the purring (I forgot to ask him). He just said that it looked like he had allergies to something in my house. My brother was the one who mentioned that the thought that he'd heard that sometimes purring could be somethnig other than just being content.

No, the cats never pants. I guess the tongue thing is normal. He's a bit of a fruit loop anyway, so who knows. Thanks again!
 

huggles

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jul 3, 2003
Messages
9,620
Purraise
4
Location
Melbourne, Australia
I have always heard that feral/stray kitties once brought into a home will eat and eat and eat - its because on the street they didnt have access to the food so they think they need to eat it all now or else it will disappear.

I also have never heard that purring alot is related to allergies - I would be surprised if this was the case....

okay now let me see if I can find some questions about shakespeare for you
 
Top