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Over the past few months, I've been trying to figure out the differences between the two black cats I had for about 5 months. They are about 8 months old and they come from the same litter.

Luna, the much smaller one is a bit quieter than Chilli, the one my inquiry is about. Luna meows when she needs to unlike Chilli, and overall behaves like all of our past cats.

Chilli however, caught my attention through doing things like;

  • Rapidly opening her mouth - imagine a dog catching a treat mid-air - only to close it, with no real reason. She does that around 5 times in half an hour, if nothing in the living room happens and every house member is minding their own business.
  • When I pet her on the head, she gets so 'excited' that she opens her mouth. Sometimes, she even keeps her mouth open for the next two minutes, even when I had already stopped petting her.
  • Unlike Luna, Chilli frequently makes a journey to the kitchen and often gets caught eating some of the leftovers from the plates in the sink. We often eat spaghetti and once Chilli sees that we are finished with the plate, she excitedly jumps up and licks the sauce leftovers until there's none left. (We do not eat Spaghetti with any kind of meat)
  • She never rubs herself against any of the house members, or her sister, or the furniture, nor even the walls. Not from what I have seen at least. Luna however does it very often.

Aside from these actions, Chilli behaves just like our past cats. The question is, should I be worried? Or is this normal for her to be like this, considering every cat can be different?

D. Tunus
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  • If you rub a finger against her the outside of her cheek, putting a little bit of pressure on her gums, does she "chitter", or react in any way? If so, it could be a dental problem, and that definitely calls for a vet visit. – Bradley Uffner Dec 02 '15 at 19:23
  • @BradleyUffner Oh God. I just tried it twice, once she gave out a vibrating purr, then she opened her mouth again only to close it. I guess there is a problem after all. – D. Tunus Dec 02 '15 at 19:26
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    I’d also suggest you make a video recording of the open mouth behaviour, just in case she’s shy on the vet and doesn’t do it there. That way, at least the vet has something to go on and you ensure the visit isn’t a waste. – user137369 Dec 02 '15 at 20:33
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    I have 4 cats. I was not aware there was such a thing as normal cat behavior. =) – corsiKa Dec 02 '15 at 21:41
  • If you look at it from another angle, although it may not be right to say that, it's just my way of how I see and deem cats to be normal, having had a lot of other cats in my childhood. – D. Tunus Dec 02 '15 at 21:43
  • @D.Tanya my cat does that mouth stuff when spotting birds, trying to hunt them, it even makes a weird stuttering noise, but in the past all of my cats did that when spotting birds. I have seen my cat leaving the mouth open under severe heat climate condition, i think they cool their blood trough the tongue, besides that the cat may have something in the nose that forces her to breath with the mouth, my cat once got a flu and because of mucus she breathed trough the mouth. Does she also leave the mouth open when running or when getting excited in other manner than when petting her? – Juan Boero Dec 02 '15 at 21:45
  • I think getting a video of the cat doing this can be tricky because she would end up gaining an interest in the phone, if it was to be placed close enough to even capture the view to some extent. I will try this regardless, and I will make sure to update this question as the situation goes on. Thanks. – D. Tunus Dec 02 '15 at 21:47
  • I know that the cats express their excitement or interest in their bird prey as they look out the windows. I also really doubt that she got flu because she's generally very fit and healthy if you put the strange behaviour aside. If the flu was the case then she would have been very moody to say the least. She was ill only once when she received a vaccine. And nope, other than when I pet her head, she doesn't keep her mouth open. – D. Tunus Dec 02 '15 at 21:52
  • I don't think the eating leftovers is at all strange. I have had several cats that liked cleaning up plates, even for salads. – Oldcat Dec 03 '15 at 00:55
  • Habitual/regular open mouth? Probably worth a vet visit if only to relieve concerns. One of our recent cats was a spaghetti lover, while the companion cat made no sense of it at all. The companion cat, however, was a plate cleaner. She had almost no interest in sharing "human food", but she'd wait patiently for plates to lick clean. (And "normal" cat behavior is close to an oxymoron.) – user2338816 Dec 03 '15 at 01:12
  • Does the open mouth thing look like in this video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1Z6Nz8FuPc I'll write an answer based on the flehmen response if it does. It's totally normal, but different cats have different degrees of open mouth. – Zaralynda Dec 04 '15 at 22:12
  • It looks like this, but from what I observed she only does this as I pet her head and after I had stopped. – D. Tunus Dec 04 '15 at 22:13

2 Answers2

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Eating leftovers could be entirely normal. One of my cats likes graham crackers, if she can get them; my previous cat liked broccoli. If she's eating a commercial cat food (and is actually eating a reasonable amount of it), it is unlikely that there's a trace element shortage that she's trying to compensate for, but the way to be sure is to have a vet do tests.

The open mouth is odd, and I do think it calls for a vet visit.

Remember, cats really don't like showing that they are sick or in pain, so "normal behavior otherwise" isn't always good evidence.

keshlam
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  • I'm trying to convince my mum to visit a vet soon but she's certain that it's just the way the cat is. I can't seem to find any stories from other cat owners on internet on this, aside from smelling scents which is not the case. Is there anything you guys have seen previously? This could convince my mum. – D. Tunus Dec 02 '15 at 17:45
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    Possibly related. But also, cats will keep their mouths open when they're feeling extreme pain, nausea, or distressed. Although if he is eating well, I wouldn't bet on the latter. But do visit a vet just so you can be on the safe side @D.Tanya – Just Do It Dec 02 '15 at 18:20
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Everything seems to be normal even eating left overs.Except opening her mouth.

I had a male cat, Arsalan. He used to eat every thing we ate, e.g. chocolate (later I found out it's not good for them), banana, pomegranate, apple, pasta, noodles, bread (yeast is not good for them), bhajji, kebabs, anything with massala or spicy (giving this rarely is OK but not very often), etc. He disliked plain cooked meat, but he liked it with a bit of salt and more flavour.

But keeping the mouth open is not a good sign. She might have upper respiratory disease, which is very common in cats, It's better to visit the vet. If treated early, it has a lot more chances to be cured. Also, check if it's panting, and drinking more water than usual. Pull her skin from in between her shoulder blade. If it takes longer than usual to reach its original state, she might be dehydrated.

aschultz
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user6226
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  • is this dangerous considering my cat has a chip? – D. Tunus Dec 04 '15 at 15:43
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    Not dangerous. The chip's about the size of a grain of rice, with rounded ends; unless you are pinching entirely too hard it won't cause a problem. – keshlam Dec 04 '15 at 15:49