Cat Health Problems: A lump under my cats tongue and drooling

by Sophie-Jane
(United Kingdom, West Midlands, Rowley Regis)

My male cat has new, strange cat health problems. He has developed a big lump inside his mouth, under his tongue, and has had it now for 2 days. This cat lump is causing him to dribble and drool and my cat isn't able to close his mouth properly. The lump itself is not very soft, but it isn't rock hard either.

Do you have any idea of what this maybe? Or is there any way I could prevent the lump and the dribbling? It doesn't seem to hurt my cat, but I would presume that it would annoy him.


Dear Sophie-Jane,

Without seeing your cat in person for an exam, there is no way I could provide a definitive diagnosis of your cat health problems.

If what you are describing is a lump inside your cat’s mouth directly under his tongue, although I cannot say for certain, I can share that the only times I have seen cat lumps in this location in well over 25 years of experience were when these lumps were feline tumors. These feline tumors are very likely there for much longer than just a few days, but you probably just noticed it when it grew to a point where your cat could no longer close his mouth because of it.

If, on the other hand, you are talking about a lump outside your cat’s jaw, in the skin along his jaw line or under his chin, this could develop rather quickly and be the result of an abscess from a cat fight or an infected tooth.

In either case, what your cat needs for his cat health problems is to be thoroughly examined by a veterinarian and have a possible biopsy of the lump.

All the best,
Dr. Neely